Theft - Rautenstrauch Joest Museum

A war is not only limited to battlefields and direct combat. There always is a cultural aspect to War as well, a sort of “War of culture”. The objects that are depicted here portray the theft and robbery of goods from all over the world in the Rautenstrauch Joest Museum. These goods were not necessarily acquired in direct actions of war, but more so from a position of (military) power, as you can read about in text below about the stolen (and partially returned) Benin Court Artworks (pic. 1). The Rautenstrauch Joest museum and its current exhibition are indeed very self-aware of its problematic past. The shipping crates in picture 2 symbolise the theft that this museum is built on. The crates are in the centre of the room, while a short summary of the wars going on during the robbery of the artifacts is limited to plaques on the wall (pic. 3). This exhibition may not depict war in a traditional way but sheds light on the cultural robbery and ethological oppression that often accompanies actions of war.

All pictures were taken in the Rautenstrauch Joest Museum by Jakob Meyer