At the beginning of Africa Art Archive (AAA) is the project "Object – Text – Image."
The project is funded by the Swiss National Fund and centers around questions on the production of knowledge on African arts in the Himmelheber archive. The multimedia archive of the art ethnologist gathers more than 930 objects, and 15,000 photographs and films, as well as a rich archive of writings – which is made accessible digitally here for the first time. Hans Himmelheber’s personal collection and archive was donated to the Museum Rietberg by his family between 2013 and 2022. In the meantime, an entire research network has grown up around the cooperation between Museum Rietberg Zurich and the University of Zurich, combining historical and ethnological, and artistic and curatorial positions. The contributions from Africa, Europe, and America deal with the (post)colonial Himmelheber archive from multiple perspectives: in working papers and multiple readings, with art projects, and through exhibitions.