says it reversible as it holds lavish celebrations, marketing 100 years since the founding of the chinese communist parties. she told a flag waving crowd in the era of china. the era of china is being bullied, is gone forever. and with that now you're up to date on the w. news affects the film. i'm sarah kelly. thanks for watching the green. you're worried about the furnace. i'm neil's house of the on the green fence remains to join me for the green transformations for me, for you, for the plan ah,

in the, in the heart of berlin there stands once again a palace. it is a reconstruction of the old prussian royal palace that was damaged in the 2nd world war and later demolished. today it is home to the humbled forum, the most controversial, hotly debated and with a price tag of 680000000 euros the most expensive project in contemporary german culture. his mom was with the star, one faction, one of the facts, while another one of the board for whom reconstructions never innocent can emitter . this is the center of the center of the center, the or dedicates the best spot, the most central, not to itself, but the world is mind blowing, cost even the possibilities in the home. but for him are in english. all this talk

of having a dialogue as just maybe they were look down on it before. sometimes the past to hell is beef by good intentions. the collections from around the world are very difficult, but they're here. they exist and we now have to decide what to do with them. we spent years documenting the creation of the humbled forum, starting with the main, the foundation stone in 2013. and we were often full of conflicting emotions. the palace with 2 faces and 2 identities as quite an unusual story. the way this story begins with a far fetched idea where she handler and she's my, was

a merchant for agricultural equipment in charlottesville, holstein, i sold tractor pharmacy and then this palace became my hobby for the next 28 years . i couldn't say why, but my enthusiasm never waned, and i became an expert on the place of 6 pounds. if not for vill home from bo dean, there probably wouldn't be a new old palace in berlin. he spent decades researching the history of the architecture of the rock original. this winged victory throwing a wreath once graced one of its holes, bodine drummed up more than 100000000 euros and donations for his project. but why? nonsense? i know they say 961. i was 19 years old about to finish high school and i was the politics editor of al student newspaper school commissioned me to do what was later called a wall newspaper about the construction of the berlin wall. i spent 2 weeks in

berlin watching as the wall was built in marble, lived as one chief i should and it was a deeply disturbing experience. i was there when an old woman jumped out of a window on ban ella strauser thank god she landed on a sheet. people were holding out for her, and then i went to east berlin and the further east i traveled the more desolate and decayed, the city looked off. eventually i reached a parade grounds with a tribune that was before the palace of the republic had been built. and it's, they told me this was where the old royal palace had stood until 950 before it was blown up to make way for the parade grounds of us. oh, me. me and my paper had 20 pages on the wall going up and 4 on the palace coming down in its place. east germany,

the g d r. eventually built its own palace of the republic. it was a multi purpose building. it house to parliament or folks color and doubled as a leisure center with a restaurant, disco, tech, and bowling alley. it came to be known as eric's lamp shop, honoring the many lamps and the then leader of east germany, arish honecker. after the iron curtain fell, the people's palate faced unrelenting criticism as a symbol of the division of germany. once more it was contaminated with as best for lynne was reinventing itself as a single unified city. many projects were proposed across between the g d r's, palace and a reconstruction of the old prussian palace. something entirely new and radical. a large public space with a beach volleyball pitch around the time of german reunification. the mood was to

move beyond the painful legacies of world war 2 toward a bright new future. meanwhile, the home phone bo dean was busy assembling the parts needed to make his dream come true. sometimes quite literally a number of ornaments of dawning allotment gardens turned out to be fragments of the old borough palace, parts of its original facade. the grandest find was this prussian crown. the other filled him from bodine, the champion of reconstruction, also proved to be quite a treasure hunter guy. and it's a secret, but it's sensational. that's all i'll say. sensational.

