CULTURAL RECKONING: TOWARDS A DECOLONIAL FUTURE

THE Global Cultural Assembly 2025, held this week at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, marked a pivotal moment in the global conversation around museums, colonial legacies, and cultural restitution.

- HALIM GENÇOĞLU

Bringing together 80 delegates from across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and beyond, the assembly explored the urgent theme: “From Declaration to Action.” It called for a transformation in how museums operate, not only in what they exhibit, but in who gets to decide how cultural histories are told.

Over the course of six days, the Humboldt Forum, a former Prussian palace and now one of Germany's most debated cultural institutions became a space of reflection, confrontation, and imagination. Panels, workshops, and keynote speeches focused on equitable partnerships, decolonial practices, and the role of cultural institutions in a rapidly changing global landscape. As museums face increasing pressure to reckon with their colonial foundations, the assembly asked difficult but necessary questions about power, voice, and justice.

“Museums must exhibit justice”