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»The Bark Project«, Charlett Wenig. Copyright: Patrick Walter, MPIKG
21.11.2024–24.8.2025
FUTURES – Material and Design of Tomorrow
Special Exhibition at Grassi Museum Leipzig with Works of Charlett Wenig
Humanity has always been fascinated by ideas, visions and versions of the future. Faced with global challenges, themes like resource scarcity, climate crisis and socioeconomic injustice dominate social awareness. Designers and artists increasingly focus on aspects of possible ›futures‹ as shown in the exhibition that is now opening at Grassi Museum of Applied Arts Leipzig. The exhibition’s chapter »READY MADE FUTURE« features works of Charlett Wenig.
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6.1.2025–31.12.2025
Mareike Stoll Solkatten Scholar 2025
Research at the Swedish Institute for Children’s Books in Stockholm
We are delighted to announce that Mareike Stoll is this year's Solkatten Fellow. During her visits to the Swedish Institute for Children's Books in Stockholm, she will examine the Institute's collections of photographic picture books published in Sweden between 1940 and 1980, with a particular focus on Karin Fryxell and Anna Riwkin-Brick. Mareike was a Research Associate in the projects »Weaving«, »Material Form Function« and »Object Space Agency« for several years until the end of 2024, including as a co-editor of the book »Architectures of Weaving. From Fibers and Yarns to Scaffolds and Skins«. We congratulate Mareike on her fellowship and wish her every success in her next career step.
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14.1.2025–18.3.2025
No Data Without Excellence
A Coffee Lecture Series
Join us for the Coffee Lecture Series, where we explore the essentials of research data management and its role in driving excellence in science. Under the theme »No Data Without... Excellence«, this series delves into key topics like research integrity, FAIR principles, persistent identifiers, electronic lab notebooks, and more. This series is proudly organized by MATH+, NeuroCure, Matters of Activity, and UniSysCat, bringing together expertise from leading Clusters of Excellence in Berlin. Starting mid-January 2025, join us every Tuesday at 2:00 PM (GMT) for a 10-minute presentation followed by questions and discussions, all held online via Zoom.
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Brain Roads, Symposium 2025.
4.3.2025–6.3.2025
Brain Roads. Visions and Representations of Neuroplasticity
Field Workshop and Symposium Organised by Olaf Avenati & Patricia Ribault
The interdisciplinary symposium at La Villa Douce in Reims aims to gain a better understanding of the role of images and to analyze their modalities and limits after observing their use in situ, in order to better understand neuroplasticity, propose new graphic forms, and open up an interdisciplinary conversation on their future. The event is part of the Brain Roads project and in addition to the two organizers Patricia Ribault and Olaf Avenati, Lucius Fekonja and Thomas Picht are among the Cluster members involved.
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10.3.2025
Exzellentes Pub Quiz
Berliner Exzellenzcluster starten eigene Pub Quiz-Reihe
Wozu forschen eigentlich die sieben Berliner Exzellenzcluster? Taucht ein in die wunderbare Welt der Forschung von Literatur bis Chemie, von Politik bis KI – überraschende, spannende und witzige Fragen laden zum Miträtseln ein. Sucht Mitstreiterinnen, denkt Euch Teamnamen aus und seid dabei! Wir freuen uns, euch zum Auftakt der neuen Pub-Quiz-Reihe am Montag, den 10. März in die fahimi bar nach Kreuzberg einzuladen.
So funktioniert‘s: Jeder Quizabend highlightet die Forschung eines Exzellenzclusters mit einer dazu passenden Live-Performance. Fragen aus den Bereichen aller Berliner Cluster ergänzen den zweistündigen Rätselabend. Am Ende seid ihr gewiss schlauer als zuvor – und geht vielleicht sogar mit großartigen Preisen nach Hause. Moderiert wird der Abend von Jochen Müller. Wir freuen uns auf euch! more
So funktioniert‘s: Jeder Quizabend highlightet die Forschung eines Exzellenzclusters mit einer dazu passenden Live-Performance. Fragen aus den Bereichen aller Berliner Cluster ergänzen den zweistündigen Rätselabend. Am Ende seid ihr gewiss schlauer als zuvor – und geht vielleicht sogar mit großartigen Preisen nach Hause. Moderiert wird der Abend von Jochen Müller. Wir freuen uns auf euch! more
Image: STS Hub 2025
11.3.2025–14.3.2025
Diffracting the Critical
STS Hub in Berlin with Contributions by Many Cluster Members
To strengthen the interconnectedness of Science & Technology Studies (STS) in Germany, the STS Hub has been organized – a conference series that brings together German organizations, labs, and research groups that are more or less closely related to STS. The conference is organized by Ignacio Farías, Anke Gruendel, Sandra Jasper, Maxime Le Calvé, Claudia Mareis, and Robert Stock, among others. This year's STS Hub, titled »Diffracting the Critical«, is an opportunity to collectively explore contemporary formations of critique in and with STS along three thematic clusters: ecologies & infrastructures, scales & temporalities, collaborations & solidarities. Registration is already closed.