reconstructing the baroque palace was envisioned as the ideal compliment to the complex of museums directly to the north, collectively known as the museum island. the home phone bo dean went to great lengths to win over public opinion. in 1993, he had scaffolding built that supported a full scale mockup of the 2 facades. it remained in place for a year and a half andreas shooters, but rock masterpiece, proved appealing, and the 1970 s, palace of the republic came to look stale. berliners got used to the new scenery and started developing a certain eagerness for this retrospective future. the decisive vote in parliament took place on the 4th of july 2002. they had to do by how there were more than a 1000 to plans to redefine this space over the course of 12 years. and nothing better emerged than this rehashing of the old baroque berlin. and that's the,

at least the facade facing last. they still use, i still plan a $384.00 that vote sealed the deal to create a new royal palace and to demolish the palace of the republic. the east german remnant may have been symbolic for a checkered past, but many in berlin still felt more connected to it than to some bygone prussian edifice. to rebuild iraq palace would not, however, be a replica. the eastern facade and the interiors were to be modernized. rebuilding the palace was never popular with the white public and the 5 percent were in favor. 5 percent were against it. 90 percent didn't care one way or the other 90 percent of on tele, into land or as it was if the mockup hadn't gone up, we wouldn't be talking about it today. that was the turning point. if you tried

device engine one bo dean was among those who press the start button. when construction began, the site was challenging for the engineers. the soil was boggy and unstable. the old palace had been built on 5000 oak trunks, rammed vertically into the mud. the foundations of the new old palace were to be of a more modern kind. before they were built, archeologists study, the original foundations parts were saved to be put on display in the humbled forum . in 2013, the cornerstone was laid him most form in the homeboys forum in the reconstructed royal palace, experienced lively encounters with the cultures of the world in a place to explore cultures from around the world. that vision was 1st articulated

by careless dieter layman. at the time president of the prussian cultural heritage foundation. several years later, we talked to him yesterday and then i have to get his concern. when they read off or there was a heated debate in berlin about rebuilding the palace was like, nobody thought about what should be inside. and y'all, it's 4000. he's in the year 2000. i got the idea to move the museums for non european cultures at the edge of the city from dial them into the heart of berlin as a continuation of the museum islands in give a quick to. and in that way, some world cultures could be seen as part of a larger context. i knew even because the idea was met with great enthusiasm. and the goal is to show everybody saw it as an opportunity to create a dialogue among cultures is equal to and it's like, oh wow. germany was still divided. the museums in dom we're in what was in west berlin,

whereas the museums on museum island were in east berlin. the idea of bringing the actions of the museum of asian art and the ethnic logical museum into the city center was appealing. but housing stolen objects acquired in germany's colonial misadventures in a palace where imperial rulers, once resided, caused critics to shudder to them. this was the central and in the luck, double flaw of the entire project. ah, mom, i'm sorry. it was just on the start high one faction, one of the royal palace back. and i got another one at the home board for him instead, when just talking about just wasn't and it's, it was the spirit of pragmatism that parliament, the 2 together in the, him, with the home board for him in the museum shrinking behind the facade in, domino and that's how they gathered a majority in favor high humboldt forum comprises the ethnic logical museum and the museum of asian art,

which are both part of the prussian cultural heritage foundation and a lot more. a berlin exhibition, the humble lab of the humble university spaces for events and special exhibitions, as well as areas devoted to the history of the place. the total source base amounts to 44000 square meters about the same as all the museums of museum island put together. the roof of the foil is made of steel and glass. geothermal energy is used for heating and cooling and construction terms. the building is very modern, but traditional craftsmanship has also had an important role to play. for a long time, it was hard to imagine what the interior might one day look like. to

collections of the 2 museums exhibition about the history of the site all have to be presented to the public in an appealing and engaging manner. that's the task of the scene, or graf, or tim than to media. and since any of the mit see no, there is someone who designs and give form to an exhibition that subpoena it involves many disciplines. interior design, communication design, graphic design, media interaction design. it's about telling stories, bringing them to life story and seeing it's a complex project to try to bring together so many different and overlapping stories and histories. the palace does not merely house exhibits. it is an exhibit in its own right. part of the original foundations feature in the exhibition elaborating the sites long history with the whole here was formed when the palace

was blown up. dynamite was placed here to bring it down. how do we share this with our visits? if you come and see us in brazil house it was a real explosion. i think the way to present it is through film to miss josh and haven't planned planning to put a walkway over the old floor floating a little bit above it. so visitors have a pop to follow through the sellers because we joined tim vent amelia, to visit the 2 museums in the dunham district. moving the displays to the humbled forum was also meant to actively address the often problematic history of the collections and crushed in this on responders. standing and respecting other cultures is important for all of us on what role de museums play in that understanding. and that's what interests me versus lessons into this. yet. viola koenig specializes in these crucial questions. she was appointed director of the ethan logical museum in 2001 and asked to develop

