Loot. 10 Stories

From 22 March 2024, the Humboldt Forum will present a temporary exhibition “Loot. 10 Stories”. Through ten case studies, visitors will be immersed in the complex topic of looted art over three different periods: the colonial era, the Napoleonic conquests in the 18th century and the so-called “Third Reich” between 1933 and 1945. The objects from the collections of the Mauritshuis (The Hague, Netherlands), three Berlin museums (Ethnological Museum, City Museum and Gipsformerei) and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes will be presented both as originals and as replicas. The visitors will encounter, besides others, the horse head of the Quadriga, a self-portrait by Rembrandt or an ornamented Staff from Surinam and replicas and moulds of the Benin bronzes. In particular, the innovative technology of virtual reality (VR) will allow to experience selected stories and prompt to think about the questions: In what contexts were these objects looted? How do the museums deal with looted art today? And what else should be done in the future?

A temporary exhibition initiated and developed by the Mauritshuis in The Hague in partnership with guest curators and creative directors Jongsma + O’Neill, and realised in cooperation with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin and the Ethnologisches Museum and Museum für Asiatische Kunst der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz.