The RJM not only preserves everyday objects from the Global South but also countless ritual and sacred objects. They help alleviate pain and fear, accompany grief when loved ones have died, and prevent them from being forgotten. They also commemorate important historical and political moments such as coronations, wars, and catastrophes. All these objects that the museum preserves here are “containers of memory” of individual and collective destinies.

I MISS YOU is a series of exhibitions on missing, giving back, and remembering. It is about objects that have been in the museum for a long time and are now being displayed in a different light. What do they tell? What story do they hide? Where did they originate from? What meaning do they harbor for those who made, cherished, and honored them? Who has lost them? Who misses them? And how are they part of the debate around restitution and colonial reappraisal today?