Art and Cult

Special exhibition from December 13th, 2024 to June 29th, 2025 (extended)

SPECIAL EXHIBITION
December 13th, 2024 to June 29th, 2025 (extended)

ADDRESS

MUT | Museum Ancient Cultures
Burgsteige 11 | 72070 Tübingen

OPENING HOURS
Wed to Sun from 10am to 5pm
Thurs from 10am to 7pm

GUIDED TOURS
On request 

CONTACT
museum@uni-tuebingen.de | +49 7071-29 77579

Poster of the exhibition "Art and Cult" with the title and the adress of the MUT | Museum Ancient Cultures at Hohentübingen Castle; beneath: central green jade head of a maize god against black background, green rectangle with white lettering "extended until June 29th"

The Ancient America Collection of the University of Tübingen from the estate of Pelling Zarnitz

The Legacy

Dr Claus Pelling and Dr Dr h.c. Marie Luise Zarnitz have supported the University of Tübingen for many years, particularly the Tübingen Research Centre for Islamic Numismatics (Forschungsstelle für Islamische Numismatik Tübingen, FINT). Through the Pelling-Zarnitz Foundation, Claus Pelling has now bequeathed 23 ancient American artefacts from Central and South America to the Museum of the University of Tübingen (MUT).

Marie Luise Zarnitz, head of the Volkswagen Foundation's Research Promotion Department, died on July 1st, 2020, followed by her husband Claus Pelling on May 25th, 2023. Both founders were renowned collectors of pre-Columbian, especially Mayan artefacts, Byzantine lead seals, ancient Egyptian art and Islamic numismatics. Their aim was to make these often little-known cultures accessible to an interested public. Even before setting up their foundation, Marie Luise Zarnitz and Claus Pelling had made substantial donations to renowned museums, such as the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.

To the collection

The exhibition

The objects bequeathed to the University of Tübingen are on par with the Berlin collection of the same donors. They consist of artefacts from various cultures, especially richly painted and inscribed ceramics, jade sculptures, and gold objects. The impressively beautiful pieces mainly come from Mesoamerican cultures, in this case the Maya, Chupícuaro and Zapotecs, but also from Southamerican peoples such as the Chavín, Paracas, Tumaco, and Chimú. The objects date from approximately 1000 BCE to the arrival of the Europeans.

For the exhibition, scenographer Stephan Potengowski designed a display case catafalque in "Mayan blue", six metres in length, in the centre of the MUT's cabinet room in Hohentübingen Castle. The display case is accompanied by information on the context of the foundation, the collection, and the exhibition, as well as on comparable objects in the Berlin collection.

Download folder (de)

Vernissage

December 12th, 2024, 7pm
Castle church (Schlosskirche) | Hohentübingen Castle
Burgsteige 11 | 72070 Tübingen

The Publication

The generously illustrated publication accompanying the exhibition consists of two sections: one containing German and English essays on the foundation's and exhibition's context, as well as on scientific issues, the other containing a complete catalogue of the objects with their dates and comparable objects. The book contains essays by Martin E. Berger, Edgar Bierende, Thomas Finkenauer, Nikolai Grube, Sebastian Hanstein, Laura Osorio Sunnucks, Karla Pollmann, and Ernst Seidl; the fotographs are by Valentin Marquardt and Fabian Kurze. The Pelling-Zarnitz Foundation has generously supported this publication:

Ernst Seidl (Hg.), Kunst und Kult. Die Altamerikasammlung der Universität Tübingen aus dem Nachlass Pelling Zarnitz (Schriften des Museums der Universität Tübingen MUT, Bd. 31), Tübingen 2024; circa 250 pages with 150 fully coloured illustrations; price 39,00 Euro; ISBN 978-3-949680-12-0

To the shop

Buchcover mit einem links abgeschnittenen Jadekopf eines Maisgottes und darüber in Maya-Blau der Titel "Kunst und Kult"
The publication

The generously illustrated publication accompanying the exhibition consists of two sections: one containing German and English essays on the foundation's and exhibition's context, as well as on scientific issues, the other containing a complete catalogue of the objects with their dates and comparable objects. The book contains essays by Martin E. Berger, Edgar Bierende, Thomas Finkenauer, Nikolai Grube, Sebastian Hanstein, Laura Osorio Sunnucks, Karla Pollmann, and Ernst Seidl; the fotographs are by Valentin Marquardt and Fabian Kurze. The Pelling-Zarnitz Foundation has generously supported this publication:

Ernst Seidl (Hg.), Kunst und Kult. Die Altamerikasammlung der Universität Tübingen aus dem Nachlass Pelling Zarnitz (Schriften des Museums der Universität Tübingen MUT, Bd. 31), Tübingen 2024; circa 250 pages with 150 fully coloured illustrations; price 39,00 Euro; ISBN 978-3-949680-12-0

To the shop

Impressions from the vernissage

View of the castle church with a beamer and screen in front of the altar; at the lectern stands Prof. Dr. Ernst Seidl
View through the showcase filled with artefacts made from ceramic, jade and other stones; the faces of the surrounding visitors are anonymized through the reflective glass surfaces
Flat view over a white-covered buffet with filled white wine glasses and a blurred background in which stands a goblet with a flower bouquet
Prof. Dr. Monique Scheer at the lectern in front of the large screen in front of the altar of the Hohentübingen Castle church
Prof. Dr. Thomas Finkenauer at the lectern in front of the altar of Hohentübingen Castle church, his left hand raised in an explaining gesture
Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Nikolai Grube at the lectern in front of the altar of Hohentübingen Castle church in front of the screen on which the picture of a Mayan ceramic mug and the title "Die polychrome Keramik der Maya" (Mayan polychrome ceramics) is projected
view of the Mayan-blue showcase with the hand of an anonymous visitor in front of the glass indicating a jade head inside
Panorama view of the deserted exhibition with the central, Mayan-blue showcase and illuminated exhibition panels at the black walls
View of the deserted exhibition; in front of the central showcase there is a seating group with Maya-blue cubes and the "Art and cult" catalogue

Opening hours

Wed to Sun, 10am to 5pm
Thurs, 10am to 7pm

Exhibition venue

MUT | Ancient Cultures
Burgsteige 11
72070 Tübingen

Opening hours

Wed to Sun 10am to 5pm
Thurs 10am to 7pm

Admission

Adult: 5 €
Reduced: 3 € (children, students, retirees, disabled)
Family ticket: 12 €
Students of the University of Tübingen: free

Contact

Tel.: +49 (0)7071 29 77579

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