Special Exhibitions
Current
Current
Current
Te Pou o Hinematioro – Māori Heritage, Culture and Connection
October 24th, 2025 to March 29th, 2026
The exhibition was created in close collaboration between the Māori community Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti from Ūawa/Tolaga Bay (New Zealand) and the University of Tübingen. At its heart stands the carved pou Hinematioro Pou, which came to Europe in 1769 during James Cook’s first voyage. For the community, it is far more than an exhibit – it embodies ancestors, genealogy (whakapapa), spiritual authority (mana), and cultural treasures (taonga).
Industry of Beauty. From marble to pixels: reproductions of Roman empresses
February 6th to May 5th, 2026
The exhibition uses the example of the women of the Julio-Claudian imperial family to shed light on the techniques of serial statue production in marble, plaster, and, using 3D printing, in plastic from antiquity to the present day. It is the result of a collaboration between the ERC project The Roman Emperor Seen from the Provinces at the University of Verona and the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Tübingen.
The Tears of Trees
March 8th, 2026 to February 28th, 2027
A wide variety of plants all over the world produce resins, gums and latex to protect themselves from injury or defend against predators and pathogens. The areas of application for these valuable plant substances are just as diverse: they can be used as adhesives or sealants, in surface treatment or varnishing, in oil painting, as incense (such as frankincense and myrrh), as flavouring in retsina, or as fragrance in perfumes or medicines.
The exhibition „The Tears of Trees. Resins, gums and their stories" showcases the diversity of resins, gums, and milky juices, exploring their origins and their presence in modern-day life. A scent memory game allows visitors to experience the aromas of the resins and their use in perfumes.
Current
Online
Anatomy Unbound
April 17th, 2023 to December 31st, 2027 (extended)
This exhibition was developed in three research projects by students of history and medicine under the direction of PD Dr. Henning Tümmers and Leonie Braam, M.A. (Institute for Ethics and History of Medicine) and Prof. Dr. Benigna Schönhagen and Stefan Wannenwetsch, M.A. (Grave Field X Project at the Institute for Historical Geography and Ancillary Historical Sciences). The interdisciplinary project is being developed in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Bernhard Hirt (Institute for Clinical Anatomy and Cell Analysis) and Prof. Dr. Ernst Seidl (Museum of the University of Tübingen MUT).
Colonial Shadows
from January 22nd, 2025
Elisabeth Krämer-Bannow, who was part of the expedition as self-taught illustrator, photographer and ethnologist, used her access to the women of Palau to document their daily lives and culture from a rare perspective. While male explorers often lacked access to this world, she was able to provide intimate insights that often went unobserved in ethnological research at the time. Her watercolours and photographs, on display in the exhibition, offer a vivid picture of Palauan life and a critical reflection on the colonial view of the period.