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REVISITING THE PAST A glimpse of German colonization
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Posted on Aug 06 1999
The Northern Marianas people will have the chance to revisit their past under the German administration through memorabilia that will be the next major exhibit at the CNMI Museum of History and Culture.
Paul Oberg, the museum’s executive director, said the new set of exhibit will be mounted and ready for public viewing in November.
The exhibit will consist of artifacts and photographs from the German period “which have never been published before,” Oberg said.
“Local residents who would come to visit the exhibit would find photographs of many families and images of islanders that they might identify with. They might be able to see pictures of their grandparents who survived here,” Oberg said.
Germany acquired the Marianas in 1899 but was forced out of the islands by the Japanese, who set foot when the First World War broke out in October 1914.
Two months ago, Tomas Fitchen, German consul to Guam, turned over to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio over 40 photographs taken during the 15-year German occupation, and other items including replicas and photocopies of maps, documents, and postcards reflecting the colonization period.
Fitchen said these articles were exact copies of those available in a Berlin museum.
The first set of exhibit mounted at the museum when it first opened late last year consisted of collections from shipwreck of the 17th century Nuestra Senora de Concepcion, and other artifacts from the Spanish period. The museum also hang related paintings borrowed from private collectors.
The most recent exhibit, which ended last week, consisted of paintings by Chinese artist Chen Xiao Ping.
Sometime this month, Oberg said, the museum will exhibit a set of photographs showing the “Chamorros of Yap” which was displayed in Guam three years ago.
The Chamorros of Yap exhibit, Oberg said, is produced by the CNMI Council for Humanities, and collated by Tony Ramirez, a geneologist who made a research on Chamorro families who lived in Yap and later moved back to the Marianas.
Oberg urges local residents to wait for the exhibit. “Cultural heritage can be preserved by actually experiencing it than just talking about it. They can see the past by looking at the photographs,” Oberg said. (MCM)
