Past exhibitions
"The History of Things"
LWL traveling exhibition on the origin of objects in North Rhine-Westphalian collections
At the German Textile Museum Krefeld from October 24, 2021 to December 30, 2021
You can see the film of the exhibition opening if you click on the picture.
Münster (lwl). The Gurlitt case, bronzes from the former Kingdom of Benin or the Elgin Marbles from the Acropolis - this list shows the breadth of current provenance research. Provenance research, i.e. researching the origin and history of objects, is the subject of the new exhibition "The History of Things. The Origin of Objects in North Rhine-Westphalian Collections" by the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL). The show can be seen from September 27 at the Wewelsburg District Museum in Büren (Paderborn district), after which it will travel to seven other museums in North Rhine-Westphalia.
"Although museums and other institutions, such as libraries and archives, are now increasingly promoting research into important collection items. Nevertheless, awareness is only slowly emerging that works of art, objects of value or everyday objects acquired today could also be looted property," says exhibition curator Verena Burhenne from LWL- Museum Office for Westphalia. This applies not only to public institutions, but also to associations and private individuals.
While exhibitions on the subject of provenance research usually only focus on a collection area, a collector or a museum, the LWL exhibition is devoted to the entire subject area for the first time in Germany: a total of ten chapters deal with the different contexts of withdrawal such as withdrawal due to Nazi persecution, Colonialism or GDR injustice, with different object groups such as Judaica, but also with actors and structures. The central question: where does the object come from? With 50 items on loan, the exhibition cannot always present answers or concrete solutions. Rather, the exhibits invite you to grapple with the topic and to reflect on morality and law yourself.
Using the loans from North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond, the exhibition tells life and work stories that touch on difficult chapters in German history. The preparation of the exhibition itself is an example of how active engagement with it can set signs of international understanding and reconciliation: "Initiated by a loan request from us, the origin of a ritual Jewish Seder plate in the Hellweg Museum in Unna could be researched. The rightful owners contacted quickly made the decision that it should remain in the museum on permanent loan, "says exhibition curator Ute Christina Koch. Other objects, on the other hand, are representative of problematic provenances. The memorial head of an Oba, the political and ritual head of the Kingdom of Benin, of harmless origin comes from the Museum Wilnsdorf (Siegen Wittgenstein district). This was probably made in Nigeria in the middle of the 20th century. However, numerous other "Benin bronzes" in European museums come from a "punitive expedition" by the British Army in 1897 and are now being reclaimed by the Nigerian government.
"With this exhibition we want to encourage visitors to deal with this topic, whether in their own favorite museum or at home," said Burhenne. "Especially aside from the 'great art', one quickly overlooks the fact that persecution-related withdrawal is also possible here," adds Koch. "It was important to us from the start to present the full range as possible, that is, different withdrawal contexts or object groups through to everyday objects."
A catalog deepens and expands the subject areas and shows selected exhibits. In addition, the Dortmund History Manufactory has developed an educational accompanying program for adults and upper secondary level.
Background
By signing the "Washington Declaration" in 1998, the Federal Republic of Germany undertook to identify the looted art works confiscated during the Nazi era, to locate their pre-war owners or heirs and to find a "just and fair solution". More than 30 years after this signing, it is becoming clear that efforts must be significantly increased in order to meet this commitment. In a project on provenance research in North Rhine-Westphalia, the museum advisory service of the Rhineland Regional Association (LVR) together with the LWL Museum Office focused on the smaller and medium-sized museums in particular from 2017 to 2019.
From the beginning it was planned not only to present the results of this project as part of a traveling exhibition, but also to bring the topic of provenance research with objects closer to the visitors. Ute Christina Koch and Verena Burhenne from the LWL Museum Office for Westphalia planned and organized the traveling exhibition. Annika Flamm from the LVR museum consultancy contributed the content of the media table to the rescue locations in North Rhine-Westphalia.
"History of things. On the origin of objects in North Rhine-Westphalian collections "
A traveling exhibition of the LWL Museum Office for Westphalian cooperation with the
LVR regional department
Cultural work, LVR museum advice
District Museum Wewelsburg, Burgwall 19 in 33142 Büren
September 27 to December 6, 2020
Further stations:
Jewish Museum Westphalia, Dorsten December 13, 2020 to February 7, 2021
Mindener Museum February 13 to April 11, 2021
Museum Wilhelm Morgner, Soest April 18 to June 13, 2021
Museum and Forum Schloss Homburg, Nümbrecht June 20 to August 15, 2021
Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, August 26th to October 17th, 2021
Deutsches Textilmuseum Krefeld (German Textile Museum Krefeld) October 24, 2021 to January 2, 2022
Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf January 9 to March 6, 2022
For provenance research of textile collections during the National Socialist era, see also here .
"Drachen aus goldenen Fäden" ("Dragons made of golden threads")
Chinese textiles from our own collection
In the Deutsches Textilmuseum Krefeld (German Textile Museum Krefeld) from November 1st, 2020 to December 30th, 2021
Dragons made of golden threads -
Textiles from the collection of the German Textile Museum Krefeld
An exhibition in the German Textile Museum until December 30th, 2021!
From November 1, 2020, the exhibition of the German Textile Museum will present around 120 Chinese textiles from its own holdings, which, thanks to the funding of the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Krefeld, have been scientifically processed for the first time, published in an extensive catalog and can be shown to the public.
The origins of the textiles and garments stretch from the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368) to the People's Republic of China (since 1949). In addition to fragments, numerous Manchurian clothing items for both women and men as well as garments for Han Chinese women form a focus of the show. Special objects include fragments of an imperial robe from the 18th century, a robe with dragon medallions for a noble lady in slit weaving, two oversized robes for statues of gods, an imperial shroud, a large fragment of a palace carpet made of silk velvet and a so-called one
Mao suit of the second half of the 20th century.
The diversity of the different textile techniques (weaving, slit knitting, embroidery) is clearly presented and in a richly illustrated, by Walter Bruno Brix written catalog explained in detail.
the Movie About our exhibition: Take a look behind our scenes, listen to the curator Walter Bruno Brix with his exciting explanations, take a look at our exhibition. Click on the picture to see it.
When you click on the "Subtitles" button (see red arrow and circle in the picture below), the film can be seen with Chinese subtitles.
Four more Short films with curator Walter Bruno Brix for the exhibition "Dragons made of golden threads" which was organized in collaboration with the
Press office of the city of Krefeld and the German Textile Museum firstllt and other interesting articles can be found on the
You can watch the You Tube channel of the city of Krefeld - or just click on the film title below:
Collection in the German Textile Museum Krefeld
Listen to Walter Bruno Brix, an expert on East Asian textiles, in a lively discussion with Ricarda Stamms from the Krefeld Economic Development Department in “Business and Beyond – China in Krefeld” on podcast.de. Click the icon to listen.
A great Contribution to the reopening of the exhibition on March 16, 2021 can be found on the station's website WDR3 from the broadcast
WDR3 culture at noon
as well as on
WDR5 SCALA.
Please click on the picture to listen.
Exhibition posters, selection
You can find a review of furthermore past exhibitions here