Augmented road signs

State Museum

A virtual exhibition at the State Museum in Hannover explores the colonial era and looted art through digital sculptures.

Open a portal to a virtual exhibition that explores ethnological discourse during the colonial era. On display are sculptures from the archives of the Landesmuseum Hannover.

“Scanned! Now bring it back” is part of the Augmented Street Signs series. It aims to shed light on Hanover’s colonial history. The digital exhibition explores the issue of looted art using the ethnological collection of the Landesmuseum Hannover. The project not only contributes to the digitization and preservation of the artworks, but also facilitates an in-depth examination of the past.

Ethnographic objects from the colonial era are being transferred into the virtual world. The digital copies serve to make art visible worldwide and raise the question of whether the originals can be returned as a result. The focus is not on suppressing the past, but on bringing it into focus through a contemporary and respectful presentation—in order to lay the groundwork for an in-depth discourse.