Colonialism and Enslavement in a Bottle: Guiding People through an Exhibition in the German Historical Museum

Abstract

In the exhibition entitled "Europe and the Sea" at the German Historical Museum in Berlin, visitors were confronted with a modern bottle of Johannsen-brand rum that served to illuminate the transatlantic "slave trade" and the enslavement of Africans. The bottle, with an old map of the Caribbean on its label, was presented as a hands-on object. My contribution focuses on discussions between visitors and tour guides on the past and present effects of colonialism. All these conversations were triggered by the bottle, which created a post-colonial narrative between the other historical objects in that part of the exhibition and the everyday life of the visitors themselves.