Encountering cultures
What the objects in the Missiemuseum Steyl tell us about entangled histories and contact between missionaries and local societies
Missiehuis, St. Michaelstraat 7, 5935 BL STEYL Netherlands
Missionary Collections and the objects they contain can be considered as testimonies of entangled histories. The objects and their presentation are silent witnesses of multi-faceted contact between missionaries and local societies – in positive and negative ways. To make them speak and tell their histories is one goal of an exhibition in the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne that presents these collections and their stories (October 2nd, 2025, to February 8th, 2026). The Missiemuseum Steyl is one of the partners of this exhibition and a few of their objects are on display in Cologne. We take this opportunity to present the exhibition’s topic in Steyl. Experts from the Missiemuseum Steyl and Ruhr-University Bochum will introduce the exhibition’s general topic, and then guide visitors to a few selected objects whose biographies illustrate the idea of “missionary museums as contact zones.”
A cooperative event with the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) at Ruhr-University Bochum, as part of the exhibition “Missionssammlungen ausgepackt” in the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne. Speakers: Tim Karis (Bochum), Martin Radermacher (Bochum), Paul Voogt (Steyl), Oscar Ekkelboom (Steyl)
PROGRAM
Presentation of the Cologne exhibition and its theme by Martin and Tim, including a mention of the Steyl objects.
Tour of the exhibition with Paul and Oscar. Selection of objects / artworks related to entanglement, contact zones, and mutual relations.
Final discussion in the Mission House.