a more sensitive and open approach to dealing with the colonial history of the collections. she is not happy about how it turned out via hum for a long time. we kept hoping that we would be given an empty white space. outside was the palace facade, and inside we just wanted a white cube. but as planning progressed, the palace took up more and more space. we often saw how the people developing content for the humbled forum struggled with the projects, internal contradictions. tensions and complex structures much is understood, humbled for under so exam, say, the humbled floor and the such a challenging project because of its size. for me, it was more because of the structures management, the bosses kept changing as the institution develop, eons these institutes young emma unders foreign in hardly. sometimes there was

a lack of direction of photography, an absence of clear goals. and that's a failure of communication with various communities as to what the project was really about. was this the act that was all supposed to change in 2015, surrounded by bare walls and scaffolding. federal commissioner for culture, monica glitters, presented niel mcgregor. the popular former director of the british museum in london was meant to win over public favor as head of the humbled forums founding director it. but in the end, even he could not provide what the forum needed a new way of doing museums authorization. that of all people, the former director of the world's biggest imperialist colonialist, museum of british museum, was appointed head of the humbled forum. i don't know what he had in mind or if he had anything particular in mind. but the one thing that was central to our agenda

was what he couldn't provide. and that was a change of narrative, a presentation of multiple perspectives more to perspective. i don't know how many times i explained this to neil mcgregor and words and images. i always had the impression he didn't care martin, i'm by then any major changes to the humbled forum. we're pretty much out of the question. as plans for the interior had been almost finalized. mcgregor stayed on the job for 3 years. he did not fulfill the high expectations. the history of berlin is also featured at the humble forum. a species curator of the berlin exhibitions. he's from the netherlands and used to be director of the amsterdam city museum. so he contributes an outsider's perspective. he has followed the critical discussion in germany about the humbled forum. i let the cookie come,

i was coming. i can appreciate all the criticism of the humbled forum carrying down the pallets of the republic with no efforts to restore any of it. and i understand the dismayed and then deciding to reconstruct the old palace how annoying, why not build something new and modern. why build a face? on the other hand, how amazing is this unusual grand gesture on the part of germany to devote its best site at the center of the center of the center, not to itself, but to the world. that's just, that's mind blowing. it's easy for me to defend that decision because i'm not german. and as an outsider, i can say, well done my compliments. as to content, i am responsible for 4 and a half 1000 square meters. of the idea is that me outside is berlin. upstairs the world, we are the bridge between berlin and the world. lean on it as we track the development of the project, we couldn't help thinking that there wasn't really one single humbled forum, but many different humbled forums with different protagonists pursuing different

visions. just as close to stephen, this is what all the buzz is about. this is the space for the berlin exhibit for it has 3 side with big, beautiful, high ceiling room must be up. and i could do my best. we can think of this area as a unit. the exhibition starts here. here is the university, then comes the berlin exhibition. then upstairs, the ethnic logical museum, asian art, and the roof terrace. part of this creature has come to explore its new home after completion. it took up residence in the humboldt lab voice when visited vital the roots of what university can be found in the early modern cabinets of art

and curiosities in the old royal palace that stood on this very site in. we're not interested in visual appeal or how attractive and object may be, but in knowledge must have been, you know, still have many visitors will be coming from the berlin exhibition. exiting it, they are all set. and here is the entrance or exhibition of any official, many people will come and see fish. the deeper meaning of the swarm of fish is that in a playful manner, it shows how we are part of the world around us. and what we do is human has an impact on the world. on the interactive swarm represents current research into swarm intelligence. the concept has found application in areas such as researching social networks, intelligent traffic control, and even the behavior of museum visitors the humble lab of humble university hopes its movable displays and complex video projections

