„Museum, Power, and Identity“ – The Third WeberWorldCafé

 11 June 2015,  3-8 pm

Museen Dahlem, Lansstraße 8 / Arnimallee 25, 14195 Berlin

The 19th and early 20th centuries are the time of the great foundations and expansions of museums in Europe. In many cases, the museum collections are closely tied to the colonial and national histories of their respective countries. The systems for ordering objects from all over the world in separate collections, for example in museums for Asian or Islamic art, in painting galleries for European art, or in ethnological museums, still play an important role today. In many cases, museums’ ordering systems reflect the national narratives of the 19th century and the myth formation of national identities. By displaying the artifacts of past cultures, on the one hand, and foreign cultures, on the other, the collections offered themselves as grand stories of the birth and progress of civilization.

How can the same works of art, artifacts, and objects be exhibited today without falling into controversial categories like “Europe” and “the Other”? How is it possible to deal productively with a distinction between art, ethnology or history, and material culture? What stories can the objects in museum collections tell today?

At the tables, the participants of the WeberWorldCafé and experts take these questions as their starting point and discuss alternative systems of order in museums and a new interplay between the culture of exhibition and the production of knowledge.

The WeberWorldCafé is an interactive, biannual event format that brings together scholars from different disciplines and regions. One central topic is discussed at different tables where young scholars and experts meet and exchange their thoughts in a relaxed, coffeehouse-like atmosphere.

The WeberWorldCafé „Museum, Power and Identity” is an event hosted by the Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland and Art Histories and Aesthetic Practices, a research program at the Forum Transregionale Studien in cooperation with the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The series WeberWorldCafés (WWC) is planned and organized by Gesche Schifferdecker (Max Weber Stiftung). The WWC on „Museum, Power and Identity” is curated by Hannah Baader (Art Histories and Aesthetic Practices / Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz) and Stefanie Rentsch (Forum Transregionale Studien).

Please register via schifferdecker@maxweberstiftung.de if you would like to attend.