Georg Kolbe Museum

This digital symposium invites scholars, artists, curators, and cultural workers to explore the legacy of African-American figurative sculpture from the early 20th century, with a special focus on transatlantic journeys, networks and exchanges. The aim is to address gaps in global art history and foster new research dialogues between North America and Europe. The digital gathering focuses on figurative art and sculpture in particular by African-American artists active in the first half of the 20th century such as Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907), Augusta Savage (1892-1962), Selma Burke (1900-1995), Richmond Barthé (1901-1989), Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877-1968), Nancy Elisabeth Prophet (1890-1960) and others.The symposium serves as a research and network space and prequels a planned exhibition on the topic at the Georg Kolbe Museum Berlin. The symposium is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Since 2024, as part of the “Der Brunnen/The Fountain” project, the museum has been conducting interdisciplinary research into the history and contextualization of Georg Kolbe’s “Dancers Fountain” (1922). In this context, it proactively initiated discussions with the descendants of the original owner, Heinrich Stahl. The goal was to clarify the restitution issue and, building on that, to develop new forms of remembrance. Scholarly research revealed that the fountain is a cultural asset resulting from Nazi persecution. The museum restituted the fountain to the community of heirs in the spring of 2026.

On Saturday, 1 February 2026, the German section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) presented the awards “Special Exhibition of the Year,” “Exhibition of the Year,” and “Museum of the Year” at its annual general meeting at the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

This year’s Museum of the Year 2025 award was bestowed on the Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin.

The Georg Kolbe Museum has completely modernized its lighting system: an energy-efficient lighting concept, a solar power system, and sustainable outdoor lighting showcase the artworks and architecture to their best advantage—while significantly reducing the museum’s ecological footprint.