“We are often understood as a cultural-historical museum. But we are a museum of the present – and we look to the future,” said director Jonathan Fine at the press conference. The House’s collections would provide a rich resource for historical research, which would continue to be an important part of the work of the World Museum. However, all future exhibition projects should be anchored in the present.
The prelude to this will be the exhibition “Extinct!?”, which will be shown on February 23, 2023 in the former corridor of astonishment. The corridor will be renamed “zam” and it will be the “participatory space” accessible with free admission. According to the documents, the room should be dedicated to relevant issues of our time together with communities of remembrance, communities of origin, communities and visitors. In the future exhibitions, “common narratives of extinction will be questioned and retold from other perspectives”.
Question of the importance of ethnographic museums in the climate crisis
Fine emphasized that the question is also to what extent ethnographic museums are relevant in the age of the Anthropocene and the climate crisis. Museums often act as a mirror that projects the findings of ethnological research into the future. According to Fine, this is also the reason why next year’s main exhibition is called “Science Fiction(s)”. It starts on March 30th.
The exhibition design by KAWA, the outfitter of the Austro science fiction film “Rubikon”, uses works by international artists to deal with Hollywood narratives of the future and the future prospects of indigenous peoples. The list of artists is not yet complete, according to Fine. However, he referred to a photo work by Nicolas Galanin.
Installation at the Theseus Temple from April 21st
From April 21, the Theseus Temple will also be included as part of the show, which will occupy six rooms in the Weltmuseum. In his installation “Space Mosque” the artist Saks Afridi deals with the question: What if all our prayers are fulfilled? Fine emphasizes that he also wants an installation at the Theseus Temple in 2024.
The requests for this have already been submitted. Luring people from the Volksgarten into the museum is more important to him than continuing to use the cube he built in front of the Weltmuseum. The medium and long-term goal remains the presence at Heldenplatz. In 2023, the entire Weltmuseum wants to draw attention to the 150th anniversary of the Vienna World Exhibition of 1873.
Appeal to climate activists
The director advises climate activists who may already be putting on the super glue to explore the museum’s commitment to the climate catastrophe before visiting the World Museum. This means, for example, the exhibition called “Spatzenkrieg” from May 18th, by the artist Maximilian Prüfer. It deals with the ecological consequences of the eradication of sparrows, which are regarded as crop pests, in China. Mao Zedong called for this in 1958 as part of his “Campaign to Eliminate the Four Evils”.
Another project, which can be seen in zam from April 27th, is called “Whatever You Throw at the Sea…” and is being researched by South African artist Zara Julius. For Jonathan Fine, the project is “a direct engagement with the climate crisis as it is being experienced in Africa and the African diaspora”.