Africa at the Tropenmuseum
Collections at the Tropenmuseum

Discusses the collections of the Tropenmuseum and the histories and stories that accompany them. This book elucidates the often hidden backgrounds of a museum collection, discussing objects within their original context, social histories and their contemporary meaning.

The following decades saw several changing objectives, from an emphasis on development cooperation towards an orientation on art and culture. Collection policies followed, focusing on daily household objects, popular art and contemporary art and design. The result is a fragmented but vivid collection that gives access to many forms of African art and culture as well as to the mindset of European collectors, researchers, and museum workers. This richly illustrated book emphasizes this historical context and the way the objects were collected and presented to the public to this day.