Tracking down works of art

Interview: Jessica Krauß

Professor Savoy, you are an art historian and an expert in the restitution of looted art from colonial contexts. How did your interest in this topic come about?

Savoy: I was born in Paris and grew up in France and Italy. In 1993 I came to Berlin on a DAAD scholarship. It was only there that I discovered that the fam­ous quadriga on the Brandenburg Gate had been taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1806 and then returned in 1814. I did some research and stumbled across some unpublished sources – a stroke of luck for any scientist! This made me want to dive deeper into the whole subject of looted art, which is why I switched from German studies to art history. I remained in Berlin and have been working and researching here ever since, and since 2003 have been a professor of art history at Technische Universität Berlin.

“Art history isn’t only about aesthetics, it’s also about awareness and transparency.”

Your research focuses on the appropriation of art during wars and periods of colonial rule. What drives you in your work?

Savoy: The history of the removal of cultural ­assets by force is closely linked to European history. Leading museums in Berlin, Paris or London only rarely reveal how they came to be in possession of their treasures. I find this silence with respect to the origin of such artefacts problematic. Fortunately, we nowadays feel a collective need to push for transparency about the origins of these collections. People want to know where the artworks they marvel at in museums actually come from. Telling the back­stories of the exhibits is important, especially in a globalised world in which many people come from precisely those regions where the looted artefacts originated. It isn’t only about aesthetics, it’s also about awareness and transparency.

How does this increased awareness of such issues come about?

Savoy: A lot has changed, especially in the past ten years. Provenance research, which explores the origin of artworks, has become an important topic in the public sphere and in the ­media. The Humboldt Forum in Berlin, for example, which opened in 2020 and houses ethnological collections, is under public pressure to assume responsibility for the history of the objects it exhibits. We are currently seeing a paradigm shift as far as this issue is concerned. Museums can no longer shirk their responsibility, which is an important step in the right direction.

How can museums and art lovers show a sense of responsibility?

Savoy: Speaking from my perspective as a scientist, the most important thing is for us to continue talking openly about these topics. For instance, when we gaze in admiration at the bust of Nefertiti in Berlin, we should also be aware of how it was ­taken from Amarna in Egypt and ended up in Berlin. One is certainly entitled to take pleasure in such artworks, but one cannot enjoy them fully without knowing the history behind them.

“Art history is also a discipline with relevance to the future – the work we are doing today will shape the world of tomorrow.”

What motivates you in your work when you think about the future?

Savoy: For me, art history isn’t only about study­ing the past – it is also a discipline with relevance to the future. The work we are doing today will shape the world of tomorrow. The question of how we deal with our heritage – be it colonial artefacts or artworks looted during the Nazi era – is crucial. We must ensure that the geopolitics of our cultural ­heritage is fairer and more balanced in future, and negotiations on this are currently underway.

Which projects will you be working on in the near future?

Savoy: I head a team of around 30 international researchers from different parts of the world. Our current project is an Atlas of Absence that explores Cameroon’s cultural heritage. We published a book of the same name in 2024 – it details our initial findings and is available free of charge. Germany holds some 40,000 artefacts from Cameroon in public collections, yet the country itself has hardly any agency over its cultural heritage. We want to shine the spotlight on this imbalance and hope to attract more widespread attention to the issue in both Germany and Cameroon.
Another topic we have been working on for many years is the art looted during the Nazi era and the trauma associated with it. Many mu­seums in Germany are still profiting to this day from artworks that were stolen from Jewish ­families who were persecuted and murdered ­during this period.

How can international academic exchange ­contribute to this process?

Savoy: These days we can see how Europe is shrinking in on itself and how there is growing fear of otherness. This is gradually eroding our ability to understand other perspectives, languages and priorities. Today, institutions such as the DAAD are more important than ever, as they foster exchange and build intellectual bridges. Only through serious collaboration and exchange can we prevent Europe from becoming further isolated. ―

Professor Bénédicte Savoy studies the restitution of artworks from colonial contexts. She moved from Paris to Berlin as an Erasmus student in 1993, was awarded a DAAD scholarship in 1994 and decided to remain in the German capital. Since 2003, the French art historian and expert in provenance research has been teaching and researching at Technische Universität ­Berlin, where she heads the Modern Art History department. A report she co-authored with Senegalese academic Felwine Sarr for French President Emmanuel Macron recommended that African artworks be returned from French museums, sparking a Europe-wide debate about the restitution of colonial artworks. Savoy is campaigning for the decolonialisation of museums and for an ethical approach to looted cultural assets.

Professor Bénédicte ­Savoy talks more about her fascinating research in our video.