Translated transcription
[00:16] – [00:29]
Welcome at the MNAHA’s storage facility. My name is Régis Moes, I am a curator, responsible for objects from Luxembourg’s contemporary history and for objects from the art trade.
[00:30] – [00:48]
We are at the storage facility, where we keep over 90% of our collection. In fact, we own many things that are not being shown in our exhibitions, but which are now being made accessible on our Collections platform.
[00:49] – [1:08]
I just fetched this silver bracelet from the shelf. This bracelet does not stem from Europe. It comes from Africa and has been in the Luxembourgish state collection since 1898, as the inventory number indicates.
[1:09] – [1:16]
If we enter this inventory number between quotation marks on our platform, we will find out more about this object.
[1:16] – [1:25]
Open quotation marks, 1898, dash 013, slash 125, close quotation marks (“1898-013/125”).
[1:25] – [1:43]
By doing this, we are led to the object’s file. By opening the file, we can view a bigger photo of the bracelet and we get a set of information: Inventory number, the fact that it is made of silver, …
[1:44] – [1:56]
There is also a short description, explaining that the bracelet stems from a collection which had been donated by a certain Captain Albert Spring.
[1:57] – [2:09]
On our Collections platform, you can also find a tab named Stories. If you click on it, you will find an explanation of the Spring Collection.
[2:09] – [2:29]
This story allows us to dive into the past of this collection. A past, which, from today’s view, is seen as problematic. This is because this bracelet was stolen by Albert Spring during a battle in the village of Ndaburo, located in present-day Tanzania.
[2:30] – [2:54]
Albert Spring was a cartographer who travelled in what is now Tanzania, then German East Africa, for the German colonisers. He also fought as a military officer when local people, referred to as “rebels”, would riot against the German power that colonised their land.
[2:55] – [3:09]
This is how, in the night of March 10th to 11th 1893, the local chief of Ndaburo was defeated. He was captured and eventually executed by the Germans.
[3:10] – [3:21]
According to historic sources, Albert Spring then stole this specific bracelet from local chief Mnini Mtwana’s corpse and brought it back home.
[3:21] – [3:28]
It is important for today’s museums to make these objects and their stories available online.
[3:29] – [3:48]
Ninety percent (90%) of the museum’s items are not shown in exhibitions, but it is our duty to make these objects accessible, to give the descendants of those families, who were robbed 100, 120, 140 years ago, the possibility to access this information.
[3:49] – [4:09]
Naturally, the museum notified Tanzania about our possession of this collection, thereby notifying their authorities of this story. But in some cases, it remains difficult to find information, even for us. This is why modern museums have a duty to publish and make accessible their collections, even if they are not being displayed.
[4:10] – [4:25]
I have now finished my description and would like to take this opportunity to thank all coworkers who contributed to the development of this platform. The museum is a team that really wants to make these objects accessible.
[4:26] – [4:35]
And it remains for me, dear users, to thank you for browsing with us through our collection where you can discover many new and exciting things.
