Twenty-three museum pieces were loaned back to Namibia on Friday from Germany as part of a commitment by Berlin to repair ties with its former African colony. The loan is the latest in a series of moves by Germany toward making up for its colonial-era past.

Artifacts not expected to return

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), which runs the Berlin museum, did not say why the objects were not simply repatriated to Namibia, rather than put on long-term loan. Local media reported that the SPK does not expect the objects to be returned to Germany.

The items, including an ancient three-headed drinking vessel, a doll wearing a traditional dress and various spears, hairpieces and other fashion accessories, were sent from the Ethnological Museum in Berlin to the National Museum of Namibia.

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They were picked by a panel of experts in Namibia for their particular historical, cultural and aesthetic significance and will be made available to local artists and academics for research.

The repatriation and research project costs almost €300,000 ($322,000), most of which will be used in Namibia, according to a news release from the SPK.

“Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures” is funded by Germany’s Gerda Henkel Foundation. The first phase saw the National Museum of Namibia renovated and a restorer and a museologist hired.

A new Museum of Namibian Fashion in Otjiwarongo is due to open on June 1. Both projects cost €400,000.

Berlin’s Ethnological Museum said it has been working with counterparts in Namibia for three years to discuss the future of the hundreds of objects from the southern African country that remain in its collections.

Germany confronts colonial past

Last year,…