WEITWINKEL – Global Perspectives on Collections is an interdisciplinary series of events that deals with transcultural themes and socially relevant issues based on current exhibitions, research projects and collaborations at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The project’s name – WEITWINKEL – signals a desire to expand the institutional perspective and broaden the lens through which we consider the collections.
The following questions guide the project’s methodology:
How did the collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin come into being and what significance do they have today in a global context?
How are acquisitions from the colonial era dealt with from the vantage point of today?
Which cross-cultural connections and stories are hidden within objects?
What tasks do museums have today and what new strategies are available?
To what extent do diversity and inclusion represent both a particular challenge and an opportunity for museums?
Colleagues from the individual collections and international speakers will engage with these questions through lectures, panel discussions, podcasts and workshop reports. Collaboration with representatives from communities of origin is a particular concern here.
In the WEITWINKEL podcast, we talk to curators, depot managers, and conservators from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin as well as artists, thematic experts, and children about the multifaceted meanings and transcultural stories hidden behind objects. What can we learn from these objects today? What do we associate with them? Where do the objects come from and what stories are hidden behind them?
A Podium Discussion with Manuela Fischer, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Claudia Augustat, (Weltmuseum Wien), Wednesday, 1 December 2021, 2 pm to 3 pm
The history of the Museu Nacional in Rio reflects the changing representation of the Brazilian Empire, where the display in the museum can be considered a “performance of an image of the nation-state” (Andermann 2003:285). The changing approaches within the 19th and early 20th century are not only national issues but are closely related to transnational relationships. The three contributions in this talk will focus on different aspects of the relationships between museums.
João Pacheco de Oliveira, Full Professor, National Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Manuela Fischer, Curator of the South America Collections, Ethnological Museum, Berlin, Germany
Claudia Augustat, Curator for South American Collections, Weltmuseum Wien, Austria
A Podium Discussion with Manuela Fischer, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Claudia Augustat, (Weltmuseum Wien), Wednesday, 1 December 2021, 2 pm to 3 pm
The history of the Museu Nacional in Rio reflects the changing representation of the Brazilian Empire, where the display in the museum can be considered a “performance of an image of the nation-state” (Andermann 2003:285). The changing approaches within the 19th and early 20th century are not only national issues but are closely related to transnational relationships. The three contributions in this talk will focus on different aspects of the relationships between museums.
João Pacheco de Oliveira, Full Professor, National Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Manuela Fischer, Curator of the South America Collections, Ethnological Museum, Berlin, Germany
Claudia Augustat, Curator for South American Collections, Weltmuseum Wien, Austria
A Digital Talk with Prof. Dr. Stefan Weber, Director, Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, Khadim Ali, Artist,Thursday, 9 September 2021, 1 – 2.15 PM (Berlin time)
Khadim Ali (b. 1978, Quetta, Pakistan) belongs to the Hazara tribe from Afghanistan. Ali had an artist studio in Kabul Afghanistan from 2005 until 15 August 2021 when it was disbanded to protect the lives of the artists and artisans who have been his long term collaborators. The studio was a hub for the renewed artistic revival that was surging through Afghanistan, a place of research that facilitated exchange and sharing of traditional arts and craft with students, scholars and community groups. From this base Khadim also taught and engaged with key organisations and institutions throughout Afghanistan to support and steward the resurgence of traditional artisanal crafts.
The conversation between Khadim Ali and Stefan Weber offers a platform to hear first-hand about the current political turmoil in Kabul. The talk unveils the consequences to the arts sector and discuss the social role of museums today.
Reading with Anne Weber on Saturday, 28 August 2021, 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg
Contact for questions on the event series: weitwinkel[at]smb.spk-berlin.de
