Planet Africa: An Archaeological Journey through Time

Planet Africa: An Archaeological Journey Through Time is a unique, intercontinental exhibition project focussing on African archaeology.

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  – Vielfalt – Natürlicher Reichtum durch Diversität von Sansão Nhantumbo aus Mosambik

• – Zeichen & Bilder – Wissen wird visualisiert von Ed Oner aus Marokko

• – Menschwerdung – Erste entscheidende Schritte von MAASAI MBILI aus Kenia

Africa is the site of the longest history of the habitation of human beings and their ancestors on our planet. It was on the African continent that human history began, with new cultural techniques and strategies of subsistence then being disseminated throughout the entire world. Africa as a continent boasts a fascinating diversity in terms of its natural environment. Human beings in Africa have had to constantly adapt to (environmental) changes and develop new strategies for survival. Such experiences of adaptation are more important today than ever. Archaeological finds and historical visual and written sources offer insights into the arts, crafts, technologies and environmental conditions of bygone eras and provide evidence of dialogues that were maintained across large geographical distances. Excavations at different settlement sites have uncovered urban structures that were contemporaneous with nomadic forms of life.

The exhibition tour will commence at the end of 2024 with the opening at the James-Simon-Galerie in Berlin. The show will then be exhibited in Munich, Chemnitz and other locations throughout Germany. The exhibition will also be presented in parallel at a number of locations across the African continent, where it will be organised by teams of local curators.

The locations that are set to open at the end of 2024 include the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Ghana in Accra’s Legon district, the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya and the Eswatini National Museum in Lobamba, with collaborative activities planned to take place between the German and African exhibition sites.

The exhibition is centred around the results of research conducted by the DFG Priority Programme Entangled Africa. It will incorporate work by African street artists, who will produce illustrations and film works on the featured topics.

The exhibition sheds light on more than two million years of human history, coupled with more than 200 years of research tradition. The wealth of research is presented in six thematic modules, which collate the key findings:

• Variety – Natural Abundance Through Diversity
  
• Becoming Human – The First Crucial Steps
  
• Know-How – Agile Knowledge and Flexible Technology
  
• Signs and Images – Visualising Knowledge
  
• Raw Materials – Exchange, Commerce, Power
  
• New Perspectives – African Archaeology Today
  

The individual modules repeatedly reference the contemporary research projects that are responsible for contributing many of the images, diagrams and films featured in the exhibition. The modules cover a range of topics, from the origins of the human race to the emergence of new cultural techniques and food strategies that were spread from Africa to the wider world. The result is a comprehensive overview of a continent whose natural diversity continues to fascinate and enthrall, and that has always required the development of new survival strategies due to constant environmental changes, adjustment processes and migratory movements.

Archaeology and Research

Archaeological finds and historical visual and written sources offer a comprehensive insight into the arts, crafts, technologies and environmental conditions of bygone eras and provide evidence of dialogues and connections that were maintained between people across large geographical distances. Excavations at different settlement sites and urban centres have uncovered social and political structures of coexistence that were contemporaneous with nomadic forms of life in many regions of the continent.

The exhibition also showcases the contemporary application of ancient knowledge and the archaeological exploration of their own past by the African researchers and artists involved in the research projects and exhibition. As such, the exhibition also looks at the viability of archaeology as a unifying link for pan-African and intercontinental solidarity.

Curatorial Team

The exhibition project Planet Africa: An Archaeological Journey Through Time is the work of a team of curators led by Jörg Linstädter and Miriam Rotgänger, Commission for Archaeology of Non-European Cultures of the German Archaeological Institute, with support from Wazi Apoh, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Gerd-Christian Weniger, museum consultant, Matthias Wemhoff and Ewa Dutkiewicz, Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, and a host of African and German archaeologists.

The exhibition is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Thanks to this generous support, the exhibition in the James-Simon-Galerie is open to the public free of charge.

Runtime: Fri, 06/12/2024 to Sun, 27/04/2025

Takes place here:

• James-Simon-Galerie