The Ethnological Museum houses collections from the indigenous Mapuche people, mostly from present-day Chile. A collaborative project with Mapuche representatives aims to explore the contemporary significance of these collections.

Collaborative work with Mapuche In May 2025, five representatives of the Mapuche people came to Berlin: an anthropologist, a weaver, a silversmith, a Machi – a spiritual leader of the Mapuche – and her assistant for spiritual support. The aim of the collaborative project was to learn how Mapuche people in the present day perceive and understand the collections, drawing on their knowledge of (im)material culture. The Mapuche delegation's visit to the museum was a valuable opportunity for knowledge exchange and direct contact with the objects. However, for the Mapuche, it also meant a confrontation with the painful history of the dispossession and colonization of their territory.

The objects contain information about their origin, use, techniques, and spiritual dimension—information largely missing from the museum's documentation, but which the Mapuche can decipher today because their material culture remains alive and present within them. The Berlin collection enables the reconstruction and revival of complex Mapuche knowledge.