will get the public interested in the science behind. it can sign into the providence possessive of a great fan of the pallets of the republic. and i think it's really regretable that not even part of it was preserved. but i consider that a great crime company moves, but i'm also excited about the opportunities of the homeboy falling onto to dream up and create new kinds of exhibition noise in the high tech inside fake the rock on the outside from kirsten was commissioned to recreate the ornate decorative rock crests above 2 portals. it took him a year and a half. his enthusiasm for the beauty and craftsmanship that goes into every element of the facade is contagious. was the top priority is vitality bringing the

baroque era to life for the visitors. he had no original plans to work from. none had survived as we up in spring for those to me for him, i have photos that show what i have to do with it and they are my reference point. as i think about volumes and their impact, photos are 2 dimensional, not 3. so i have to work out the depth and volumes myself because he started by creating a model with clay. this was coded in silicon to create a mold which was in cast in plaster to serve as a model for the stone sculptures. the reconstruction project gave a boost to various art dismal trait. 3000 blocks of sandstone had to be sculpted for the new old facade all financed by donations. essentially, it's a difficult task. we don't only have newly sculpted pieces for the reconstruction. we also have original fragment of the problem is will they fit together given all the fine differences at the edges?

and we're talking about 10 or 12 tons, and it all has to come together as one piece in the architect of this hybrid building, the italian franco stana. he says, people need to see the royal palace in order to fully experience berlin's historical cityscape that was centered around it. in mark adorned a metal courtyard of 3 prong costello designed them so that 2 of them were accessible at all times, making them part of public urban space. oh, the courtyard. the roof for the entrance hall for visitors. oh i. eastern facade is modern and design and made of pre cast concrete components. postwar prefabs, are common site in berlin. but the juxtaposition of prefab and brock is new.

in. i husband directed both of the modern architecture of the building and that the detailed reconstruction of rock elements. the reconstructed dome is not made of bricks. its frame is composed of 242 tons steel girders. at the technical level old and new function together well. but the modern parts of the building simply co exist with the rock looking parts, letting them basking glory without any commentary or even tension. we consider that a major failing of the humbled forum the who's the architecture should have taken up a question of what it means to display artifacts from other cultures here. if it had somehow subverted the imperial pomp, perhaps with powerful modern elements,

the forum might have acquired a different, more open symbolic significance. and perhaps us wage those critical of the idea of reconstructing the old palace in the 1st place. directly beneath the dome or some of the most spectacular spaces and exhibits buddhist wall paintings from caves in what is now china? yeah, yeah, yeah. even here it is. got these are the you are the reconstructed. but incomplete cave, who, the division of the visitors will have the feeling they are actually inside a cave in one city. that's the challenge we face. how do you exhibit a cave? the cave is a negative space, and that's why we came up with the idea of recreating the landscape and displayed in what looks like their original setting. the beautiful paintings inspire a sense of all one rarely feels in an exhibition buddhist monks meditated among

these images. one and a half 1000 years ago. even in a museum, the cave of the ring bearing doves feels deeply spiritual. the 2 museums started migrating from dallas to the humbled forum in 2016. what was left behind was re fashioned into the dollar research campus. more than $20000.00 artifacts were moved, including anything from southern pacific boats to tea cups. when this boat was moved to the humboldt forum, it was not yet commonly known that its acquisition involved, colonial era crimes, who's slowly the interior has been taking shape street artists created graffiti at the entrance to the berlin

exhibition. their work covers all the major seams of the forum from alexander fun, humbled travels to bismarck campaigns to seize colonies. i, wow. this room is the starting point for expeditions through the history and stories of berlin, enhanced with digital and interactive technology. so this is a late 19th century kaiser panorama looking through the i pieces, visitors, enjoy vivid 3 dimensional color images of the world. or at least of what they were meant to see if the world dates to the period when the german empire sought to expand its territory. capturing colonies by force along the way. artifacts from around the world were pillaged to be put on display back home. that too often involved force. it's a difficult legacy. the humbled forum has yet to address the ethnic logical museum

