Objecten uit Somalië uit de verzameling van Emil Riebeck, op de binnenplaats van het Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlijn 1884

Hermann Rückwardt captured this image of Emil Riebeck's collection of Somalian objects displayed at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin. Though undated, the photograph gives insight into the late 19th-century European fascination with collecting artifacts from colonized lands. The arrangement, with objects neatly aligned, presents a view of Somalia through a colonial lens, emphasizing the aesthetic and ethnographic value as defined by European standards. Consider what it means to display cultural artifacts in this way, divorced from their original context and meaning. These objects, once integral to daily life and ritual in Somalia, are transformed into specimens. How does the act of collecting and displaying these objects reflect the power dynamics between Europe and Somalia during this period? What stories and perspectives are lost in this translation? This image serves as a reminder of the complex, and often fraught, relationship between cultural appreciation and colonial exploitation.