Feather Show
The Museum für Naturkunde's collection is increasingly being opened up to visitors – the special exhibition ‘ZUGvögel – Collection in Motion’ shows how this is possible
The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin’s plan for the future involves giving visitors a say in the design of exhibitions. This has already been done for the special exhibition ‘ZUGvögel’. How did this participatory process work, and who else gets a say? An interview with Linda Gallé and Uwe Moldrzyk, who design exhibitions for the museum.
Ms Gallé, Mr Moldrzyk, for the ‘ZUGvögel’ exhibition, you surveyed visitors to focus on their interests. Is this a principle that will apply to all the museum’s future exhibitions?
Gallé One of the big questions for us at the outset is always: where are the points of contact with visitors? Only when we find them will they open up to our themes. For the ‘ZUGvögel’ exhibition, we guided visitors in groups through the historical bird collection and gathered their questions and associations regarding the objects. We did this over several months with more than 350 people. We gathered a great deal of input, ranging from questions such as ‘Why is its head missing?’ or ‘Do you have any extinct species?’ to little anecdotes such as “That’s a common swift, isn’t it? They always land in my back garden, and I’m delighted when I hear them – then I know summer’s on its way.” In the end, seven thematic areas emerged, which became the chapters of the exhibition.
Photo: Pablo Castagnola
Photo: Thomas Rosenthal
Moldrzyk: Involving visitors in the exhibition work is part of our plan for the future. We no longer want simply to pass on our specialist knowledge to the public, but rather to draw on a wide range of perspectives. It wasn’t easy for us at the start, because we were worried about losing control over the exhibition’s thematic focus. But it was really exciting to see where the ideas of the visitors overlapped with our own. In the end, the exchange made everything a bit more relaxed, less heavy-handed.
So what has the reaction to the exhibition been like so far?
Moldrzyk: People are spending a very long time in the gallery because there are so many objects to see in so many boxes. They’re engaging with the texts and listening to the birdsong. We’re delighted by this, because our aim is to inspire enthusiasm for natural history topics. Anyone visiting the exhibition should have an experience, go out and say: ‘Oh, that was brilliant!’ Only then, as a second step, do they realise they’ve learnt something too.
Gallé It has also changed the way we ourselves view the exhibition and the collection. When you strike up a conversation with people who have no prior connection to the collection’s objects, it opens up new ways of thinking for us too. We’ve since applied this approach to other collections as well – such as the collection of Deer and Bovids, as well as Mammal Skulls – and have gained a great deal from it.
Who else do you involve when you’re putting together an exhibition?
Moldrzyk: In the collection of Deer and Bovids, as well as Mammal Skulls, we’ve found that a great many objects originate from former colonies. This prompted us to ask people from the countries of origin to act as co-curators. Some of them bring a critical perspective to the collection and its origins, which for us also means broadening the scope of the content. We regard this broadening of perspective and engagement with the museum’s history as our responsibility.
And how important is research expertise?
Moldrzyk We curate all our exhibitions with the researchers here in-house, and occasionally with external experts as well. We discuss with them what the respective theme has to offer, as they are, after all, at the source. Our task is then to translate their specialist knowledge, develop narratives from it and find a common thread.
Gallé We’re open to many perspectives. Perhaps in future we’ll also consult activists when it comes to climate change, or involve Berliners when the topic is pets. But it must always fit with the theme of an exhibition or collection. We don’t open up simply for the sake of it, but because it adds value to the content.
The interview was conducted by Mirco Lomoth.