TheMuseumsLab 2025

TheMuseumsLab is a platform for joint learning, perspective exchange, networking and career building among African and European professionals. Bringing them together to build bridges between individuals, institutions, nations and two continents for an engaged discussion on how museums can confront their past, meet the present needs of society and work towards an equitable future.

The programme consists of three seminar modules (online and onsite in Berlin and Addis Ababa) lead by prominent African and European experts, a one week residency at a renowned African or European partner institution.

The project is organised and implemented by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.

Several African and European museums as well as other cultural institutions are partners with the programme. The programme is financed by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.

Objective

Providing knowledge and competencies, fostering new ideas and approaches as well as establishing and upgrading networks.

Focus

Current issues and concepts of museum management, social impact and responsibility, localisation of content, as well as practical aspects of museums as institutions in the 21st century, divided into three modules.

In 2025, the overarching theme of the programme is “Colonialism and Resistance.“ During the programme we will visit historical places relevant to the topic in Germany and Ethiopia. We will look at ways of implementing spaces of resistance in exhibition practices as well as exploring approaches on how to deal with the legacy of colonialism in museums today.