Bible Museum, University of Münster, 10 Oct 2025 – 1 Mar 2026
In the past two years, the Global Bible Project research team has dedicated itself intensively to a critical examination of British and German contributions to the creation of a global Bible, i.e. the attempt to translate the Bible into all languages of the world in the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. The research team has focused on three case study regions where German and British colonialism once prevailed: the Arctic, Australia/Oceania and West Africa. Apart from publications in reputable journals, a significant event of the project in the last two years was the the GloBil Conference at Westminster College, University of Cambridge which brought together scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds and from different parts of the world (Africa, Australia, Europe).
In the third year of the project, the GloBil team is planning a project exhibition in collaboration with the Bible Museum of the University of Münster with support from the Cambridge University Library, both of which are project partners. As a crowning event of the project, the exhibition aims to bring together results of research in the three case study regions, providing a tangible presentation of the historical processes, actors, and networks that advanced the translation and dissemination of the Bible into various indigenous languages in the Arctic, Australia/Oceania, and West Africa amidst increasing western colonial expansion. It will depict how the Bible, starting from its original Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek sources, was disseminated through translations across different historical periods and imperial contexts up to and including the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The exhibition will therefore comprise, for instance, ancient manuscripts, translated Bibles and Bible portions in European, Arctic, Oceanic, and West African languages. Visitors will have the opportunity to view physical copies of the earliest translated Bible portions in some of the indigenous languages of these regions. Apart from Bibles, the exhibition will also comprise linguistic materials such as grammars, dictionaries, textbooks, and other items that contributed to the translation of the Bible. This will demonstrate to visitors the multi-step process behind missionary Bible translations in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is important to mention that, in most cases, the languages into which missionaries and their local collaborators sought to translate the Christian scriptures existed initially in oral forms. Consequently, missionary linguistic endeavors, encompassing collection of words, creation of grammars, primers, dictionaries, etc., were essential preparatory work prior to the translation of Bible. In addition to textual material, the exhibition will showcase ethnographic artefacts related to the three regions which will illuminate the socio-cultural milieu within which missionaries and their local counterparts lived and translated the Bible. It is also important to indicate that a visit to the exhibition will be rewarded with the opportunity to see artworks that were specifically commissioned for the project and executed by Global Majority artists from West Africa and Oceania. The artists, Leeza Awojobi (Bristol-based Cameroonian poet) and Manfred Wkeng Aseng (New Guinean artist), engage artistically with the post-colonial legacies of missionary Bible translations in their respective regions of interest. Lastly, but certainly not the least interesting, the exhibition will display results from the Digital Humanities part of the project led by the Service Center for Digital Humanities of the University of Münster. These will include a digitized map of the global Bible movement and open access database.
Ultimately, the exhibition seeks to provide a forum for a postcolonial reflection on the legacies of mission-translated Bibles during the era of European colonialism in the Arctic, Australia/Oceania, and West Africa, foregrounding the essential yet often overlooked contributions of indigenous Bible translators will equally be foregrounded. An exhibition catalogue is being prepared with contributions from selected Bible societies of the United Bible Societies (UBS) and project team members to secure the results of the exhibition. It will be published by the Bible Museum.
Date and Time
The exhibition will commence with an official opening ceremony on 10 October 2025 at 18:00 CET in the Bible Museum. Afterwards, it will run until 1 March 2026, during which period visitors will be able to view the exhibition during the Bible Museum’s usual opening hours.
by Michael Wandusim (Münser)