5 Years of Humboldt Labor: One Anniversary, Many Perspectives

Humboldt Labor also marked the fifth anniversary of the Humboldt Forum with a special program bringing together science, art, and public engagement in many different ways. Throughout the day, visitors were invited to discover Humboldt Labor from a range of perspectives: through the eyes of a filmmaker, in conversation with researchers, across selected aspects of the exhibition, through poetic interventions, and through creative hands-on activities. On Saturday, July 11, 2026, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin exhibition space thus became a place dedicated to the exchange of knowledge with society.

Following a one-hour overview tour and a welcome by director Heide Barrenechea, the anniversary program began with the premiere of Ian Purnell’s short film Die Faser.
The film approached water from an artistic perspective, revealing how the element not only connects habitats and transportation routes but also carries the hidden infrastructures of the internet. Afterwards, Purnell spoke with moderator Lena Fließbach, Curator for Outreach at Humboldt Labor, about the film and answered questions from the audience. Die Faser is also screened several times a day at the Humboldt Labor, at the beginning of every hour.

Encountering Science

The stage program continued with the Meet the Scientist series, where ocean research met musicology and issues of biodiversity loss. Musicologist Prof. Dr. Sebastian Klotz drew attention to the acoustic processes of the ocean, which are central to communication among marine mammals, and offered insights into the emerging field of aquatic musicology. Prof. Marcel Robischon, a forest scientist and plant biologist, explored the surprising connections between species extinction and loss of orientation in maritime navigation. In the conversations that followed, visitors had the opportunity to ask questions and engage directly with the researchers.

New Perspectives on the Exhibition

Visitors interested in the making of the exhibition and the themes it focuses on could join three thematic short tours led by Prof. Dr. Daniel Tyradellis, each focusing on one zone of On Water. The sections “In the Bath,” “In the City,” and “At the Coast” offered exemplary insights into the exhibition’s key questions as well as into the processes involved in curating a science exhibition.
Beyond the short tours, the exhibition could also be rediscovered from a very different perspective: in a special edition of the popular poetry slam format #Logoskop, slam poets Dominique Macri and Johannes Berger, a.k.a. YUNUS, guided visitors beneath the jellyfish dome, to the city model, and in front of the water soundbar. Under the jellyfish projections, Macri opened up a view into oneiric worlds, while Berger turned the city model into the starting point for a narrative journey – and occasional detour – through the capital.

Getting Involved

The wide-ranging anniversary program was complemented by a three-hour drop-in workshop developed by artist Vitor Garcia de Almeida. The WasserGestalten workshop invited children and their families to playfully develop a new awareness of ecological processes, material cycles, and aquatic life. Participants could take their handmade jellyfish and boxfish, crafted from discarded materials from the Humboldt Forum, home with them afterwards. The well-attended workshop thus offered even the youngest visitors a playful way to engage with the topic of water.

Through scientific exchange, poetic intervention, and creative activity, the anniversary program invited visitors to engage with science, rediscover the exhibition, and become active participants themselves.