Parzinger: Collections at the heart of the Humboldt Forum Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation presents itself at the Open Building Site Days
Press release from 06/10/2015
According to the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Hermann Parzinger, the topping-out ceremony for the new Berlin Palace and the open building site days are a good opportunity to promote the outstanding collections on the art and culture of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, which will be housed in the future Humboldt Forum, in front of a large audience. "With the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art, two world-class institutions will occupy more than half of the new Humboldt Forum. They are the centrepiece of the new art quarter. Not only is the building on schedule, so are the museums. The collections will begin their move from Dahlem as early as 2017! On the next two open days, everyone can get an idea of the rooms in which the non-European collections will be presented in a completely new way from 2019."
In the two large cubes reserved for the South Sea boats and the houses of Oceania, large-scale projections will give an impression of the future room design and exhibited objects. The Humboldt Lab will be presented in the future area of the foundation's own science and research library. Graphics will be used to explain where its projects have influenced the exhibition design of the museums. In the immediate neighbourhood, the Art Library will present its concept for the Humboldt Forum. In addition, the Marc Sinan Company will perform their piece "OKSUS Study VII" on 13 June at 4 pm, in which live electronics, video material and Uzbek folk tunes merge, some of which are played on original instruments from the Ethnological Museum.
Multi-perspectivity is central to the future presentation of the museums in the Humboldt Forum: the exhibitions will not be determined by a Eurocentric view, but will also incorporate the knowledge and ideas of the societies of origin. In addition, problematic aspects of the history of the collections will not be concealed but integrated into the presentation. Against the background of these special challenges in dealing with non-European collections, the SPK has developed a basic approach.
Further links
- Topping-out ceremony at the Humboldt Forum
- SPK's basic position on dealing with non-European collections