Three Variations of One Installation
Muslim life has been part of everyday European cultures for centuries. But is this also reflected in the objects that the MEK keeps in its collection? Which ones are they? What do they say about the people who made and used them and about those who collected them?
Image gallery
We show some answers to these questions in the installation "Muslim Invisibilities", which is a temporary intervention in the collection presentation "Cultural Contacts. Living in Europe". The installation will change twice. More and more things and topics that touch on Muslim life in Europe will become visible.
In addition, an interactive station invites visitors to select cultural objects from the MEK collection that they would themselves exhibit and to comment on them.
First variation: Protecting things
08/08/2024 to 10/11/2024
As part of the project "Muslim Visibility in the Museum. Traces of European Muslims in the MEK collection”, the exhibition organizers went in search of objects that have a connection to Muslim people in Europe.
A selection of the things they found in the depots can now be seen in the exhibition room. Most of them came to the MEK at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century. They are like windows that allow a glimpse into Muslim beliefs and ways of life. Almost all of them are labeled or have a reference to writing.
It seems to have been important for the manufacturers and users of the things: as an expression of religious or cultural affiliation, as protection or something worth protecting. Therefore, many of the objects address preservation: protecting things! They ask for divine protection for people, they protect other things. They point out that protection and security are human needs.
Another highlight of the first variation are five short literary texts by the political scientist, author and poet Ozan Zakariya Keskinkılıç from Berlin, each of which is dedicated to an object. Together they form a story between autobiography and fiction. It focuses on memories and rituals, on everyday family life and dreams, in order to look at things from a different, literary perspective and to question them about the past, present and future of Muslim life.
Second variation
11/13/2024 to 01/26/2025
Third variation
01/29/2025 to 04/13/2025
Accompanying program
The installation is accompanied by various events.
Curatorial team
The exhibition is curated by Nushin Atmaca and Susanne Boersma, research assistants, Museum of European Cultures.
An intervention by the Museum of European Cultures of the Berlin State Museums
Additional information
Price: €10.00
Reduced price: €5.00
Reduced price info: Children and young people up to the age of 18 are admitted free of charge.
