Contribution short abstract:

In this paper, we explore a collaborative research process that aimed to deconstruct the racist-colonial legacy of images by foregrounding postcolonial perspectives through local histories and joint cross-cultural investigations of those problematic contexts.

Contribution long abstract:

In the 1960s and 70s, German photographer Leni Riefenstahl produced highly exoticized images of the Nuba communities in Sudan. Before she had also contributed to the media propaganda of the Nazi regime. As the Nuba images, charged with colonial-racists aesthetics, were published worldwide they produced controversial discussions. Almost 60 years later, in an effort to decolonise the museum, the National Museums in Berlin aim to bring digitized images back to the Nuba communities in Sudan. A multi-perspective research process with Nuba communities, researchers and artists focused on contextualizing Riefenstahl’s works historically, and enabled the re-appropriation of the images by the communities. During the process of the collectively viewing the images and through group discussions with Nuba representatives, different and unexpected perceptions and insights emerged. Against the backdrop of violent experiences, racism and oppression in the context of the Sudanese history, Nuba representatives discuss the images as documents of suppressed cultural heritage. In the context of marginalisation by the dominant Arab-Muslim culture, the images are perceived as a means of making Nuba cultural identity. The images take on significance in the (re-)construction and discussion of identities, particularly in the context of the current political situation in Sudan. In this paper, we reflect on how to navigate these multiple perspectives with regard to the recommoning of shared heritage. We highlight points of friction arising from contradictory postcolonial positions that tend to deny the ability and knowledge to interpret the images.