Weltkulturen Museum 99 Until now Hagen’s photographs have never been scientifically critiqued nor have they been publicly displayed. Despite their offensive qualities, it seemed important to us not to keep them just for internal analysis but to display them publicly and open them up to discussion. The presentation of these photographs is in no way intended to perpetuate violence or sensationalism but should, on the contrary, be understood as providing a kind of transparency. The photography in the installation is presented through various means. The intent is to encourage different perceptions and perspectives to emerge from the material, creating debate and controversy that shed light on the subject and bring the problematic nature of the works to the public eye. The combination of contemporary and historical images seeks to critically examine and draw attention to abuses of the rights of both individuals and societies, both now and in the past, which photographs and the forms of marketing they represent have been responsible for. The last part of Foreign Exchange examines the phenomenon of the accumulation of artifacts and the resulting necessity of developing the means of managing and administrating such collections. To this end, groups of objects as well as original storage systems are shown, offering the visitor a backstage view of what has gone on at the museum. The Weltkulturen Museum’s curatorial approach to its collection, which this exhibition illustrates, intends to create new points of interdisciplinary contact. It opens the door to farreaching reflection on the research possibilities in a museum that is understood to be a model for experimentation as well as the ongoing creation and dissemination of knowledge. Earlier systems of typology and classification based on cultural, ethnic, and geographic factors are critically reexamined in order to clear the way for a new and audacious approach that will necessitate the reorganization of the collection. The museum is thus laying the foundation for itself as a contemporary institution—one that is open to change and to subjective input from a variety of interested parties. Foreign Exchange (or the stories you wouldn’t tell a stranger) Until 4 January 2015 Weltkulturen Museum www.weltkulturenmuseum.de Foreign Exchange (or the stories you wouldn’t tell a stranger) Edited by Clémentine Deliss and Yvette Mutumba. Published in English and German by Diaphanes Verlag, 2014. 320 pages, numerous illustrations. ISBN 978-3-03734-668-6. Softcover, 30 euros. FIG. 11: Mythological figure, dibariba. Mindam, Sepik River, Papua New Guinea. Wood, bark, shell. Collected by Eike Haberland during the Sepik expedition in 1961. Collection of the Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel, 2013.
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