Encounters in Multiplicity
Thu, 23 September – Sun, 26 September 2021
| Free admission |
| You can visit the opening programme without booking a ticket. Exception: Impossible Conversation. To visit the exhibitions you need to book a timed ticket. |
| For participation in Encounters.Have a say, Encounters.Listen to and the performance (Encounters.Art) the 3G rule applies. |
| The various programmes have different times (see below for details). The exhibitions close at the regular times. |
| Humboldt Forum |
The opening days allow a variety of perspectives on the collections.
What you will find
After more than four years, the first part of the exhibitions of the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin can finally be experienced once again – newly curated with a contemporary feel and in the centre of Berlin. In the spirit of the “poetics of multiplicity” by Caribbean writer and philosopher Édouard Glissant, representatives of different societies as well as international artists, experts and collaborators will share their perspectives on the collections and bring new insights to their origins during the opening days. The previously hidden stories of these exhibits will then be uncovered to become visible and audible. Only through these different encounters – especially with the visitors – can the beauties, fragilities and contradictions of diversity begin to come to life. We look forward to many encounters with you!
Programme overview
23. & 24.09.2021
Questions Project
Every encounter begins with a question – this is the maxim of Proyecto Pregunga (Questions Project) by the artist collective MilM2. They will collect questions in and about the Humboldt Forum and visualize them over the opening days to create an archive of visitor questions.
4–8.30pm
throughout the building
Pop-up Architecture
The architecture collective Parasite 2.0 transforms the Schlüter Courtyard into the perfect space for getting into the mood to visit the exhibitions, spending time with the family or for unleashing intensive conversation following your visit. The DJ collective Frauengedeck will add to the atmosphere of interacting and exchange from late afternoon and into the evening.
Pop-up Architecture: accessible around the clock in the Schlüter Courtyard
DJanes: 4–8.30pm
Change in Perspective
Every evening, the Schlüter Coutyard will transform into a huge screen showing a series of films entitled Change in Perspective. Berlin-based artists – Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Sucuk und Bratwurst and Zara Zandieh – where invited by the Humboldt Forum to present their perspectives on the new building as well as to rise questions.
from 8.30pm, Schlüter Courtyard
Impossible Conversation
How we talk to each other influences the future we will build together. The Dutch collective Building Conversation explores innovative ways to engage with controversial issues through the power of interactive art and performance. As part of the opening days, it will host a daily Impossible Conversation on big issues in small groups. Each day, a different concept will be negotiated in a digital encounter.
23/09/2021 8pm
Impossible Conversation on Home
What makes you feel at home? How is this connected to the people, space, things, or the animals that surround you? (Register here)
24/09/2021 8pm
Impossible Conversation on Heritage
How can we talk about heritage? Can we share heritage? Register here
All encounters take place digitally via Zoom in German and English. There is a limited number of tickets available. Please book your free ticket in advance here.
25. & 26.09.2021
Where do the objects exhibited in a museum come from? What needs to be considered during restoration? Exhibition staff, conservators and provenance researchers answer questions about the new presentation of the collections. Find out what new insights have been gained through collaborations with societies of origin as well as what “provenance” means.
15 experts will be waiting at 15 tables to meet you and answer your questions. In conversation with Dorothea Deterts, Hartmut Dorgerloh, Leonie Gärgner, Hans-Dieter Hegner, Christine Howald, Lars-Christian Koch, Uta Rahman-Steinert and many more, you can take a look behind the scenes of the exhibitions and learn about personal impressions and assessments of the themes of the Humboldt Forum.
11am–5pm, Hall 1
For participation in Encounters.Have a Say, the 3G rule applies, which will be checked upon admission to the hall. For more information, please check our safety guidelines page.
A great many encounters have happened in the course of creating these exhibitions. Some you can follow live, others we have pre-recorded in advance and will project in different languages on a large screen, the Kosmograf and other monitors. The growing archive of encounters reveals the multiplicity and diversity of the Humboldt Forum.
Every full and half hour you can experience a conversation between two experts in Hall 2. Sometimes these experts will be on the screen, sometimes live in the room and will be available to answer your questions afterwards.
10am–6pm, Hall 2
For participation in Encounters.Listen to, the 3G rule applies, which will be checked upon admission to the hall. For more information, please check our safety guidelines page.
