Geschichte der Dinge

App for the exhibition "History of Things. The Origin of Objects in North Rhine-Westphalian Collections"

Provenance research, i.e. researching the origin and history of objects, is the subject of the touring exhibition “History of Things” organized by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL). While exhibitions on this topic usually only focus on a collection area or a collector personality, the LWL exhibition is devoted to the entire spectrum for the first time: a total of ten chapters deal with the different contexts of withdrawal, such as withdrawal due to Nazi persecution, colonialism or injustice in the GDR , with various object groups such as Judaica, but also with actors and structures. The central question is: where does the object come from?

The app allows you to visit the exhibition from home; all ten chapters are presented with extensive accompanying material. (Almost) all objects in the exhibition are shown and - only here - explained in more detail with numerous other documents, audio clips and films. Each chapter also contains a small presentation in which one of the curators personally presents individual objects again. Thanks to the numerous additional information (brochures, websites, etc.), the app offers a first comprehensive insight into provenance research, into the work of relevant institutions, but also into general contexts.