The Humboldt Forum museum complex, housed in the reconstructed Berlin Palace, is fully opening. The collection displays and exhibitions in the east wing are on view from 17 September.
The new east wing of the Ethnological Museum and the Asian Art Museum joins the institution’s west wing, which opened in September last year.
Both wings are presenting 20,000 objects over more than 16,000 square metres of space, offering an overview of the arts and cultures through history and across continents.
“We look forward to the upcoming weekend when the entire Humboldt Forum will become fully open to the public,” said Hartmut Dorgerloh, general director of the Humboldt Forum.
“It has been a pleasure to see Berliners, our local, national, and international partners, as well as the many visitors to the city, welcome the Humboldt Forum as a new cultural institution since last year and begin to transform it into a place of democratic, open debate.”
The opening follows a digital launch in December 2020 and the gradual opening of the temporary exhibitions and west wing in summer and autumn 2021.
The galleries now opening focus on North, Central and South America. The east wing’s collection display on Asia and Africa will also be available.
“Last year we opened the museums’ first exhibition areas, and we are very happy about the
continuing great public interest,” said Lars-Christian Koch, director of the Ethnological Museum and the Asian Art Museum
“Therefore, I am excited to now be able to present to the public the remaining parts which complete our exhibitions in the Humboldt Forum.”
Two new galleries are dedicated to art from the historical Kingdom of Benin. These spaces are showcasing objects that remain in Berlin as loans after being returned to Nigeria.
Benin bronzes at Humboldt Forum
The famous Benin bronzes are exhibited alongside contemporary art from Nigeria. The galleries were created in partnership with Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM).Â
Abba Tijani, NCMM’s director-general, said the commission is “happy and excited with the exhibition at the Humboldt Forum”.
“It is an opportunity for many people to see the recently repatriated objects that remain in Germany as loans and to understand how the National Commission for Museums and Monuments collaborates with the Ethnological Museum to exhibit these bronzes,” Tijani added.
He said: “This represents the future; a future of collaboration among museums, a future of according respect and dignity to the legitimate requests of other nations and traditional institutions.”
Images: Humboldt Forum
