Beetle-infested wood is normally regarded as waste and of inferior quality. Bogs are often drained to make room for new buildings. Two new exhibitions from the Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity" at Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin challenge these assumptions and invite visitors to discover beetle-infested wood and peatlands as versatile, living resources for a more sustainable future.
The exhibition "Symbiotic Wood"
What if infested wood was not seen as damaged, but as transformed? With the "Symbiotic Wood" exhibition, material researchers, architects, designers, artists and cultural historians invite us to see wood that has been attacked by insects or fungi as a material that is moulded and used by many species - and not just by us humans.
"Humankind has always worked with wood and is dependent on this raw material. Nevertheless, we treat it as if we own and control it," says curator Karola Dierichs. "This exhibition shows fungi, beetles and even drought as co-owners and co-creators of the forest."
The first part of the exhibition explains how monocultures, forestry and climate change increase beetle infestation and fungal infestation. The second part changes the perspective: infestation is no longer understood as destruction. Beetles and fungi appear as co-designers of unique shapes and textures.
A large open-air installation invites visitors to touch and experience infested wood directly. With the help of a modular system, the installation shows how such wood can be rethought and utilised. At the closing event, visitors can take pieces with them and thus actively contribute to the reinterpretation of the material.
At a glance
When: 28 June - 21 September 2025, Opening: Friday, 27 June 2025, 6 - 10 p.m.
Where: Kunstgewerbemuseum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Matth?ikirchplatz, 10785 Berlin
The exhibition "Symbiotic Wood" is the fourth and final chapter in the Kunstgewerbemuseum's "More than Human" exhibition series. It was developed in collaboration with the Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity" at Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin as part of the ＿matter Festival 2025.
Further information on the exhibition
Exhibition website with further information and accompanying programme
Website of the Museum of Decorative Arts on the exhibition
Website of the exhibition series "More than Human "
Photos for download:
Beetle-infested spruce wood. Copyright: Pelin Asa, MPICI & MoA
The exhibition "Swamp Things!"
Bogs - i.e. fens, raised bogs, swamps and wet meadows - are often drained as unusable land. In Berlin, pink-coloured pipes on construction sites still remind us of the wetlands that were drained for urban development. However, when they are intact, swamps store twice as much carbon as all the world's forests put together. The exhibition "Swamp Things!", curated by Charlett Wenig and Lucy Norris, calls on us not only to preserve these ecosystems, but to actively restore and work with them: "Revitalising these neglected landscapes is a crucial climate strategy," says Charlett Wenig. "And that's not all. The exhibition also explores the untapped potential of the plants that thrive in these wet environments."
Working with native grasses from Brandenburg's bogs, the exhibition explores the living potential of bog plants as sensory materials through basket weaving techniques, open-source coiling machines and multimodal workshops. These plants are not just biomass - they are active materials, full of texture, strength and history. Visitors are invited to see peatlands as places of resilience and regenerative creativity - and to imagine a future with peatlands, not in spite of them.
At a glance
When: 8 July - 20 July 2025, Tuesdays to Sundays from 12 - 8 pm (admission free), vernissage on Monday, 7 July 2025, 6 - 8 pm
Where: BHROX bauhaus reuse, Ernst-Reuter-Platz, 10587 Berlin
The exhibition "Swamp Things!" is a project by BHROX bauhaus reuse in cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity" at Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin, the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy and wei?ensee kunsthochschule berlin as part of the ＿matter Festival 2025.
Further information on the exhibition
- Exhibition website with further information and accompanying programme
- BHROX bauhaus reuse website for the exhibition
- Photo for download
About the organiser "Matters of Activity"
The exhibitions take place as part of the __matter Festival 2025, a science festival for material culture in Berlin, which will radically question our understanding of materials as passive, ahistorical substances in exhibitions, workshops and discussions at twelve locations from April to October 2025. The __matter Festival is organised by the DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity" at Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin. As a leading international centre for integrative materials research, the cluster connects local scientific and cultural institutions with a diverse global network.
"Matters of Activity brings together diverse expertise from the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and medical sciences and incorporates design and art into its basic research. The "Matters of Activity" cluster aims to create the foundations for a new culture of materiality. The Clusters of Excellence are large-scale research projects in which scientists conduct interdisciplinary research on innovative topics across different institutions.