Exploring Existence in Berlin

Writer and cultural scientist Ifunanya Madufor worked as a fellow at the Ethnologisches Museum for several months as part of the project „The Collaborative Museum“. While researching Nigerian Igbo artifacts there, she also explored wintry Berlin from a perspective that was strongly influenced by Igbo spirituality.

Text: Ifunanya Madufor

(zur deutschen Version)

The grey sky that lumps over Berlin is without words but says so much. Covered by centuries of love and war, the city is woven together, piece by piece like a fantastic performance. There are feelings you do not have enough words for, the force of life that clings to you here is one. The air is imbued with a curious blend of cherry and salt water – a distinctive aroma that follows me through the city like a faithful companion. My studio as a Fellow of the Ethnologisches Museum is at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, saddled along a long line of similar architectural design and artistic expression in the heart of Kreuzberg, serving as both sanctuary and stage. This is from where I will be commuting to my place of work, sometimes at the boisterous Humboldt Forum that hosts exhibitions of the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst at the Museum Island, where cultures converge and stories reveal; and most times at the quiet and almost deserted district of Dahlem where the collection care facilities and offices of the Ethnologisches Museum are located. It is not my first time in Berlin and even though the biting cold (a stark contrast to the warmth in Nigeria) would leave me mostly unsettled, I pretend like I know this city, and like the city knows me, too. In Kreuzberg lies an eclectic mix of ideas, cultures and cuisines. I imagine this kind of mix to be a portal to different corners of the world.

The initial weeks are a whirlwind of discovery and adaptation; learning to lean into the imprints of winter, meeting the directors of the museum, and my engagement at the Freie Universität Berlin. Here, while sharing an overview of my research on the spiritual symbols of the Igbo people, I learned that engaging in truth-telling takes precedence when delving into narratives of history and cultural heritage, particularly in contexts where terms and concepts may be unfamiliar and misunderstood. I had quietly shrugged with the labelling of these artifacts as mere “objects”, and hence devoted a chunk of my time to a quiet protest. “It diminishes their profound significance and central meaning when called an object,” I spoke. “Rather, identifying them as symbols acknowledges not just their roles as manifestations of cultural realities, but gives a deep sense of understanding a people’s cosmological framework.” It was precise, and for the rest of my days I would consciously try to chip in these words when conversing with people.

I would like to add here, that amid this academic engagement lay a moment of vulnerability. While happily walking to the train station, my feet took a careful measure on the icy streets, while perhaps ignoring the required gait for navigating the paths draped in snow. I would stumble twice, spraining a muscle or two, but each of them offering a lesson of the resilience required to thrive in an unfamiliar terrain.

The following weeks came with grace, a more focused approach on examining these symbols, which are all from the Igbo land, my ancestral land and place of birth. Following in the footsteps of ancestors that had come before me, who had diligently worked towards the restoration of our Indigenous knowledges – Achebe, Nwoga, Acahlonu, Egonu – I offered thanksgiving and prayers. During my internship at the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka some years back, my quest for truth was born. Here, I sank into a new consciousness, a new way of being, emanating from an unbiased and familiar worldview. It was like a rebirth of known things that had been forgotten; the remembrance and subsequent immersion, which ultimately became my epiphany.  Soon, I had become born again, consciously unlearning and relearning, taking these baby steps of courage. My first conscious inquiry was into the knowledge of the self – the significant review of one’s ancestral origin, where individual life in its entirety starts. And where does this start?

I remember reading Chinua Achebe’s “Chi in Igbo Cosmology”, right there in the anthology compiled by the late Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze, “African Philosophy: An Anthology”, right after my high school and carving the urge to pledge my loyalty to something. That something didn’t have a name yet, but I should say that this espoused my curiosity in an unfamiliar way and so I began asking questions. It was these questions that ushered me into my current path. The storage facility of the Ethnologisches Museum in Dahlem laid bare a defined path into knowing the answers – Igbo spirituality or that which the Igbo people would rightly call Odinani, “It is in the land.”

In their numerous life activities, the Igbo people take cue from the spiritual orientation of their heritage. Everything they do is deeply tied to the philosophies surrounding their traditional perception of reality. The nature of Igbo spirituality is one which involves a fundamental recognition of all things in creation. The divine essence severs a fragment of itself and inserts in everything it creates. Hence, it is the reality of the Igbo people that everything created is with life, including the trees, hills, rivers, mountains, and animals. Hence, the examination of Igbo spiritual symbols serves as a tangible manifestation of this cosmological paradigm. By examining these symbols, which predominantly encompass personal deities, communal deities, and ancestral masks, one is not merely engaging with static representations; rather, they serve as conduits through which the essence of the divine is deeply experienced. Each symbol therefore becomes a microcosm of the broader Igbo worldview. My study of the Igbo spiritual symbols at the Ethnologisches Museum of Berlin transcends just academic inquiry. It has rather become a gateway to a deeper understanding of the ancient Igbo life and expression, with a clarity to understanding their unwritten history. With each of these revelations, it becomes simpler to talk about the knowledge of the self; the stories of the ancestors, the unborn, the spirits – the complete history of our origin as it should be.

At the open talk, Späti, held at the Humboldt Forum, I find myself discussing this in a quiet ambience, with people of different life paths – the actualization of our spirituality and how these symbols can open up this pathway. I could feel the voices of my ancestors speaking through me, delving further into the Igbo philosophy of balance. This philosophy begets a popular saying among the Igbo people; “ife kwudo, ife ozo akwude be ya,” which means that nothing stands alone, for there is always an invisible counterpart to everything that has life. I let the audience know this, that to understand the history and cultural manifestation of a people, you would have to first understand their spiritual leaning.

As my journey at the Ethnologisches Museum draws to a temporal close, I savor a piece of French Fries dipped in mayonnaise and ketchup, alongside cuts of sausage– a Berlin Street food which I have just been introduced to. Yet, amidst its sensory delight, I can only think of home, the deepest imprint on my soul, where I will be returning to soon. I can only imagine how much of our past is intertwined in our present. Lies have been told, with our story written in half-truths or mistruths. It is now left for us to decide for ourselves how long we want to hold on to these narratives. As long as we walk in the footprints of ancestors who were great sages and philosophers, we can also decide to burn down the false narrative and build new ones, now, on foundations of truth.

CoMuse – The Collaborative Museum is an initiative by the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst that aims to develop multi-perspective approaches to collection-based research and to test new formats of international collaborative processes in order to intensify the decolonization and diversification of museum practices in sustainable way.