was founded in 1873 by and off boston. as a ship's doctor, he witnessed the brutal eradication of indigenous peoples. through the course of colonialism. he considered the museum as a way to secure the material legacy of endangered cultures are hard because they're, they're spanish. this, in, from today's perspective, it's very, very hard to appreciate the mindset of the key players back then. they were no doubt motivated by scientific curiosity about people and cultures around the world . but those who financed it all were motivated by the colonial is to drive to appropriate the world for raw materials. and they set the terms of reference, even for those whose aims were noble and gall. early taylor half town cut off basi and wanted to create a museum where human kinds common heritage could be researched. sadly, he failed,

but what he sought to achieve resembles the basic idea behind the humboldt for him . can that vision still be fulfilled today? and if so, how? in 2017 we met jonathan fine. who would later had the logical museum when he was curating an exhibition entitled beyond compare. it posed the uncomfortable question, whether it was a colonialist mindset that led us to characterize african art as cult objects, and christian cult objects as art. these collections are things that when we look at them today are very difficult. i want to say to colleague who said, if we looked at these museums today, we would probably never billed them. and if we looked at these collections today, we would probably never assemble them,

but they're here. they exist and we now have to decide what to do with them for the interview. so what will the humbled forum do with the problematic collections? it has been built to display to find out, we toured the exhibition space in the humbled forum in 2021 with jonathan, fine and tim than to media. so this is a pedestal where we're going to be putting the throne from the kingdom. remarkable object. it brings to a point, a lot of this sort of questions that people have about the colonial era occasion point. a throne is degrade the new old palace, but it did not come from the whole southern dynasty. rather it belong to king, enjoy of by moon of western cameroon. i always thought it was a gift to the kaiser. is that not the story? well, it is,

but it's gifts are complicated. we know that he really didn't want to give up his throne and be what went through his mind. what calculation did he have to make? was he going to lose face if he didn't give something important to the cause or was he going to lose power? if he didn't give something important to the cause of a right royal gift from one ruler to another or a tribute that had to be paid to the colonial master phil home the 2nd and 2017. we went with jonathan, fine to cameroon, to find out more about the throne. what do people there? think of the country's colonial passed. if the throne had not gone to berlin, it would now belong to this man, the sultan of bomb sim. bumble enjoy the grandson of king julia who reign during the period of german colonial rule.

ah, problems director of cultural affairs works closely with the sultan. the throne is a sensitive subject. he tells us. ah, ah, we keep. no day passes without us having to talk about the throne. the tourists who come here always ask you, what is the throne of the king of by moon doing in berlin? say ah some say the german stole the throne on either one

of those think it wasn't a gift or if it was one, then a full gift card to foresee a common police. what do you say to that 2nd phone to tennessee valley. we think that the by moon people maintained a marriage of convenience with the germans back then, how would i characterize the relationship nowadays? are they divorced in the near future? don't we hope not. we, we very much hope that ties will be revived through greater cultural cooperation. back the cookie, i can check it with germans will appreciate the mutual

benefits of helping us preserve our cultural heritage. the throne in berlin is an ambassador of our rich culture. returns your life to offset. and i said, you know, one of the things i took away from our discussions was the clear wish for germany to live up to it's historical promise of friendship. and i think one of the things we can do is make that expectation clearer to the german public. and to make that expectation clearer. to german politicians in berlin, we go to savvy contemporary art space to meet its director boulevard, to comb. he's a renown curator who has also put together shows that the famous documentary art exhibition in castle why he's interested in the impact of

colonialism and the way europe and museums display non european cultures on to her. and the cong grew up a 100 kilometers from, from bon and has heard the story of the throne ever since he was a child. the cultural ambassador of germany to the us doesn't belong to the us. it belongs to germany, right? then we should apply if we want to use analogy of the culture ambassador didn't that want, should belong to the people from one, right? so i'm all for cultural ambassadors. so leg gemini, sent also a very important work from its culture to come as a culture. i'm better that we should put it in the full band museum as well. it is fine. but until we do that, it is a one way street. so if you want to look at shared heritage, let's shit everybody's every day and not just some people and the others not. what

