Marejesho Exhibition / Maonesho ya Marejesho

Read this in Swahili / Soma hii kwa Kiswahili

The Marejesho exhibition was originally conceived by a Tanzanian-German team as a mobile research exhibition. After travelling to six villages in the Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions of Tanzania in 2022, it was presented at TA T at Humboldt University in Berlin in 2023-24 and in the town hall of Marburg in Germany in 2025, focusing on voices from Tanzania. The exhibition is now shown in an updated version as part of the Marejesho Research and Information Centre in Moshi.

The historical time frame of the exhibition is around 1900, which was the time of Germany’s colonial occupation of East Africa (1885-1918). During this period, German colonial officers consolidated their power in the Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions by using war and mass executions to shake the traditional leadership system. The consequences of this violent past are still felt today. For decades, descendants of leaders who were hanged have been fighting for the repatriation of their ancestors’ remains, which were shipped to Germany for racist research purposes. However, not only the ancestral remains of executed leaders are still held by museums and universities abroad, also those of warriors, prisoners or labourers and ordinary people, whose remains were taken from burial sites.

In addition, colonial officers, settlers, scientists, travellers and missionaries took personal belongings, weapons, jewellery, clothing and tools, as well as spiritual and everyday objects, often by force or coercion. Today, hundreds of these artefacts from Kilimanjaro and Arusha are stored in the depots of German museums; very few are on display.
This exhibition explores the challenges involved in identifying and repatriating abducted ancestral remains. You can view pictures of selected belongings, as well as colonial photographs from Kilimanjaro and Arusha, which are held by museums and archives in Germany. While these images reflect a violent history, they also document acts of resistance, as well as the beauty and craftsmanship of the artefacts. The contemporary artworks on display were created by Tanzanian artists and aim to visually connect people and belongings from the past to the present.

However, this exhibition does not present a complete history, and many stories and facts are missing. We have lots of questions, and we hope you do too. You are welcome to share your ideas, memories, and knowledge and to ask questions. We regard this exhibition as an ongoing process and will update it periodically to include new findings and contributions.

Our hope is that the ancestors will soon return to rest in peace in their homeland. We also hope that the belongings will return to their communities of origin, where they can teach current and future generations about the culture and traditions of the past, and inspire them for the future.

Concept, research, curation / Ubunifu wa Dhana, Utafiti na Uratibu wa Maonesho
Konradin Kunze, Sarita Lydia Mamseri, Mnyaka Sururu Mboro, Gabriel Mzei Orio

Visual art / Sanaa za Maonesho ya Picha
Amani Abeid, Cloud Chatanda, Masana †

Film / Filamu
Bagamoyo Film Collective, Konradin Kunze, Malik Saidi Msambaa, Chrispina Chrispin Nazael,
Timsifu Kombe (Northwood Media), Dr. Valence Silayo

Assitance / Usaidizi
Hellen Robert Gabriel, Alice Harrison, Habili Tenga

Translation / Tafsiri
Neema Kasabo, Konradin Kunze, Mnyaka Sururu Mboro

Management / Usimamizi na Uendeshaji
Marit Buchmeier, Lisanne Grotz (xplusdrei Produktionsbüro), Gabriel Mzei Orio, Highness Urio

A production by / Maonesho haya yametayarishwa na
Flinn Works

with / pamoja na
Berlin Postkolonial, Old Moshi Cultural Tourism Enterprise

in collaboration with / kwa kushirikiana na
Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Staatliche Ethnographische Sammlungen Sachsen, Linden-Museum Stuttgart, TA T Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Funded by the fund / Imefadhiliwa na
TURN2 Kulturstiftung des Bundes

funded by / kwa ufadhli wa
Die Beauftragte des Bundes für Kultur und Medien

additional funding by / Ufadhili wa ziada kutoka kwa
Between Bridges

Marejesho Research and Information Centre is a project by / ni mradi kati ya
Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen, Better Nation Foundation Tanzania

funded by / kituo kimefadhiliwa na
Gerda Henkel Foundation, German Lost Art Foundation

Kiswahili

Maonesho ya Marejesho yalibuniwa awali na timu ya pamoja ya watafiti kutoka Tanzania na Ujerumani kama maonesho ya utafiti yanayohamishika kutoka sehemu moja kwenda nyingine. Baada ya kutembelea vijiji sita katika mikoa ya Kilimanjaro na Arusha mnamo mwaka 2022, maonesho haya yalipelekwa nchini Ujerumani (Berlin na Marburg) kati ya mwaka 2023 na 2025, yakitoa nafasi ya kipekee kwa sauti na mitazamo kutoka Tanzania kusikika na kuonekana. Sasa maonesho haya yanawasilishwa tena katika toleo lililoboreshwa na kusahihishwa kama sehemu ya mradi wa Marejesho Research and Information Centre (Kituo cha Utafiti na Taarifa za Marejesho) Moshi.

