The Berlin Museum of the History of Medicine at the Charité traces the development of medicine over the last 300 years. The permanent exhibition features around 750 pathological and anatomical specimens and offers insights into the anatomical museum, the laboratory and the ward. Special exhibitions bring together medicine, culture and history.
Horizontal – Festival Day 1
The two-day festival “Horizontal” is dedicated to the multiple dimensions of lying down. Through performances, workshops, talks, and conversations, international artists, activists, and scholars open up perspectives on horizontality in its cultural, historical, and bodily dimensions.
What forms of perception, action, and coexistence can emerge when bodies withdraw from the imperatives of productivity and performance—often symbolised by the upright posture—and critically interrogate them?
In connection with the exhibition “Horizontal – Politics and Poetics oft he Sickbed”, the festival expands the exhibition space through performative, participatory, and discursive formats. It opens a shared space in which horizontality can be experienced as a collective practice.
Featuring contributions by Black Power Naps Raquel Meseguer Zafe, Ania Nowak, Harold Offeh, Anajara Amarante, Pia Achternkamp, and others.
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programme
11:00 a.m. | Museum Garden and Lecture Hall Ruin
Arrival & Attunement
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Museum Foyer
“Horizontal – Politics and Poetics from the Sickbed”
Exhibition tour in English with Assistant Curator Nora Heidorn
Maximum 25 participants
Registration in the museum foyer
11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. | Lecture Hall Ruin
Raquel Meseguer Zafe – If We Could Rest Awhile
Workshop (English)
This workshop is part of a two-day format. Participants are invited to also join the second-day public action on 13 September (15:00–17:00), which extends the exploration into a shared outdoor setting at MuseumsMeileMitte. Participation in both days is welcome but not required. Participants who attend the workshop and the public action on Sunday, 13 September, receive free admission to the museum and the festival on both days.
Maximum 30 participants / free of charge
Registration at: museum@charite.de
12:30–2:00 p.m. | Break
The Quiet Room and the special exhibition Horizontal remain open during the break.
2:00–2:30 p.m. | Lecture Hall Ruin
Monika Ankele and Nicole Schuchardt – Welcome & Introduction (English, German)
2:30–3:30 p.m. | Lecture Hall Ruin
Harold Offeh – The Lounging Lecture
Performance (English)
3:30–4:15 p.m. | Break
The Quiet Room and the special exhibition Horizontal remain open during the break.
4:15–5:00 p.m. | Lecture Hall Ruin
Ania Nowak – Obelix Nutrix
Performance (English)
5:00–5:30 p.m. | Break
The Quiet Room and the special exhibition Horizontal remain open during the break.
5:30–7:00 p.m. | Lecture Hall Ruin
On Sleep, Rest and Exhaustion
Talk (German)
with Alexandra Correll (physician specialized on sleeping medicine), Fabian Goppelsröder (philosopher), and Surjo Soekadar (neuroscientist)
Moderation: Monika Ankele
7:00–7:30 p.m. | Break
The Quiet Room and the special exhibition Horizontal remain open during the break.
7:30–8:30 p.m. | Lecture Hall Ruin
Pia Achternkamp – Lounge Concert for Horizontal Listening
Concert
free admission
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Contributors
Monika Ankele, Co-curator
Nicole Schuchardt, Co-curator
Isabel Coleman, Production manager
Claes Schwennen, Technical director
Scenography (Lecture Hall Ruin)
in collaboration with the students from the Stage Design Class at the Universität der Künste Berlin (Nwakoso Edozien, An Klepel, Yulei Yang, Pegah Zamaninematsara)
Lead: Janina Audick and guest professor Meika Dresenkamp
The festival is funded through a Science × Media Tandem programme of Stiftung Charité and supported by the British Council.