Blick in einen Sammlungsraum des Museums für Naturkunde Berlin mit dicht bestückten Regalanlagen voller Geweihe, Hörner, Schädel und Präparate von Hirschen, Antilopen, Ziegen und anderen Hornträgern.

Public collections and co-curation

In 2025, the research collections ‘Mammal Skulls’ and ‘Deer & Bovids’ marked the first time that collection rooms previously closed to the public were incorporated into the exhibition experience. They marked the start of the redesign and expansion of the exhibition route, funded by the Future Plan. Alongside the ZUGvögel project (see Annual Report 2023/24) – the first pilot project for the ‘Public Collections’ concept – the research collections ‘Mammal Skulls’ and ‘Deer & Bovids’ also represent a new approach to exhibition design.

Central to this concept is the idea that public collections are hybrid spaces: they serve both to house scientific collections and form part of the exhibition route. As such, they are both workspaces for research and collection care, and exhibition spaces that visitors can experience. Consequently, the exhibition development works with the collection in its existing state – with its scientific organisation, the existing labels and the historical furnishings. The aim is not to re-stage the collection, but to make its structure and history visible. In keeping with the ethos of an open, integrated research museum, the development of these spaces is also designed to be participatory. Visitors and external stakeholders are actively involved in the development of the themes.

Blick in die Forschungssammlung für Säugetierschädel des Museums für Naturkunde Berlin. In großen verglasten Metallschränken sind hunderte Schädel verschiedener Säugetierarten auf mehreren Regalböden systematisch aufbewahrt.
A look into the ‘Mammal Skulls’ research collection.
Photo: Carola Radke

In the case of the two galleries housing mammal skulls and those displaying deer and bovids, a further factor to be taken into account when designing the exhibition was that the sub-collections held there are closely linked to colonial contexts: 70 to 80 per cent of the objects originate from colonial networks, primarily from Africa. This is also evident from the historical inscriptions on the objects.

A central component of the exhibition concept in 2025 was therefore a co-curation process involving international partners. Nine co-curators from African countries – including Tanzania, Namibia, Cameroon and Egypt – were recruited through an open call and via the network of TheMuseumsLab, the African-European learning programme run by the museum for emerging leaders from museums, cultural heritage and art institutions. Together with the museum’s exhibition team, these co-curators developed new perspectives on the two sub-collections.

This resulted in object-specific narratives that shed light on both the colonial contexts of acquisition and the cultural significance of the animals in their regions of origin, with each narrative focusing on a specific object from the collection. The museum’s perspective was thus enriched by international and decolonial viewpoints. Each object is displayed in a ‘window’, with a total of 19 windows being created.

From autumn 2026, the two galleries will be accessible as part of guided tours. Full integration into the regular exhibition tour is planned once the museum’s refurbishment and accessibility improvements, as part of the Future Plan, have been completed.