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Cabinet of the Unknown

The Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge in Berlin is showcasing a special collaborative exhibition on the ‘unknown’ objects owned by the museum in relationship with the city.

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  • 31 July 2017
  • Berlin

The Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge in Berlin opened the “Cabinet of the Unknown” exhibition with the aim to redefine the unknown and co-create a knowledge platform after The Museum of Things, known for being unconventional in terms of its curatorial concept, museological classification and knowledge production.

<b>Top:</b> Johann Schweiger, “Berlin Key”, two-sided metal key with bracket for key collar. Manufactured by Albert Kerfin & Co GmbH, Berlin, 1912. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge. <b>Above:</b> Yellow ring with burls, designer unknown, rubber. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge
Pair of spoons (medical function?), design unknown, courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge
Susa Pop, coat hook from High Heel - heels, 1990-2000. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge
Dice game machine “Rovo”, design unknown, metal and Bakelite. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge
Left: strainer for determination of grain sizes, designer unknown, 1910–1920, metal and wood. Right: metal compound with hooks, designer unknown. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge
Left: toothpick holder, design unknown, 1950-1959, wood. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge. Right: Part of a musical instrument (drums brushes) or with a therapeutic function?, design unknown, before 1945, wood and metal. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge

  Taking the “Berlin Key” as the ‘key’ object of the entire project, this participatory exhibition dwells on the unknown through the processes of knowing and creating acquaintance. As an object widely known in Berlin, but unfamiliar to those who are not from this city, it stands for the connection between the unknown and the known, between the inside and the outside, the museum situated in the back yard and the participating locations in the street.

Street Map of Part of Oranienstrasse, mixed design visualising how the participants connect, 2017

The exhibition is composed of objects selected not only by a curator but also by its “cabinet members” (i. e. the Oranienstrasse participants). As the starting point of the project, every museum team member was asked to select an unknown object in the museum’s collection and to name ‘unknown’ or interesting locations on Oranienstrasse (between Moritzplatz and Görlitzer Bahnhof). The second act was to invite the ‘unknown’ people from the selected locations to the museum to discuss the unfamiliar objects of the museum team. They were then sent on a quest to find their own mystery object in the collection and, to generate a ripple effect, they also selected ‘unknown’ or interesting locations in the same area. Following this methodology, the circles of unknown objects and locations expanded over four ‘Cabinet Meetings.’

Mousetrap in shape of a house "Capito", design unknown, manufacturer Luchs, Gütersloh, 1920-1935, metal and wood. Courtesy Collection Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge

  Within this collaborative curatorial process, the focus moves away from the museum, yet expands its borders through its participants from Oranienstrasse to the immediate vicinity of the museum. The street can be seen as a microcosm of the city of Berlin and as a hub of the different cultural backgrounds: a potential productive factor in generating collective knowledge.


until 25 September 2017
Cabinet of the Unknown
Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge
Oranienstraße 25, Berlin

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