Preview

Shine on Me

The Sun and Us

An exhibition by the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum

Curator: Dr. Catherine Nichols

For the first time a special large-scale exhibition is taking a look at the star at the centre of our solar system from various perspectives. Objects and findings from the arts, cultural history and the natural sciences engage in a sensory dialogue on mankind’s intense relationship with the Sun, one which has shaped our lives for more than five thousand years. We have always been fascinated by our central star, but where does that universal fascination come from? What do we know about the Sun, and what mysteries remain concealed inside this sphere of hot plasma at 5,500 °C? From Ancient Egyptian worship rituals, alchemy and astrology to solariums, solar farms and solar probes to bikinis, bombs and pop music, the exhibition examines our Sun as a deity, an instrument of time, a symbol, a luminous force, a remedy, an energy source and, of course, a star.

The Dresden project gets underway in autumn 2018, almost concurrently with a NASA mission aiming to send a space probe as close to the Sun as possible. The exhibition sees itself as a sort of sister mission pursuing a similar objective: To enthral visitors to the exhibition and guide them as close as possible to the Sun phenomenon.

People and plants

An exhibition by the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum

Curator: Kathrin Meyer

Plants are vital to mankind’s survival; and yet, all too often, they are overlooked and neglected. We are now barely aware of just how genuinely dependent we are on them, especially in our urban everyday lives. Indeed, the way plants are cultivated and processed into food and medicine, or as materials, has become more or less invisible.

With exhibits from the visual arts, literature and cultural history as well as biology, agricultural and forestry sciences, the exhibition focuses on our fellow plant-based beings and examines differing views of the flora that surrounds us. As a result, plants are showcased as nurtured miracles of nature, as complex living beings, as economic factors, food, or cultural product.

The exhibition suggests that the way we deal with plants reveals our ambivalent relationship with nature. On the one hand, we wish to preserve it intact, wild and unspoilt; on the other, we exploit it unsparingly in order to satisfy our needs. So do we need a new concept of nature, given the profound impact we human beings are having on our ecosystems? Would our view of the environment be a different one if the history of human civilisation had been a narrative of complicity, nurturing and simultaneous exploitation of plants and vegetation?

Industrial Heritage & Man: 4th Saxon State Exhibition

Curator: Thomas Spring

Central exhibition venue: AUDI-Building, Zwickau

The Saxon State Ministry for Science and Art has entrusted the Deutsches  Hygiene-Museum  with  the  organisation  of  the  state exhibition in Zwickau. With numerous projects that have gained nationwide recognition,  the  museum  in  Dresden  has  become  a competence centre for surprising and popular theme-based exhibitions, all of which focus on humans as social and cultural beings.

From April 25 to November 1 2020, the 4th Saxon State Exhibition in Zwickau will focus on the region of south-west Saxony as one of the cradles of European industrialisation. With its motto “Industry – culture – Man” it will turn the history of industrialisation in Saxony into an exciting experience and highlight its future
development.

Alongside the central exhibition in the AUDI-Building Zwickau a further six other authentic venues in the region will provide fascinating insight into key branches in Saxon technology and industry history. With this decentralised structure, the 4th Saxon State Exhibition  is  presenting  almost  the  entire  spectrum  of  Saxony’s industrial heritage.

Venues

• Chemnitz Museum of Industry (mechanical engineering)

• Saxon Railway Museum Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf (railway)

• Textile Factory Bros. Pfau Crimmitschau (textile)

• Research and Teaching Mine / Silver Mine Freiberg (ore)

• Mining Museum Oelsnitz/Erzgebirge (coal)

• August Horch Museum Zwickau (vehicle manufacturing)