Bhasha Chakrabarti: Archive of Divine Possessions
As part of her fellowship at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg ‘inherit. heritage in transformation’, the artist Bhasha Chakrabarti presents her new work ‘Archive of Divine Possessions’ as a large-scale installation spanning the rotunda and the adjoining gallery spaces on the ground floor of the Tieranatomisches Theater.
Bhasha Chakrabarti: Archive of Divine Possessions
As part of her fellowship at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg ‘inherit. heritage in transformation’, the artist Bhasha Chakrabarti presents her new work ‘Archive of Divine Possessions’ as a large-scale installation spanning the rotunda and the adjoining gallery spaces on the ground floor of the Tieranatomisches Theater.
About the Tieranatomisches Theater
The Tieranatomisches Theater is an exhibition space and a stage for experimental forms of presentation, as well as a laboratory for curatorial practices. As a research institution at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Tieranatomisches Theater focuses on the critical examination of the multifaceted role of collections, material objects and institutions.
About the Tieranatomisches Theater
The Tieranatomisches Theater is an exhibition space and a stage for experimental forms of presentation, as well as a laboratory for curatorial practices. As a research institution at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Tieranatomisches Theater focuses on the critical examination of the multifaceted role of collections, material objects and institutions.
A glimpse into the Tieranatomische Theater
The distinctive architecture of the Tieranatomisches Theater makes it a unique venue for exhibitions and events.
The Tieranatomische Theater
Research-based exhibition practice – ‘Research in Display’
The Tieranatomisches Theater (TA T) is an exhibition space and stage for experimental forms of presentation, as well as a laboratory for curatorial practices. As a research institution at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the TA T is dedicated to addressing the current challenges facing the museums of tomorrow. It brings together perspectives and practitioners from international communities across academia, the arts and civil society: in a transdisciplinary, transcultural and cross-generational manner. The aim is to highlight the diversity of forms of knowledge whilst simultaneously developing new and sustainable formats and perspectives for exhibition-making.
The Theatre of Knowledge: Then and Now
For over 200 years, the Tieranatomisches Theater has provided an impressive stage for science. It is Berlin’s oldest surviving teaching building, offering conditions that were unique in its day for veterinary teaching and research. The central building is designed as a domed, tiered lecture theatre and is a masterpiece of early Prussian Classicism. Its architect, Carl Gotthard Langhans (1732–1808), combined ancient models of the circular temple and the amphitheatre to create an entirely new architecture of knowledge: aesthetics, symbolism and practical utility were effectively united in this design. At the centre of the building was a lifting platform leading from the dissection theatre to the anatomy theatre, which enabled a spectacular staging of the anatomy lecture.
This unique historical constellation – presenting anatomy in a way that was both scientifically and aesthetically effective – now serves as inspiration to further develop exhibitions as an independent form of knowledge: as an interlinking of scientific, aesthetic and social practice. Since 2013, TA T has been developing temporary exhibitions, installations, concerts and performances within the context of a wide range of cross-institutional and interdisciplinary collaborations.
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