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Project »Myko.Plektonik«, Natalija Miodragović & Dimitra Almpani-Lekka. Photo: Michelle Mantel. Copyright: Matters of Activtiy
18.3.2025
Active Matter and Environmental Relations
Charlett Wenig and Natalija Miodragović, Together with Alice Jarry, are Panelists at »In.Site2 and Sustainability Across Disciplines«
In this conversation, designers Alice Jarry (Concordia, CA), Charlett Wenig and architect Natalija Miodragović discuss with »pk langshaw« how engagement with living, semi-living, and sustainable materials that sense, react, and transform with their environment can deploy regenerative and resilient relations and constitute future-forward opportunities for material practices. The whole conference is hosted in Montreal from on March 17th–21st, but will also be available via Zoom.
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Microverse III-3, 2025 © Kathrin Linkersdorff
20.3.2025–8.6.2025
Microverse
Photographs Created by Kathrin Linkersdorff in Collaboration with Regine Hengge Exhibited at Haus am Kleistpark
Circularity and sustainability of material flows are hallmarks of intact ecosystems. This principle has now been stunningly visualized in ultrahigh resolution, large format photographs - the MICROVERSE series - created by Kathrin Linkersdorff in collaboration with Regine Hengge, Professor for Microbiology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The exhibition at Haus am Kleistpark (Berlin-Schöneberg) will be on view from March 21st to June 8th, 2025. We kindly invite you to the opening on March 20th, 2025 with an introduction by the Cluster's Senior Co-Director Horst Bredekamp.
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Visual Wasser Wissen
22.3.2025
Auf dem Trockenen? Die Zukunft des Wassers in Berlin
Zweite Veranstaltung der neuen »WasserWissen | PARCOURS«-Reihe der BUA zum Weltwassertag
Die Spree versiegt, der Wannsee wird zur Pfütze und der Landwehrkanal zum Rinnsal? Berlin steuert auf einen Wassermangel zu. Wenn die »Schwammstadt« auf dem Trockenen sitzt, kann der Wasserbedarf bald nicht mehr gedeckt werden: Was würde das für die Region Berlin-Brandenburg, eines der trockensten Gebiete Deutschlands, bedeuten? Um die komplexen Fragen rund um die aquatischen Ökosysteme zu ergründen, lädt die Berlin University Alliance am Weltwassertag 2025 herzlich zum zweiten Teil der Veranstaltungsreihe »WasserWissen | PARCOURS« ins Humboldt Labor ein.
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Laurentiu Constantin measuring a soil core sample in Bieselfließ, Germany, Nov 2024.Copyright: inherit. heritage in transformation
27.3.2025–20.7.2025
muddy measures. when wetlands and heritage converse
Exhibition of Centre of Advanced Studies »inherit. heritage in transformation« Opens at Tieranatomisches Theater
The exhibition »muddy measures. when wetlands and heritage converse« examines the relationship between wetlands and heritage. How does a heritage perspective reshape our understanding of wetlands? The exhibition is organized by Cluster Associated Member Yoonha Kim, together with Juliana Robles de la Pava and Margareta von Oswald and entails works of the Cluster members Charlett Wenig and Lucy Norris as well as Léa Perraudin and Iva Rešetar as part of the ＿matter festival. The opening will take place on March 27th at 6.00 pm. There will be a guided tour at 6.30 pm, followed by a reception.
