Lucian Scherman Lecture: Exhibiting Religions – A Lecture by Patrick Felix Krüger
External venue
Four times a year, the Museum Fünf Kontinente in Munich hosts lectures that address key topics in ethnology and museology. The lecture series is named after the Indologist and museum director Lucian Scherman (1864–1946), who shaped the institution from 1907 to 1933 before being forced out of office due to his Jewish heritage following the National Socialists’ rise to power. Since 2012, the Lucian Scherman Lectures have honored the man whose research and collections—particularly those on South Asia—laid the foundation for the museum’s current holdings. The Museum Fünf Kontinente invites Dr. Patrick Felix Krüger to this year’s Lucian Scherman Lecture.
Can religions be exhibited—and if so, how? Starting from this question, the lecture *Exhibiting Religion(s) at the Intersection of Cult, Art, and Museum* explores the complex relationship between museums and religion. In an era of declining religious affiliation, churches are increasingly transforming into “museum-like” spaces, while museums are staging exhibitions with a sacred atmosphere. These dynamics are also evident in the context of Hinduism and Buddhism: religious objects are often removed from their ritual contexts in museums and presented as works of art, while temples simultaneously adopt museum-style presentation methods. At the same time, boundaries blur as museums permit religious practices and religious sites adapt exhibition logic.
Using selected examples—particularly from the Indian context—the lecture discusses the possibilities and limitations of representing religion(s) through objects, images, and spaces, as well as the diverse meanings of religious artifacts between spiritual practice and museum interpretation.
The lecture will be broadcast live. Online participation in the event is possible without registration via the museum’s YouTube channel.
Venue:
Museum Fünf Kontinente
Staatliche Museen in Bayern
Maximilianstraße 42
80538 Munich