Kipindi cha kihistoria kinachoangaziwa katika maonesho haya ni takribani mwaka 1900, wakati ambao ulikuwa wa utawala wa kikoloni wa Kijerumani katika Afrika ya Mashariki (1885–1918). Katika kipindi hiki, maafisa wa utawala wa kikoloni wa Kijerumani waliimarisha mamlaka yao katika maeneo ya Kilimanjaro na Arusha kwa kutumia vita na mauaji ya hadhara, jambo lililotikisa na kudhoofisha mfumo wa uongozi wa jadi. Athari za historia hii ya ukatili bado zinaonekana hadi leo. Kwa miongo kadhaa, wanafamilia wa viongozi walionyongwa wamekuwa wakipigania kurejeshwa kwa masalia ya mababu zao, ambayo yalipelekwa Ujerumani kwa lengo la tafiti za kibaguzi. Hata hivyo, siyo tu masalia ya viongozi walionyongwa yanayohifadhiwa hadi leo katika makumbusho na vyuo vikuu vya ng’ambo, yapo pia masalia ya mashujaa, wafungwa, watumwa, na watu wa kawaida . Baadhi ya masalia hayo yalichukuliwa kutoka maeneo ya mila na makaburini bila ridhaa ya jamii husika.

Aidha, maafisa wa kikoloni, walowezi, wanasayansi, wasafiri na wamisionari walichukua mali mbalimbali za watu binafsi, zikiwemo silaha, vito, mavazi na zana za kazi, pamoja na vitu vya mila na vya matumizi ya kila siku. Mara nyingi vitu hivi vilichukuliwa kwa nguvu, vitisho au shinikizo. Leo hii, mamia ya mali kale hizo za kihistoria kutoka Kilimanjaro na Arusha zimeshikiliwa katika maghala ya nyumba za makumbusho nchini Ujerumani. Ni sehemu ndogo tu ya vitu hivyo inayowekwa wazi kwa umma kupitia maonesho.

Maonesho haya yanachunguza changamoto zilizopo katika kutambua na kurejesha mabaki ya mabibi na mababu hawa wa kale waliotekwa. Hapa unaweza kuona picha za baadhi ya mali na vitu vilivyochukuliwa, pamoja na picha za kikoloni kutoka Kilimanjaro na Arusha, ambazo zinahifadhiwa katika nyumba za makumbusho na katika makavazi mbalimbali nchini Ujerumani. Ingawa picha hizi zinaonesha historia ya vurugu na ukandamizaji, pia zinaonyesha matendo ya upinzani dhidi ya ukoloni, pamoja na urembo, ubunifu na ustadi uliotumika katika utengenezaji wa mali kale hizo. Kazi za sanaa za kisasa zinazoonyeshwa kwenye maonyesho haya ziliundwa na wasanii wa Tanzania na zinalenga kuwaunganisha watu na mali zao kutoka zamani hadi sasa.

Hata hivyo, maonesho haya hayaelezi historia yote kwa ukamilifu, na bado kuna simulizi, kumbukumbu na taarifa nyingi ambazo hazijapatikana au kurekodiwa. Tuna maswali mengi ambayo bado hayajajibiwa, na tunatumaini kuwa na wewe pia una maswali. Karibu uchangie mawazo, kumbukumbu, uulize maswali na utoe mchango na maarifa yako hapa. Tunayachukulia maonesho haya kama mchakato endelevu. Kwa sababu hiyo, tutaendelea kuyaboresha mara kwa mara ili kujumuisha matokeo mapya ya utafiti na mchango kutoka kwa jamii.
Tumaini letu ni kwamba mababu hawa watarejea hivi karibuni katika nchi yao ya asili ili wapumzike kwa amani. Pia tunatumaini kwamba mali kale zao zitarudi katika jamii asilia, ambapo zinaweza kufundisha vizazi vya sasa na vijavyo kuhusu utamaduni na mila za zamani, na kuwatia moyo kwa ajili ya siku zijazo.