Exhibitions
Knowledge about Central and Eastern Europe - on show
Large and small, analog and digital exhibitions – for nearly 20 years, the GWZO has been successfully presenting research results to a broad public in an engaging manner. The transfer of culture and art from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, as well as the mutual influence and cultural exchange between the regions or domains of Eastern Central Europe and the rest of Europe, are the focus of our work. However, the results of excavations at archaeological sites from late antiquity and the early Middle Ages are also the subject of our exhibitions, as are research-based explorations of contemporary art and culture from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as global aspects of historical climate research. They have developed into a unique and important means of communication for the institute.
Producing, curating, and advising
Our »GWZO exhibitions« are initiated directly by the institute's scientists and implemented in collaboration with renowned national and international museums in their spacious facilities. In some projects, GWZO researchers develop ideas together with others. These exhibitions are either »curated by GWZO« or co-curated. Additionally, GWZO experts offer scientific guidance for external exhibition projects. These exhibitions are labeled »with scientific advice from GWZO«
Deepening our knowledge: books about the exhibitions
To deepen our knowledge, the GWZO organises accompanying lecture series, scholar days, guided tours by the curators and conferences. The institute also prepares and publishes exhibition guides, catalogues, volumes of essays and specialist books on the subject.
Digitale Ausstellungen
Innovative and sustainable
Since 2017, the GWZO has also been focusing on curating digital and virtual exhibitions. Digital exhibitions use the diverse forms of presentation available on the internet. Users can access the digitally exhibited knowledge in the long term, with few barriers and in a self-determined way. Digital exhibitions complement projects that have already been carried out in analog form, form part of various research objectives, or they open up exciting and innovative forms of presentation, such as exhibitions specially designed for virtual display. The first digital exhibition, on the haiku artist Karel Trinkewitz, has been available to view since 2017. Today, numerous exhibitions reflect the GWZO's broad research spectrum.
GWZO exhibitions in the making
Large GWZO exhibitions are prepared over a long period of time. In these projects, long-researched topics are turned into exhibitions. This involves collaborating with museums and exhibition venues, having expert meetings, creating object lists and negotiating loans. Then, catalogues and exhibition guides are prepared, and other forms of media presentation are developed. Long before the opening, consideration is given to the digital reuse of the materials developed.
Metropolis Thuringiae - Erfurt and Thuringia in the Middle Ages between Western and Eastern Central Europe
The medieval metropolis of Erfurt, with its cultural, economic, and artistic connections to both Eastern and Western Europe, is at the center of the project.
Bellum et Artes: War, Art and Diplomacy in Central Europe during the Thirty Years War
The exhibition project, in collaboration with 12 partners from 7 countries, examines and presents the impact of the Thirty Years' War on the arts, artists and their patrons in Central Europe.
