Museum of World Cultures

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The three villas of the Museum of World Cultures in Frankfurt am Main (2013)

The Museum of World Cultures (until 2001: Museum für Völkerkunde; from 2013 its own name: Weltkulturen Museum ) is an ethnological museum on the Museumsufer in Frankfurt am Main .

history

From 1904 to 1945

The museum was founded in 1904 by interested citizens to bring together the ethnographic collections owned by the city . The city administration took over the financing and the provision of the premises. In 1908 the museum moved into the Palais Thurn und Taxis in downtown Frankfurt . In 1925 the city acquired the collections of the Institute for Cultural Morphology founded by Leo Frobenius , later the Frobenius Institute . Frobenius moved with his institute to Frankfurt and became honorary professor at the University of Frankfurt and in 1934 head of the Ethnographic Museum. The personal union of the museum director and the institute director also remained under his successors until the Frankfurt University was converted into a state university in 1966. Since then the museum has existed again as a municipal facility.

During the Second World War , significant parts of the collections were lost when the palace was destroyed in the bombing. However, some exhibits could be relocated in good time.

New beginning in converted buildings

The preserved holdings have been presented to the public again since 1973 in a converted villa on the banks of the Main. The Völkerkundemuseum was thus one of the first museums on the Frankfurt Museumsufer . In the following decades, further exhibition halls were added: the adjacent buildings, Schaumainkai 29 (the main building and today's exhibition building), number 35 (the so-called villa, today administration and library) and number 37 (world cultures laboratory and image archive) , which were built in the 1980s had been acquired and rebuilt.

The collection

The museum's collections include around 67,000 objects from Oceania , Australia , Southeast Asia , America , Africa and Europe , an image archive with 100,000 ethnographic photographs and films and a library with 50,000 international books and magazines. The museum has been dealing with non-Western aesthetics and art definitions since the 1970s. Therefore, collecting non-European contemporary art was declared a focus in 1985. The museum holdings include international works of art that correspond to the objects in the collection. a. by artists from Oceania, Africa, Southeast Asia and America.

According to its own statements, the museum sees itself today “... as a place of interdisciplinary cooperation. People and things are closely linked. In modern societies, too, material things are decisive initiators for cultural change. Ethnological questions formulated on the basis of our own collections are further developed in exchange with scientists from other disciplines and artists. "

The world cultures laboratory

The World Cultures Laboratory is an experimental space that is used both for the presentation of exhibitions and for international and interdisciplinary cooperation. The task of the World Cultures Laboratory is to present ethnological topics, questions and exhibits in the museum in such a way that the public can experience them at close quarters. Individual areas from the diversity of ethnological topics are examined in detail. To this end, the Weltkulturen Museum is planning interdisciplinary cooperation, but will also make work with the collections accessible and present itself to the public with its scientific research. In addition to the exhibition areas, there is a wood-paneled event room on the mezzanine floor for discussions, lectures, readings and events. On the upper floors, the Weltkulturen Labor also houses several studios and living rooms for guest artists and scientists.

New building

In the medium term, the intention is to move the museum to a new building, which will have around 5000 square meters of exhibition space and enable a comprehensive presentation of numerous stored holdings. A decision on a new location should be made in 2008, but the project has been postponed due to a lack of funds.

The building of Villa Schaumainkai 29 was renovated from June 2011 to January 2012 and reopened with the exhibition Object Atlas - Field Research in the museum .

Management of the museum

The museum, which is owned by the City of Frankfurt, has been run by directors since it was founded. These were / are:

  • 1972–1983: Heinz Kelm
  • 1984–1985: Johanna Agthe , interim director
  • 1985–1998: Josef Franz Thiel
  • 1998–2000: Johanna Agthe, interim director
  • 2000-2008: Anette Rein
  • 2008–2010: Christine Stelzig, Acting Director
  • 2010–2015: Clémentine Deliss
  • since May 2015: Eva Raabe, provisional directorate
  • since October 1, 2019: Eva Raabe

Exhibitions

From 2001 onwards:

  • "People and their objects - Amazonia - Oceania" (December 1, 2001 - September 15, 2002)
  • "Pictures of Happiness - Chinese Popular Graphics from the 20th Century. The Wiegmann Collection "(April 3, 2002 - September 29, 2002)
  • “Troubadours of Allah - Traditions of the Sufis in Pakistan Photo Exhibition” (November 23, 2002 - April 21, 2003)
  • "Places of prayer, places of encounter - religious communities in Frankfurt" (June 6, 2003 - September 14, 2003)
  • "Living Worlds - Art Spaces - Contemporary Iroquois Art" (May 10, 2003 - January 11, 2004)
  • "From Mythical Times - 300 Years of Shamanism in Western Siberia" (October 13, 2003 - February 29, 2004)
  • "Bali - Life in Two Worlds" (February 7, 2004 - August 1, 2004)
  • "Indian Times - News from Red America" ​​(November 9, 2002 - August 31, 2004)
  • "Painted Indians: A Collaboration" (Works by Echo-Hawk and Lieberman) (May 12, 2004 - August 31, 2004)
  • "Creative for free - recycling products from Africa (Mali, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Syria)" (October 8, 2004 - November 26, 2004)
  • "Naga - headhunters in the shadow of the Himalayas" (March 20, 2004 - November 28, 2004)
  • "Posters in Africa" ​​(August 26, 2004 - January 23, 2005)
  • "Matters of opinion from 100 years" (October 9, 2004 - May 1, 2005)
  • "Black Gods in Exile" (photographs by Pierre Fatumbi Verger) (February 16, 2005 - June 5, 2005)
  • "Impression Borneo" (photographs from Sarawk by Mary Munnik) (April 21, 2005 - October 30, 2005)
  • "World toys - by children for children" (June 28, 2005 - November 13, 2005)
  • "Christmas Dream - Carving from the Ore Mountains" (November 26, 2005 - January 8, 2006)
  • "Africa Screams - Evil in Cinema, Art and Cult" (July 9, 2005 - March 12, 2006)
  • "Kick it! - International photographs "(May 20, 2005 - July 30, 2006)
  • "Ma Lakota - Indian Childhood in North America" ​​(February 13, 2006 - August 27, 2006)
  • "Living with Le Corbusier" (photographs from Chandigarh, India by Bärbel Högner) (September 30, 2006 - February 11, 2007)
  • "Ta Moko. Tattooed life paths of the Maori "(photographs by Arno Gasteiger) (October 28, 2006 - March 4, 2007)
  • "Discovering Buddhism - The Treasure of the Three Jewels" (Religious objects supplemented by accompanying texts and photos from India, Nepal, Thailand and Sri Lanka) (November 18, 2006 - July 8, 2007)
  • "Skin Signs - Body Images" (April 29, 2006 - September 9, 2007)
  • "Black Paris - Art and History of a Black Diaspora 1906-2006" (March 17, 2007 - November 4, 2007)
  • "The Egypt of Nagib Machfuz" (November 24, 2007 - May 4, 2008)
  • "Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and the Art of Cameroon" (July 14, 2008 - November 9, 2008)
  • “The sultan's nose. Caricatures from Turkey "(August 9, 2008 - November 16, 2008)
  • "Sevrugian - Images of the Orient in Photography and Painting 1880-1980" (December 6, 2008 - July 12, 2009)
  • "Travel and Discover - From Sepik to the Main" (October 27, 2007 - August 30, 2009)
  • "Looking at one's own face - photographs by contemporary artists in Tibet" (July 25, 2009 - October 18, 2009)
  • “Constantin Brâncusi. The sculptor as a photographer "(October 24, 2009 - January 3, 2010)
  • "Bali in the Focus of the Camera - The Balinese Photographer 1930 - 2009" (August 22, 2009 - February 28, 2010)
  • "Art Full Resistance - Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka" (October 8, 2010 - October 27, 2010)
  • "Being Object Being Art - Masterpieces from the Collections of the Museum für Weltkulturen Frankfurt am Main" (October 31, 2009 - October 31, 2010)
  • "Dan Rees" (April 20, 2011 - May 26, 2011)
  • "Cladows Part I" (July 8, 2011 - August 7, 2011)
  • "Cladows Part II" (August 18, 2011 - September 18, 2011)
  • "Welcome to Paradise" (October 27, 2011 - January 8, 2012)
  • "Morocco Magic - Modern Ceramics" (May 22, 2012 - July 15, 2012)
