On the Hoskins Peninsula, which belongs to Papua New Guinea, dance masks were traditionally used in performances at the beginning of the rainy season. They represented spiritual beings and were supposed to keep away diseases. The Ethnographic Collection contains 36 of the colorful masks, which the current head of the collection, Prof. Dr. Holger Jebens, was able to acquire during a research trip in the mid-1990s. They were partly made during his presence. The guided tour presents the masks and the religious ideas associated with them and reports on how mask production, performance practice and the presence of the ethnologist mutually influenced each other.
- Call for Applications: Masterclass 2024 with Andrew Apter
- Workshop: Entangled Economies. Mining and Agriculture from Antiquity to Modern Ages in Southern Spain
- We mourn the loss of Prof. Josef Franz Thiel
- Book Launch of the book series Southern Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa
- The rock art archive in 3D
- New publication: Ritual and Social Dynamics in Christian and Islamic Preaching
- Ausstellung in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Frobenius-Institut im Musée de l’homme, Paris
