A group of 10 students from the History Section, ranging from 3rd year to Postgraduate Diploma in Heritage Conservation and Management, recently participated in a summer school at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Currently, a group of 10 students from Tübingen University is at our main campus for the second part of the exchange programme. This part of the summer school ended on 14 October, which marked the end of the collaborative project.
The students will have a public podium where they can present the results of their engagements, both in Germany and Namibia. They will raise some particular questions about the future of museums in Africa and issues around the restitution of cultural belongings from European museums back to Africa. The event will be attended by guests from the German Embassy, the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, and the Museum in Windhoek.
The idea of a summer school exchange was conceived in 2019 as a by-product of the official handover of the Hendrik Witbooi Bible and Whip to Namibia, by the state of Baden-Wüttemberg. Academics from the Universities of Namibia and Tübingen sought ways in which future repatriations of cultural objects to Namibia could be made useful to Namibia’s youth. Thus, the idea of an exchange programme under the theme ‘Engaging the past, Sharing the Future’ was conceived. The partners are the University of Namibia, Tubingen University, Linden Museum (Stuttgart), National Museum of Namibia and the Museums Association of Namibia.
The summer school was made possible by generous funding from the state of Baden-Wüttemberg as part of their broader ‘Namibia Initiative’ programme.