should happen to the throne in the future for me is very much an open question, because like many of the things in the humble forum, we now have this past. we've looked into it, we are looking into it. and as we know more about it, we may want to make different decisions about what should happen to the object to the future. should they go back? should they stay in germany? the debate about the humbled forum has brought such difficult questions to the attention of a wider public in preparation for the move from dollars. jonathan fine and restores inspected some of the most highly contested items in the ethnic logical museum. the beneath bronzes, the masterpieces from the wild kingdom of beneath were looted by british forces during a punitive palace rayed in 897. in what is now nigeria, later many pieces were eventually sold. what the humbled forum does with the bronze and ivory works is a key test of its avowed commitment to explore new ideas and truly pursue cultural

exchange with other countries. as equals for decades, nigeria has demanded the return of its looted treasures. it wasn't until 2021 that any progress was made regarding the benign bronzes. how does restitution work? and why are museums so often reluctant? the for fun, better got misunderstood. your procedure for turning items looks like the institute was, it was the board of the prussian cultural heritage foundation has to make the decisions director towards the president or museum director can't do. so. it really has to be the top level bodies. 64 isn't and then there's the question of the recipient is too clear for any object to be arrested to that we have to determine who the rightful owner and i was on the status is a national museum to a local community. and if it can get complicated, but what i can say is that we shall give back the beneath bronzes and sort of keep some will go to a new foundation being set up in nigeria. other items will remain on display in the

humble forum. the question is, how will these objects with such a troubled past be presented to the public? this is where this multimedia program, which is really a multi screen film right, will be presented. and all the voices from europe and africa, including the ober and scholars from africa, will talk about the provenance of the benny bronzes. the idea is using very simple questions to get people to open up and talk openly. what are the been in bronzes? what do they mean to you? what should happen to them in the future? and then to really hear what people have to say about that topic. this concept of really exhibiting the discussion of provenance and the work of the been in dialogue group was already there when i started 10 years ago. and that's been really the central theme of this entire room of the exhibit. what is the future?

what should happen to these objects? that's an openness that i really treasure about this process. cultural institutions should be relevant to society. the need to address the colonial pass is not only awaiting responsibility, but also an opportunity for museums to take a leading role in an important societal debate. as for the humble forum, the symbolic significance of the new old royal palace is always in the way a group of enormous angels exemplify the problem a form part of the lantern on top of the palace dome and support a huge golden cross. they were formed in wax than coated in clay to create a mould for pouring in bronze. at a temperature of 1150 degrees celsius, sat is find the way the very same technique used to create the beneath bronzes.

the christian seemed dome has proved controversial inscribed, rounded space is a quote from the new testament that at the name of jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth. and of those under the earth in may 2020, the cross was mounted on top. it's almost 5 meters tall and unmistakable projection of faith and power. it too was financed by a hefty donation. it may be a historically accurate replica, but it highlights the disparity between the buildings, retrospective, exterior and the forums. progressive agenda, the cross as an ideological statement. allies the pluralist vision of the forum. just a few meters beneath the cross under the dome buddhist painting speak of the peaceful power of meditation. sincere efforts to promote understanding among cultures are

overshadowed by such unequivocal imagery. hardwood dog hello is general. director of the humbled forum is louder does either side. each ear has to find its own answers to such questions in architectural turn. 44 not feel whole to build and view. today i expect we would have gone with a different architectural solution because he had us. he was only about impala, and i'm sure the discussion about the palace of the republic would have been very different from what it was right after the fall of the berlin wall. the florida of, if you, by think, way, much more aware nowadays of the implications on the messaging of a fixing royal crowns to a facade will sticking crosses to talk her rock inscriptions. the reconstruction is never innocent. people enjoy the sky constantly and it's a lawyer. in late 2020. the humboldt forum had a digital opening and revealed the 1st glimpses of its interior. who was aman? their humble for just a great pleasure to welcome the humboldt for him to the world of museum. the

concise lines, the house, but it has yet to prove itself to a steady stream of visitors and rotating events by yvonne. as i'm humbled for a mr surface onto which many varied ideas and wishes projected were not a museum, but a cultural center, dental oh, humbled forum. join an ensemble of institutions from the museum island. but will it truly be a meeting place for cultures from around the world? perhaps it might start out as a place where we address our historical blind spots. oh, i mean setting off on an adventure. the humble forum has to talk about this adventure, even though we don't know where it will take us get the who's

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