Questions Project
Every encounter begins with a question – this is the maxim of Proyecto Pregunga (Questions Project) by the artist collective MilM2. They will collect questions in and about the Humboldt Forum and visualize them over the opening days to create an archive of visitor questions.
4–8.30pm
throughout the building
Pop-up Architecture
The architecture collective Parasite 2.0 transforms the Schlüter Courtyard into the perfect space for getting into the mood to visit the exhibitions, spending time with the family or for unleashing intensive conversation following your visit. The DJ collective Frauengedeck will add to the atmosphere of interacting and exchange from late afternoon and into the evening.
Pop-up Architecture: accessible around the clock in the Schlüter Courtyard
DJanes: 4–8.30pm
Change in Perspective
Every evening, the Schlüter Coutyard will transform into a huge screen showing a series of films entitled Change in Perspective. Berlin-based artists – Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Sucuk und Bratwurst and Zara Zandieh – where invited by the Humboldt Forum to present their perspectives on the new building as well as to rise questions.
from 8.30pm, Schlüter Courtyard
Performance: Waterbowls
Over the past decade, Tomoko Sauvage (JP/FR) has been developing her unique electro-acoustic instrument, waterbowls – combining water, hydrophones (underwater microphones) and porcelain and glass bowls. Random percussion with water drops, hydrophonic feedback controlled by hand-undulated water waves and porous terracotta emitting singing bubbles in the liquid are some of her techniques that generate sculptural and fluid timbres.
10am–6pm, Workshop, Third Floor
To attend the performance, the 3G rule applies and will be checked upon admission. For more information, please see the hygiene measures page.
ASED (countercurrents)
The musician Sandeep Bhagwati, the singer Siaman Vongayan (chin. Chien-Ping Kuo) and twelve live musicians from the ensemble εkstЯaktə will create a concert installation entitled ASED (countercurrents) in which new musical encounters will constantly be produced.
10am–6pm, Listening Room Ethnomusicology, Second Floor
Ocean Poetry Slam
Slam poets develop a new text in an encounter with the audience. Visitors influence the poem and thus create a joint, multi-voiced work.
10am–6pm, Oceania “People and Sea”, Second Floor
Resident Music Collective
“Transtraditional music weaves together different musical styles to create a new musical tradition”. This is how the founders of the Resident Music Collective describe their music. The Berlin musicians bring instruments from all over the world: the Chinese mouth organ cheng, the Persian kemanche, the balafon from West Africa, the cuatro from South America, but also alphorn, cello and theremin. In the musical dialogue of cultures, something new emerges that allows its origins to be heard through. The musicians have already presented themselves at the Humboldt Forum with the sound installation Mixture and will now be part of the opening of the West Wing with Encounters.Art.
10am–6pm, Schlüter Courtyard & Stair Hall
Telling stories
Telling stories keeps cultures and their traditions alive and – without a written word – keeps its finger on the pulse. From generation to generation, stories are told, expanded and adapted. Professional storytellers will present their entertaining stories during the opening event.
With Franziska Bauer, Anna Dietrich, Christine Lander, Dorothea Nennewitz, Lydia Qwigo, Kathleen Rappolt, Wim Rooth, Sven Tjaben and Johanna Wollin.
10am–6pm, Schlüter Courtyard & Stair Hall
Trickster, Creatures and Shape-Shifters. A workshop for families
Trickster characters are capricious or heroic animal creatures that have inspired tales on all continents. Many objects of the Ethnologisches Museum also reference these contradictory creatures. Be inspired and create your own trickster in our family workshop.
11am–5pm (start every full hour), Workshops First Floor
Impossible Conversation
How we talk to each other influences the future we will build together. The Dutch collective Building Conversation explores innovative ways to engage with controversial issues through the power of interactive art and performance. As part of the opening days, it will host a daily Impossible Conversation on big issues in small groups. Each day, a different concept will be negotiated in a digital encounter.
25/09/2021 8pm
Impossible Conversation on Risk
Have you ever felt there was a moment when you failed to take a risk? Or maybe you risked too much? Register here
26/09/2021 8pm
Impossible Conversation on Future
How do you talk about the future? How do you summon up images of things that do not yet exist? Register here
All encounters take place digitally via Zoom in German and English. There is a limited number of tickets available. Please book your free ticket in advance here.