Exhibitionview. Green Sky Blue Grass. Colour coding Worlds. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Exhibitionview. Green Sky Blue Grass. Colour coding Worlds. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Exhibitionview. Green Sky Blue Grass. Colour coding Worlds. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Armlet (detail). Feathers, barkcloth, palm leaves and cotton. Kayapó Txukarramãe, Pará, Brazil. Collected by Luiz Boglar, 1988. Collection Weltkulturen Museum. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Obsidian blade. California, USA. Donation from Richard Mehlhorn, 2014. Collection Weltkulturen Museum. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Material for an armband, strip of tortoise shell engraved patterns, Southeast New Guinea, Melanesia. Collection and acquisition unknown. Collection Weltkulturen Museum. Photo Wolfgang Günzel
Earrings. Gold. Peulh of Mali, West Africa. Purchased from Thomas Schunk, 1989. Collection Weltkulturen Museum. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Headband. Plant material, jewel beetles. Mount Hagen, New Guinea. Purchased from R. Diepen during the Sepik Expedition, 1961. Collection Weltkulturen Museum. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Exhibitionview. Green Sky, Blue Gras. Colour Coding Worlds. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Exhibition view “GREEN SKY, BLUE GRASS. Colour Coding Worlds”. Weltkulturen Museum 2021. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Exhibition view “GREEN SKY, BLUE GRASS. Colour Coding Worlds”. Weltkulturen Museum 2021. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Exhibition view “GREEN SKY, BLUE GRASS. Colour Coding Worlds”. Weltkulturen Museum 2021. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
Exhibition view “GREEN SKY, BLUE GRASS. Colour Coding Worlds”. Weltkulturen Museum 2021. Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
The intensive red of the feather money (mangahau) from the Melanesian Santa Cruz Islands is produced by the artful arrangement of up to 60,000 small cinnabar red feathers of the honeyeater (Myzomela Cardinalis). If the red fades over time, then the feather money roll also loses its value. Feathers, bark, barkcloth, snail shells, Job’s tears seeds. Collected by Volker Schneider, 1980s.
GREEN SKY, BLUE GRASS: COLOURS CODING WORLDS: 360°-TOUR TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION
Our world is full of colour, but do all cultures see it in the same way? While the scientific basis for perception is identical for everyone, light waves can’t really explain how we name our impressions of colour, the number (and kind) of categories we divide these colours into, or the meanings and associations we ascribe to them. These can sometimes differ enormously depending on the language and culture involved.
It all means that colour is not necessarily universal. As an example, the meaning of the Japanese word ao is not identical to the English term blue. This is also the case with midori, which is quite distinct from green. Thus, Japanese poetry can absolutely describe a “green sky” and “blue grass” – the European way of seeing things is turned upside down.
With around 200 exhibits from the collections of the Weltkulturen Museum, including objects from New Guinea, Polynesia, the Amazon region, East Africa, Tibet and Java, the exhibition examines the wide range of contextual meanings for colour as a cultural phenomenon.
A central theme in this exhibition addresses the diverse cultural concepts associated with colour, because colour codes worlds: colours are often associated with manifold social and cosmological notions that help people find their way in the world, making sense of it and regulating how they live with each other. Exploring the meanings of the different understandings of colour means viewing cultural relationships in a new light, which in turn allows us to discover other worldviews.
We are very pleased to invite you to a 360° tour of the exhibition. Look around, there is a lot to discover!
