Spotlight on Planet Africa - an exhibition for archaeology communication

Planet Africa shares the outcomes of archaeological research through an exhibition that brings together new art with digital engagement. Its vibrant visuals were created by African artists and designed by notwendiges übel, a German company. Discover its achievements!

Sharing the exhibition digitally with ‘Museum on a stick’

Also referred to as the ‘museum on a stick’, Planet Africa is unique as it is openly available and shared digitally with host venues so they can print and build the exhibition, reducing costs and the logistical nightmare of transporting an exhibition.

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through 70 episodes of current research on African archaeology through images, texts, film clips, and objects. Together with African artists and a network of international researchers, it uses archaeology as a connecting element between continents and cultures to promote intercultural dialogue.

The exhibition showcases Africa’s unique cultural heritage as the cradle of humanity through 20 presentation boxes with six themes presented in different formats: text, images, infographics, animations, short clips and free-standing elements. The boxes are such that the staging can be arranged to fit different spaces, optimising its potential to be staged at a number of venues.

The Planet Africa exhibition is a result of a collaboration between the Federal Government of Germany, German Research Foundation (DFG), Staatlich Museen zu Berlin and University of Ghana.

Planet Africa staging across Africa

Planet Africa has been staged in Eswatini, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Mozambique. The first launches of the exhibition took place in Rabat and Nairobi in November 2024. In 2025, the exhibition launched in Acca in March, Lobamba in April, and Maputo in September.

Within its first two months of staging, the exhibition in Kenya had over 30,000 visitors and positive feedback from them, including Dr Jamie Davies, Senior International Partnerships and Engagement Manager (Europe), at AHRC who was ‘hugely impressed’ and took to LinkedIn to share his enthusiasm.

Pull out quote:

Planet Africa staging within Germany

Artwork by Enotie Ogbebor was chosen as the main supporting art for the current exhibition staging at the Archäologische Staatssammlung, Munich. The Archäologische Staatssammlung used parts of the artwork and colour for their different publicity material including the fliers, tickets, digital art, and most noticeably the exhibition display showpieces.

The work features distorted and mingled illustrations with a distinctive popping pink background to represent ‘New Perspectives’. Enotie Ogbebor is an artist from Nigeria and his artwork is used in three of the boxes.

In Berlin, featured artwork came from 249 Writers - an artist collective from Sudan - with photo realistic colourful illustrations. These artists worked on five of the boxes to illustrate the connection between people and the environment under the title ‘Know(ing) How’.

The exhibition is being staged at the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie in Chemnitz as of October 2025 until April 2026.

Other themes of the exhibition

Planet Africa’s first theme, ‘Diversity’ was created by Sansão Nhantumbo, a teacher and artist from Mozambique. The second theme was produced by Maasai Mbili, another artist collective this time from Kenya, who worked on three of the boxes. The theme ‘Becoming Human’ was brought to life by the use of illustrations representing life’s metamorphosis cycle.

Theme four, ‘Signs & Images’ was created by Ed Oner, a graffiti artist from Morocco, who worked on three of the boxes. Mame Afua Mensah, an artist from Ghana, worked on the artwork in theme five, ‘Resources’.

Additional resources for children

Planet Africa’s artwork does not stop at the exhibition. There is a children’s companion handbook which is illustrated and designed by Franziska Becker and Kristin Meyer. This enchanting handbook transforms key scientific information from the exhibition into child-friendly images that children can relate to.

Find out more

Learn more about the Planet Africa exhibition by visiting the official website. Visit the exhibition on location in Chemnitz at the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie.

Read other stories from Europeana Pro and explore Black History on Europeana.eu.

Enjoy this story? Then sign up for our monthly newsletter.

The development of this story was supported by author Martha Mosha’s participation in the Europeana Academy course ‘How to tell great stories and write for Europeana.eu.’ You can take the course yourself.