A GERMAN GIANT
The Humboldt Forum has opened in the newly-reconstructed Berlin Palace
The largest cultural development in Europe and the most ambitious in Germany this century, the Humboldt Forum opened its doors this December as the pandemic continued to rage across Europe. Developed over the last decade and poised to open in stages throughout 2021, it will unify the arts & sciences in a contemporary dialogue and incorporate two existing museums, the Ethnological Museum of Berlin and the Museum of Asian Art.
Inspired by Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt, arguably Germany’s greatest thinkers on education, culture, science & nature, the Forum has partnered with the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Cultural Projects Berlin, City Museum Berlin and Humboldt University to guide the museum’s content. The programmes will zoom in on socio-political topics reflecting the Forum’s three core themes: colonialism, the Humbdolt brothers themselves, and the history & architecture of the site, which dates back to the Middle Ages.
This year’s event highlights include the Berlin Global exhibition (opens 16 January 2021), which will examine the relationship between the German capital and the world via a diverse range of topics including revolution, fashion, war and free space. One of the show’s highlights is a mural, Thinking the World, by New York-based urban artists How and Nosm. The Humboldt Forum’s first major exhibition, Terrible Beauty. Elephant – Human – Ivory (13 May-24 October 2021), meanwhile, will explore the sociological impact of hunting elephants for their tusks. humboldtforum.org