  • "Object Atlas - Field Research in the Museum" (January 26, 2012 - September 16, 2012)
  • "Face to Face / Kanohi Ki Te Kanohi / Fa'Afesaga" (October 3, 2012 - October 28, 2012)
  • "Incredibly Hot Sex With Hideous People Zines from New Zealand" (October 3, 2012 - October 28, 2012)
  • "Stealth Architecture" (February 8, 2013 - March 10, 2013)
  • "Sharply exposed" (May 8, 2013 - June 16, 2013)
  • "Apollo" (July 10, 2013 - August 11, 2013)
  • "Trading Style - World Fashion in Dialogue" (November 7, 2012 - October 27, 2013)
  • "Encylopaedia Cinematographica Ethnographic Short Films" (October 30, 2013 - December 1, 2013)
  • "Displace Yourself" (December 11, 2013 - January 23, 2014)
  • "Rolled out and looked at - reconsideration of the textile collection Indonesia" (April 16, 2014 - June 1, 2014)
  • "Behind the Cut" (July 15, 2014 - August 31, 2014)
  • "Ware & Wissen (or the stories you wouldn't tell a stranger)" (January 16, 2014 - January 4, 2015)
  • "Willem de Rooij - double double" (February 4, 2015 - April 30, 2015)
  • "Gloves in Action - The Museum as a Platform for Disorder and Contradictions" (July 9, 2015 - August 30, 2015)
  • "El Hadji Sy: Painting, Performance, Politics - A retrospective on El Hadji Sy's career as a painter and cultural activist" (March 5, 2015 - October 18, 2015)
  • "Imag (in) ing Musical Indonsia" (September 30, 2015 - November 15, 2015)
  • “Lukim Gen - A Review. Art and Independence in Papua New Guinea "(April 21, 2016 - June 19, 2016)
  • "A Labor of Love - Art from South Africa - The 80s now" (December 3, 2015 - July 24, 2016)
  • "Stories tell history" (July 14, 2016 - October 9, 2016)
  • "Show me where you come from - children draw home, escape and dreams" (July 14, 2016 - October 9, 2016)
  • "Metabolism. Fashion and Paper - A Project Presentation "(June 1, 2017 - June 18, 2017)
  • "The Red Thread - Thought Spiders Forming Patterns" (November 17, 2016 - August 27, 2017)
  • "And The Beat Goes On ... Bark fiber from the collections of the Weltkulturen Museum" (June 1, 2017 - October 1, 2017)
  • "Variations of the wild body. Photographs by Eduardo Viveiros de Castro "(November 18, 2017 - March 11, 2018)
  • “Entre Terra e Mar. Between earth and sea. Transatlantic Art "(October 12, 2017 - August 26, 2018)
  • "Collected. Bought. Robbed? Case studies from a colonial and National Socialist context "(August 16, 2018 - January 27, 2019)
  • “Collection as a narrative. Wanzke's artistic journey around the world "(April 11, 2019 - May 19, 2019)
  • "Gray Is The New Pink - Snapshots of Aging" (October 26, 2018 - September 1, 2019)
  • "Post it! Reflections on Indigenous North America "(June 27, 2019 - March 1, 2020)
  • "SW5y - Five Years of Civil Sea Rescue" (June 5, 2020 - August 30, 2020)
  • "World-shaking. Migration makes stories "(October 24, 2019 - January 31, 2021)

Journal ethnology

From 2003 to 2008 the Museum der Weltkulturen published the journal ethnology in the form of an online magazine aimed at the ethnologically interested public. The articles published up to then remain available until further notice.

Web links

Commons : Weltkulturen Museum  - collection of pictures

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Official Museum of World Cultures : Resolution of the city council on February 22, 2011, point 8, motion M 219.
  2. ^ The museum collections , accessed October 6, 2015.
  3. ^ Internet site Weltkulturen Museum, portrait
  4. a b History of the museum on the museum homepage , accessed on October 6, 2015.
  5. Eva Raabe becomes the new director of the Weltkulturen Museum , press release of September 20, 2019, City of Frankfurt am Main, accessed on September 20, 2019
  6. About us. In: journal-ethnologie.de. Museum of World Cultures, accessed September 22, 2019 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 20 ″  N , 8 ° 40 ′ 44 ″  E