Workshop on the exhibition concept for the non-European collections at the Humboldt Forum successfully concluded
Press release from 04/08/2011
The International Advisory Board Humboldt Forum met for the first time from 6 to 8 April 2011. The expert committee consists of around forty renowned museum experts and academics from all continents. Its purpose is to provide critical support for the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation's exhibition planning for the Humboldt Forum in the coming years and to enrich it with the expertise and experience of its members.
Over the past few days, the Board discussed the existing exhibition concept for the SMB's non-European collections (Ethnological Museum and Museum of Asian Art) together with experts from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (SMB) and reviewed it to ensure it is up to date. Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, stated: "I am pleased that the concept was received favourably in many respects, but at the same time we gained numerous important suggestions for its further development in the intensive and extremely open discussions. We were able to benefit enormously from the experience of the experts, some of whom have themselves been significantly involved in the remodelling and redesign of museums in recent years."
In twelve panels, the experts discussed questions on the theory and practice of contemporary presentation of non-European art and culture. The opening topics were the influence of new museum buildings on the content concept of museums and the lessons that could be learnt for the Humboldt Forum, as well as general aspects, methods and theories that are relevant for exhibition concepts - for example, the question of geographical, thematic or chronological order, the inclusion of aspects of contemporary life in the exhibition or the question of how sensible it is to separate the collections. Other panels each dealt with specific questions of presentation and the further development of the collections for a particular geographical area (Africa, America, Australia and Oceania, South East Asia and Islam). A central aspect of this was the question of integrating the current situation of indigenous groups, a topic that was explored in greater depth in a separate panel, particularly with regard to networking and co-operation with such groups and possible international research projects. Three panels dealt with various aspects of the presentation of non-European art, including the meaningful integration of contemporary art. How the themes of colonisation, post-colonialism and globalisation could be addressed in the exhibition was also the subject of a separate panel. Finally, on Friday afternoon there was a concluding discussion with other workshop participants (Okwui Enwezor, curator, artistic director of major exhibitions and author as well as designated director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich, Thomas W. Gaehtgens, director of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, Martin Heller, cultural manager and project manager for the development of an event concept for the Agora in the Humboldt Forum, and Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum).
The Mercator Foundation generously sponsored the workshop. It will be documented in a publication.