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Film Still taken from a film by Oula A. Valkeapää. Still: Oula A. Valkeapää, 2021
10.4.2025–13.7.2025
Johtingeaidnu – The Path Within
Exhibition, Talk and Tours
The exhibition brings together two worlds: reindeer nomadism in the Arctic Sápmi region and the bioscience of epigenetics. Drawing on living relations within contemporary reindeer worlds and bioscientific research, the exhibition at Schering Stiftung materializes a world in which epigenetic memories are not only shared between humans but carried within ancestral migratory paths, called ›Johtingeaidnu‹.
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»Syntopolis« reef prototype in STARESO, Rasa Weber & Atelier Marie Drouet. Photo: Till Timmermann, 2024
2.5.2025–16.5.2025
What if the Ocean Were a City?
Exhibition and Interactive Program
Design researcher and diver Rasa Weber takes on the challenge of creating an artificial reef in the river Spree, a project she calls »Syntopolis«. Streamed into the re:future lab, the reef will transform the institute’s exhibition space into an immersive aquatic habitat for encounters, experiences, and reflections on shared ecological futures.
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Latent Accumulations: Walking Along Paraffin Pollution at Nida Coastline. Film still: Anna Luise Schubert 2025
9.5.2025–31.5.2025
Latent Accumulations
Exhibition, Roundtable and Workshop
Paraffin pollution is a recurring concern in coastal environments, yet one that is inherently difficult to detect and classify. The exhibition »Latent Accumulations« at Tieranatomisches Theater Berlin traces the elusive activity of this material. It gives insights into site-specific research processes that connect material investigations with local experiences and memories of shifting landscapes.
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Musée national d’histoire naturelle Luxembourg, title: Specimen № 15467, MNHNL 2000, license: CC BY 4.0, color and framing of this image were modified
13.5.2025–28.6.2025
Vegetal Companions: Arts, Sciences and Temporalities of Co-Existence
Exhibition, Workshops, Audio Walk and Movie Night
Focusing on the agency of plant and tree collectives and their ability to shape entire ecologies, »Vegetal Companions« aims to critically reposition conventional human-centered concepts that highlight control and mastery over nature. In a close dialog with the botanical garden of Späth-Arboretum, »Vegetal Companions« explores different forms of knowledge creation, be it soil as archive, art as research, or philosophy as gardening.
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Samples of woven cotton cloth dyed with mud (vouwo), Adama Séré - Marka-Dafing master dyer, 2020. Photo: Salif Sawadogo 2020
16.5.2025–6.7.2025
Fermenting Textiles – Weaving Together Traditional Craft, Anthropology, Microbiology and Art
Exhibition and Talks
»Fermenting Textiles« explores the fermentation of textiles in mud and plant material. The exhibition at Art Laboratory Berlin connects anthropology, microbiology, and art through the engagement of artisans, anthropologists, scientists, and artists and mirrors the multi-species collaborations that are integral to the mud dyeing process.
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Corrosion Cast of Liver Vessels, Dietrich Polenz, 2023. Image: Igor Sauer, 2025
4.6.2025–12.10.2025
Vessels: Infrastructures of Life
Exhibition, Panels and Tours
Vessels are indispensable – for plants, animals, humans, and even our cities. This special exhibition at Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité offers exciting insights into these often-hidden structures. It shows how various vascular systems function and how they are visualized, used, and reproduced.
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DESIGN EARTH (Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy), The Planet After Geoengineering, 18/25, 2021
13.6.2025
Planetary Experiments: Environments by Design
Annual Conference of DGTF, Organized by Michaela Büsse Among Others
The German Society for Design Theory and Research (DGTF), in collaboration with the Chair of Digital Cultures TU Dresden, invites participants to critically engage with the theme »Planetary Experiments: Environments by Design«. This conference, organized by Michaela Büsse among others, explores the diverse perspectives and practices of design research and theory in addressing the far-reaching ecological, social and technological challenges of our time. Over the course of one day and in a hybrid setup (Dresden & remote), they will bring together scholars and practitioners, like Cluster member Rasa Weber, to engage in keynote talks, panel discussions and practice presentations that critically explore the concept of »Planetary Experiments«.
