The Euregio Museum Year 2021 was dedicated to the theme “Transport–Transit–Mobility.” In our project proposal at the time, we wrote: The project “The Ethiopian Cloak” uses a singular object to exemplify the spatial movement of museum artifacts. (…) Objects are not as “immobile” as they seem.
Now, the ceremonial cloak has indeed set off on a journey. Until March 15, 2026, it can be seen in the exhibition “JUST? Stories about Social Inequalities” at the Tyrolean Folk Art Museum in Innsbruck. Alongside other historical objects from Tyrol, South Tyrol, and Trentino, the exhibition explores stories of social inequality, crisis management, and societal transformation. The exhibition is part of the current Euregio Museum Year 2025, which takes the Peasants’ Wars of 1525 as a starting point to address contemporary issues. Villa Freischütz is once again taking part – more details on that coming soon!
© Tyrolean State Museums, Photo: Maria Kirchner
However, the ceremonial cloak from Ethiopia is not only traveling physically but also virtually. Ariane Karbe and Hannes Obermair, who curated the exhibition “The Ethiopian Cloak” together, presented the project last year at the conference “Just and Fair Solutions? Perspectives on Dealing with Contexts of Injustice” in Jena. The event was hosted by the German Optical Museum. The conference proceedings, which will include a contribution about our project, are set to be published later this year.
Just a stone’s throw away from Villa Freischütz, Ariane Karbe and Hannes Obermair also shared their experiences on the topic of restitution this March at Kunst Meran. The conference “Reparation and Restitution. On the Redistributive Function of Museum Institutions” included the Villa Freischütz project as a case study to discuss the responsibilities of museums with international guests. As stated on the conference website:
“Taking a historical example from South Tyrol – the precious Ethiopian cloak from the colonial era, brought to Merano as ‘war booty’ by General Enea Navarini – the conference highlights the biases inherent in museum narratives. It advocates for a cultural production that fosters intercultural dynamics, balance, and transformation, giving voice to these visions both discursively and materially.”
The (English-language) presentation is available here: Reparation and Restitution. Hannes Obermair and Ariane Karbe.
This autumn, the project will travel on to Salzburg. Together with colleagues from the universities of Salzburg, Linz, and Vienna, the Department of History and European Ethnology at the University of Innsbruck is organizing a workshop titled “Austria (Post)Colonial: Traces, Gaps, Research Perspectives.” Also on the team is Markus Wurzer, whom we interviewed for our podcast “THE ETHIOPIAN CLOAK.”
All podcast episodes can be listened to [HERE].
We’re curious to see where this journey will take us next. But at the heart of our project, the central question remains: Will the cloak one day return to Ethiopia?