‘Not an easily likeable object’: what the critics are saying about the Humboldt Forum
The ‘massive’ €800m museum complex is designed to house Berlin’s vast holdings of non-European art
After years of delay, one of Europe’s most ambitious and hotly debated cultural projects has at long last opened to the public, said Deutsche Welle.
Located in the centre of Berlin, on an island in the River Spree that was once home to both the Kaiser’s palace and East Germany’s parliament, the Humboldt Forum is a “massive” €800m state-of-the-art new museum complex. It is controversial mainly because it is designed to house the city’s vast holdings of non-European art; it is, essentially, an ethnographic museum for the 21st century.
While such institutions fell out of favour owing to their associations with colonialism, the Forum insists that its mission is in keeping with the exalted ideals of those it is named after, the Enlightenment polymaths Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Boasting a collection of 20,000 exhibits from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, and hosting six temporary exhibitions – from an exploration of the ivory trade to a show investigating the role that sitting down plays in different cultures – it is an ambitious attempt to bring a discredited, imperial-era tradition into the modern age.
Can it succeed? Reactions so far have “alternated between sharp criticism and indifference”, said Emily Pugh in The Architect’s Newspaper. The building itself is “not an easily likeable object”.
The Prussian royal palace’s historic baroque façade has been faithfully rebuilt, and merged with a modern interior by the Italian architect Franco Stella–“a crisp grid of finished concrete and recessed windows”. The result is a “muddled” marriage of old and new.
Its contents are treated rather more sensitively, said Abby Klinkenberg on Hyperallergic.com. The displays “meaningfully” engage with colonialism, race and climate change: one titled Berlin Global addresses the city’s historical and present-day standing in relation to the rest of the world, while a show called After Nature explores “the fraught relationship between humans and nature”, focusing on the links between global warming and politics.
Yet all this progressive rhetoric seems “disingenuous” when you consider the murky provenance of the Forum’s collection – some of which consists of colonial plunder. The Forum’s critics regard it as a “giant temple to the worst excesses of the German empire”, said Oliver Moody in The Times. But its curators, led by Neil MacGregor, former director of the British Museum, have given a great deal of thought to the issue, and are “excruciatingly sensitive to the treacherous layers of history underfoot”.
Trigger warnings abound; indeed, one is even accompanied by its own separate trigger warning, advising anyone with “objections to the terms ‘white people’ and ‘black people’” to look away. And the shows themselves are great. The exhibition on ivory, Terrible Beauty, is “a corker”, filled with “heart-stopping exhibits” including the world’s oldest known piece of representational art, a 40,000-year-old sculpture of a mammoth no bigger than an apricot.
When its African collections – including some Benin Bronzes – open later this month, more controversy is guaranteed. Yet whatever ethical questions the Humboldt Forum raises, its thoughtful but “hostile cross-examination of history” is welcome. After all, “we’re hardly going to learn from the past if we don’t encounter it”.
Museum Island, Berlin, Germany (+49 30 99 211 89 89, humboldtforum.org). Now open
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest Man
In the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliation
Talking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: November 2, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour – an 'expansive' exhibition
The Week Recommends The 'sweeping' show features over 140 works from paintings to ceramics
By The Week UK Published
-
Kate Summerscale picks her favourite true crime books
The Week Recommends The writer shares works by Janet Malcolm, Helen Garner and Mark O'Connell
By The Week UK Published
-
The Forsyte Saga: 'faultless' production with a 'pitch-perfect' cast
The Week Recommends Theatrical adaptation of John Galsworthy's novels is a 'must-see' show
By The Week Published
-
6 exciting homes for athletes
Feature Featuring a rock-climbing wall in New York and a basketball-tennis court in Washington
By The Week Staff Published
-
Peter Ames Carlin's 6 favorite books on pop culture icons
Feature The author recommends works by James McBride, Jim Bouton, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Wild Robot: animated adventure is 'warm, funny and wise'
The Week Recommends 'Sharply written and richly detailed' adaptation of Peter Brown's best-selling book
By The Week UK Published
-
Francis Bacon: Human Presence – a 'stirring, splendid' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Riveting' show at the National Portrait Gallery explores the artist's 'wild' portraits
By The Week UK Published
-
Robert McCrum shares his favourite books on sport
The Week Recommends Writer and editor picks works by Nick Hornby, David Goldblatt and others
By The Week UK Published