Film
The Mazateca collection consists of around 470 objects acquired by the Royal Museum of Ethnology in Berlin (Ethnological Museum) at the beginning of the 20th century. The collector was Wilhelm Bauer, a German living near Mexico City who was interested in Indigenous cultures and languages. He collected everyday objects and woven items, as well as children's toys and ritual objects.
Since Bauer's visits to the Mazateca region in Oaxaca, Mexico, the material culture has changed fundamentally. The language has also changed, and some cultural practices have fallen into oblivion. This makes the collection, which also includes photographs and texts, all the more important for today's Indigenous population. During her CoMuse fellowship, Mazatec librarian and author Gabriela García contributed her expertise. Together with her colleagues at the Biblioteca de Investigación Juan de Córdova, Fundación Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca, textile specialist Alejandro de Ávila and staff at the Ethnological Museum, she worked intensively with the materials and translated the Mazatec terms. One result of the collaboration is a travelling photographic exhibition to inform the population of the Mazateca region about the collection in Berlin. The film documents the joint work in the depot of the Ethnological Museum