How do you trace the origin of objects? How did they get into the museum? Who gave them to the museum? In what context were they collected? Were they bought, given, traded, or possibly stolen? What consequences does this have for museums and scientists working with the objects today? These are the typical questions that provenance research deals with. LindenLAB 2 “Objects and Collectors” also addressed the question of how to communicate the results and working methods of provenance researchers.

The installation in LindenLAB 2 invited visitors to playfully experience the working methods of provenance researchers based on a real research assignment. Visitors were given an insight into the working methods and sources used and were able to discover the history behind them for themselves.

For LindenLAB 2, the collection of Karl Holz (1857 – 1934) was intensively considered. Holz was a merchant who probably emigrated to Chile in the early 1880s, henceforth calling himself Carlos Holz and supplying Karl Graf von Linden with many objects, especially Mapuche. What is the story behind his collection? What obstacles, twists and historical incidents are involved?