The Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg and the Sukuma Museum in Mwanza, Tanzania, are collaborating on collections work and object documentation

As part of the project “Working Together on Shared Heritage and Object Documentation Training”, the Sukuma Museum in Mwanza, Tanzania, and the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg are closely collaborating. Together, they are researching the material cultural heritage of the Sukuma people to preserve, digitally record, and develop new ways to interpret and share this legacy with a broader audience.

The project focuses on mutual knowledge exchange, supported by a research stay for Sukuma Museum staff at the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg. During their stay, this team received hands-on training in object conservation, documentation, and restoration. The Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch also shared its expertise in audience development, learning and engagement, and community outreach. Sukuma Museum staff bring expertise about object provenance and Sukuma life, past and present, which helps the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch critically review and reinterpret its collection.

The space “RE:vision. Vom Staunen zum Verstehen” (RE:vision: From Wonder to Understanding), created to mark the closure of the Natural History Cabinet, shows what both museums have gained from their exchange. It can be visited in Oldenburg until 22 February 2026. Visitors are invited to explore the museum’s colonial legacy and engage in a critical reassessment of its collection’s history. Contributions from the visiting researchers and the inclusion of Sukuma perspectives have enriched the space and opened up many voices and viewpoints on this shared heritage.

The Landesmuseum’s colonial objects are already fully recorded in its database, while systematic documentation at the Sukuma Museum is being developed in stages. Especially valuable is the extensive photographic documentation showing how the objects are used in Mwanza – a context previously unavailable in Oldenburg. This context allows for a more nuanced understanding of the collection. In the long term, both institutions plan to make the objects and the related photographs accessible online.

The museum agency is supporting this training as a pilot project within its Engage in dialogues programme. This project fosters professional exchange among museum practitioners, allowing them jointly address today’s challenges in cross-border cultural work.

Partners: Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, Sukuma Museum Bujora Cultural Centre – Kisesa, Mwanza, Tanzania