Twenty years since the signing of the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, ten years into provenance research at the Museum Rietberg, and in the light of the current debate on objects collected during the colonial era, it is time for a look into our everyday research practice and to reveal a few exciting aspects of our collection history.

The tour of the permanent exhibition addresses ten different thematic fields. We introduce you to collectors, describe what art dealers, archaeologists, and anthropologists actually do, explain which objects were acquired in a colonial context, what was purchased during the age of National Socialism, and what the present and future hold for collecting. The collection intervention offers art enjoyment and background information in one, with special focus on the question of provenance.