Δ FINISSAGE AND CURATOR'S GUIDED TOUR

“POSTED! Reflections of Native North America”
with Markus Lindner

Posters are documents of material culture and a mirror of the social and political worlds in which they were created. The exhibition showcases approximately 100 posters from the 1970s to today to explore specific aspects of the life of indigenous peoples between the Artic and the south of the USA. The topics addressed include, e.g., the importance of heritage and identity, health, the role of education and the military, and problems of domestic violence.

At the finissage, ethnologist Markus Lindner together with students from Goethe University Frankfurt leads through the exhibition.

The exhibition is curated by anthropology students at the Goethe University Frankfurt in the context of a seminar by Dr. Markus Lindner.

Free entry
Weltkulturen Labor, Schaumainkai 37

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Δ ***CANCELLED*** TALK

***The talk will be postponed to a later date. Date to be announced***

“Why do we need a Weltkulturen Museum?”
A discussion of the role of anthropological museums in the 21st century
With Dr. Eva Raabe and Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Hahn

Are anthropological museums old-fashioned and antiquated profiteers of colonialism? Founded over 100 years ago, they were intended to facilitate research and present the ‘Other’. Today, though, the basis of their work is often fiercely criticised. Many museums have reacted by renaming themselves, e.g., as a Museum of World Cultures, developing innovative ideas and redesigning permanent collections. Yet as the debate over Berlin’s Humboldt Forum shows only too clearly, the crisis of anthropological museums is still far from over. They are searching for their role in a globalised world and grappling with their tasks in the twenty-first century. What do we need anthropological museums for? What should they be exhibiting? Why is an anthropological museum important for a city? How ought we to approach and engage with colonial art and artefacts? Should all objects from the colonial period be returned?

These and other questions will be discussed by Dr. Eva Raabe, the new Director of Frankfurt’s Weltkulturen Museum, and Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Hahn, Goethe University Frankfurt. Dr. Eva Raabe studied cultural anthropology, wrote her doctoral thesis on New Guinea’s cultural and settlement history, and joined the Weltkulturen Museum as a curator in 1985. In 2011, she was appointed Deputy Director and, following the departure of Clémentine Deliss four years later, became Acting Director. Dr. Hans Peter Hahn, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, specialises in material culture, anthropological museums, consumption, migration and mobility. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the Humboldt Forum’s ethnological collections and Chairperson of the Association for African Studies in Germany.

The discussion is chaired by Michael Hierholzer from the F.A.Z. newspaper.

Vortragssaal der Frankfurter Sparkasse
Neue Mainzer Straße 49
60311 Frankfurt

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Δ ***CANCELLED*** Documentary

Before the buddha crossed the mountains
Pre-Buddhist Culture in the Western Himalayas
Documentary by Peter van Ham
2010. 16:9. 75 min.

Before the Buddha arrived, so they say, the Himalayas ere ruled by fear. Forces inherited all aspects of life – the rocks, the waters, the glaciers, the winds. Those forces were not benevolent to mankind. On the contrary: they hassled and threatened the people and demanded their devotion and submission. Then came magicians and holy men from Tibet. In the name of the Buddha they commanded the forces to end their absolute power. Borne by the virtue of universal compassion, however, the new masters permitted them to maintain a certain status also within the new worldview. Still the Himalayas are full of evidence from those pre-Buddhist days.

Why?
Who made them?
What’s their purpose?
Was the Buddha’s mission not entirely successful?

In regions located between 3000 and 5000 meters above sea level that have become accessible only in recent years, this documentary sets out to search for the roots of Himalayan culture. Its findings – derived from the masked rituals of the monks at Lamayuru monastery, a wedding in Zanskar, and the festivals performed by the mysterious Minaro people, the last Indo-Aryans that have taken refuge between the narrow gorges of the lower Indus close to the Pakistan border – are astonishing.

Unique archival material, recorded by Indologist Rohit Vohra in the 1980s and shown here for the first time, complements the impressive documentation.

Weltkulturen Labor
Schaumainkai 37
Guests wellcome

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