05.08.2011
Pergamonmuseum
After running for 27 weeks, the award-winning exhibition at the Pergamon Museum 'The Tell Halaf Adventure' is drawing to a close. With its closure, Berlin will take leave, for the time being at least, of the 3000 year-old gods, lions and mythological creatures that Max Freiherr von Oppenheim discovered in north-east Syria in 1899. An astounding 700,000 visitors have so far stood in awe at the sight of 'Hans Huckebein' and his friends.
The restoration of the stone sculptures, recreated from over 27,000 fragments, by no means marks the end of the success story surrounding the Tell Halaf project. Over 4000 shards, clay figures, bronzes and smaller stone implements were also salvaged from the ruins of the destroyed Tell Halaf Museum in 1944/1951, and all of which have yet to be restored. To help raise funds for the continuing restoration work, the exhibition wall panels from 'The Tell Halaf Adventure', most of which contain reproductions of historical images from Max von Oppenheim's photographic collection, are to go on sale.
More than 130 digitalized images, ranging from the picture-postcard-sized to large-format prints, will go under the hammer on the last day, in an auction overseen by the former director general of the National Museums, Peter-Klaus Schuster. More details on the images, which have been mounted on stable wooden boxes, will soon be available on the website: www.gerettete-goetter.de.
If you want to actively support continuing work on the Tell Halaf collection or merely want to purchase a unique souvenir or present for yourself or a friend, then the time to do so is on 14 August from 6 p.m. onwards, where the auction will be held in the Theodor-Wiegand-Saal at the Pergamon Museum. The ticket office will remain open for several hours longer than usual so that people can take their newly purchased images home with them directly.
Related Link
Exhibition
The Tell Halaf Adventure
28.01.2011 to 14.08.2011
Related online offers
Video Series: The Tell Halaf Adventure
The Tell Halaf Adventure | Interview with Eva Strommenger
The Tell Halaf Adventure | Tell Halaf Tomb 16
The Tell Halaf Adventure | Interview with Klaus Hermann