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Entangled – Architectural Yarns and Structural Textiles. Photo: Michelle Mantel, adapted with drawing: Natalija Miodragović, 2025
18.6.2025
Entangled – Architectural Yarns and Structural Textiles
Workshop
»Entangled« brings together experts from materials research, architecture, textiles, and the humanities to discuss textile material practices in architecture. The workshop at Deutsches Architektur Zentrum invites the public to engage in conversations about the future of our built, grown, and woven environments. It builds on a network of academic and industry partners with expertise in textile technology and material flows.
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Beetle Galleries in Spruce Wood. Photo: Pelin Asa, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Matters of Activity, 2024
27.6.2025–21.9.2025
Symbiotic Wood
Exhibition, Symposium, Roundtable and Tours
Climate change and monocultures have left forests vulnerable to insects and fungi. Beetle-infested wood is deemed less valuable from a traditional human-centric perspective. The group show »Symbiotic Wood« at Kunstgewerbemuseum focuses on this ›more-than-human‹ material that is co-owned with other species. It features contributions by artists, designers, architects, and cultural historians.
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Swamp Things, Charlett Wenig, 2024. Photo: Janne Ebel, 2024
7.7.2025–20.7.2025
Swamp Things! The Liveliness of Peatland Plants
Exhibition and Workshops
»Swamp Things!« invites peatland ecologies to the BHROX pavilion – haunting echoes of Berlin’s watery past as fenland, shaped by glacial meltwaters. The exhibition explores the lively potential of peatland plants through basketry, open-source coiling machines, and multimodal workshops.
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Long-term monitoring plot of a heath population rendered as point cloud. Remote sensing data and processing: Carsten Neumann and Nicole Köllner, Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam; Visualization: Jona Möller, 2025
17.7.2025–20.7.2025
Blazing Heath/Heideglühen
Exhibition and Roundtable
The exhibition at ZK/U Berlin explores the complex history and contested afterlife of former military training sites in Brandenburg, Germany. »Blazing Heath/Heideglühen« examines how the toxic legacies of military occupation are made (in)visible and repurposed within scientific knowledge production. By integrating data-driven, visual, and sonic monitoring, a multi-channel video installation encourages you to engage with these uncanny landscapes.
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Energy Things, Iva Rešetar, Project »Architectural Yarns«. Detail from the exhibition »Material Legacies« in Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, 2022-23. Photo: Michelle Mantel, 2023
21.7.2025–6.10.2025
Energy Things
Exhibition, Roundtable and Workshop
This site-specific design intervention at Museum der Dinge critically engages with the environmental legacies of modernism. In dialog with existing environmental systems and the »energy things« from the museum’s collections, it opens up a discussion on human-made heat, drawing attention to the past, present, and future practices of thermal conditioning.
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Inverse problem for fabrication: From a 3D model a deposition plan is optimized for a 3D printed plate, such that once dipped into water the plate deforms into the target shape. This is achieved by optimizing the shape of the plate and the orientation of the plastic deposition trajectories. Copyright: Thibault Tricard, Vincent Tavernier, David Jourdan, Cédric Zanni, Jonàs Martínez, Pierre-Alexandre Hugron, Fabrice Neyret, Camille Schreck, Sylvain Lefebvre
1.9.2025–5.9.2025
Morphing Structural Materials – From Biology to Physics to Architecture
Advanced Course at International Centre for Mechanical Sciences in Udine, September 2025 – Register Now!
Matter is rarely completely static: often matter can morph. This is true for all living systems that grow, adapt, and change shape. Indeed, cells divide, leaves and fungi grow, octopuses transform, and wings reshape to control flight. But it is also true that bread rises and that pasta swells. While morphing is omnipresent in the living, it is not confined to it. Harnessing morphing capacities has many potential applications, from machines and robots to architecture. The goal of this course with lectures by MoA members Peter Fratzl and Karola Dierichs, is to review the current and fast-growing knowledge about structural materials that change shape or develop spontaneous internal stresses that improve their properties.
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19.9.2025
Out of Hand. Active, Ambiguous and Unsteady Matters
Conference
In the face of the current ecological predicament, substantial ›matters‹ are progressively getting ›out of hand‹, and require critical attention to their environmental, technological, and socio-material ambiguities. The annual conference of »Matters of Activity« attends to such complexities by intertwining active matters on multiple scales with questions of modelling, making and playing on unsteady grounds. By convening a variety of interdisciplinary positions, we seek to inspire collaborative means to negotiate the legacies and futures of material-driven research.
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