From 27 August to 1 September, a unique artistic intervention will take place in the Mineral Hall of the Museum für Naturkunde. As part of the Natural History Network, the project group "Petrified Times: Energising Past Futures" of the Natural History Network has dedicated itself to the central energy regimes of our present: coal and uraninite (nuclear energy). These have significantly shaped the history of post-industrial societies and the planet.
Ulrike Mohr and Susanne Kriemann's artistic research projects explore the aesthetic dimensions of these two energy resources in order to convey invisible and complex relationships in the ecosystem as well as the deep-temporal aspects of planetary material cycles. A selection of the resulting works can be experienced by visitors in the Mineral Hall. Susanne Kriemann expands the classic presentation of minerals with large-format autoradiographs that visualise radioactive radiation. Ulrike Mohr creates a laboratory situation in which she works on site with the holdings of the palaeobotanical collection and objects that she has cauterised herself.
The intervention will conclude with a round table on energy issues and their temporality on 2 September at 5 pm. We cordially invite you to take part in this open laboratory discussion. It will centre on artistic works and interdisciplinary perspectives from the network and experts from science, politics, administration and art. The aim is to explore the different aesthetic, historical, social and political layers of meaning surrounding the themes of coal/industrial revolution and uraninite/atomic age with questions of temporality and planetary material cycles.
More information
- Artistic Intervention: 27 August - 1 September
- Round Table: 2 September at 5 pm
- The event is held in German.