The individual modules repeatedly reference current research projects that have provided a significant portion of the images, graphics, and films. These projects span from the origins of the human species to the development of new cultural techniques and dietary strategies that have been shared globally from Africa. This creates a panorama of a continent that fascinates with its natural diversity and requires ongoing survival strategies due to continuous environmental changes, adaptation processes, and migration movements.
Archaeological finds, along with images and writings, offer a comprehensive testament to the art, craftsmanship, technology, and environment of past eras—and to the connections among people across vast distances. Excavations of settlements and urban centers reveal social and political structures of coexistence, while mobile lifestyles existed in extensive regions. Furthermore, the modern application of ancient knowledge and the archaeological exploration of one’s own past are showcased through the African researchers and artists involved in the research projects and the exhibition. Thus, the exhibition also examines the viability of archaeology as a connecting link for a pan-African and intercontinental interconnectedness.
“Planet Africa: An Archaeological Journey Through Time” is produced by a team of curators led by Jörg Linstädter and Miriam Rotgänger from the Commission for Non-European Archaeology and Cultures of the German Archaeological Institute, with support from Wazi Apoh (University of Ghana, Accra-Legon), Gerd-Christian Weniger (Museum Consult), Matthias Wemhoff, and Ewa Dutkiewicz (Museum of Prehistory and Early History), along with a large number of African and European archaeologists.
The exhibition is funded through resources from the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the State Museums in Berlin. Thanks to generous funding, the exhibition is free to the public at the James-Simon-Galerie.
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