MIGONG / INSTALLATION / HUMBOLDT LAB DAHLEM /
2013
MIGONG is an installation work commissioned by the Humboldt Lab Dahlem.
The Berlin based laboratory was instituted by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) and the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz to help prepare for the relocation of two major museums, the Museum für Ethno-
logische Kunst (Ethnological Museum) and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Museum for Asian Art), to the reconstructed Berlin Palace, the future Humboldt Forum.
The lab brings together a team of museum curators, designers, artists, and scholars to exercise a series of concentrated, short projects in the field of exhibition design and scenography.
MIGONG examines the presentation of a Chinese Emperor’s Throne from the Kangxi period (1662-1722) which is owned by the Museum for Asian Art. The installation is a man-size labyrinth (Chinese: migong) leading up to the throne at its center. Visitors have to find their way through the labyrinth of industrial balustrades in order to get close to the throne. The installation evokes two kinds of references: First, the architecture of ancient Chinese Palaces which is composed of intertwining courtyards and smaller palaces creating a form of safety barrier around the emperor´s main palace. Second, the safeguarding of invaluable works of art from the afflux of visitors in large public museums, which is typically done by rather profane off-the-shelf equipment.

MIGONG forms part of the exhibition "Spiel der Throne" which can be visited at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst in Berlin Dahlem from June 18th until October 27th, 2013. The show is curated by Angela Rosenberg. Other artists participating in the project are: Kirstine Roepstorff, Simon Starling, and Zhao Zhao.

Project assistant: Olivia Herms (KGID)
Commissioned by: Humboldt Lab Dahlem