What do we see in museums? In vitrines and behind barriers, objects appear, above all, static. Mirae kh Rhee explores how these objects arrived at their current locations. The artist questions who collects (or collected) what and why, and what messages are conveyed through the different kinds of collections. Through the movement of people, objects in collections often carry complex and turbulent histories - just like those who created, noticed, preserved, and passed them on.
Image gallery
Mirae kh Rhee, The Artist and Her Books, 2022, Fotodruck auf Aludibond, These aren’t books…, 2022, Neonschrift, The Guardians (Scarlett Johansson, Tom Cruise), 2022, Blei- und Farbstifte auf Papier; Incheon Art Platform, 2022
Mirae kh Rhee is an interdisciplinary, research-based artist working in Germany, California, and South Korea. Drawing on a diasporic position, this exhibition explores themes such as collecting practices and display histories, forced migration and cultural appropriation, and reveals autoethnographic stories.
The current exhibition is part of a long-term project that examines the concept of cabinets of curiosities from the perspective of transnational feminism and through decolonial approaches. Mirae kh Rhee investigates established narratives of collecting while drawing attention to the often unequal collecting and display practices between Europe and Asia. The artist analyses elitist collection concepts that demonstrate power and construct identity. Museum visitors are invited to reflect on their own practices of collecting.
Accompanying Publication.
After the opening of the exhibition a brochure will be published and made available for download on this page.
Curator.
The exhibition is curated by Uta Rahman Steinert, Museum für Asiatische Kunst, in cooperation with the artist.
A special exhibition of the Museum für Asiatische Kunst – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin as part of the project Collaborative Museum (CoMuse) at the Humboldt Forum.
- regular 14 EUR, from 13.7.2026: 9 EUR, exhibition ticket for the Ethnologische Sammlungen und Asiatische Kunst is required
- 3rd floor, Raum 318, Raum 319
- Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 10:30 – 18:30, Tue: closed
Additional information
Accessibility
The Humboldt Forum and all exhibition rooms can be reached barrier-free with a wheelchair. A tactile floor guidance system facilitates orientation for blind and visually impaired visitors. Educational formats are tailored to the different needs of visitors with disabilities. These include tactile tours, guided tours and workshops.
Barrier-free parking is available south of the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz. Barrier-free parking is available south of the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz. For more information, click here.
Bus bays are available in Rathausstraße: Stopping time from 9 - 22.30
By underground and suburban railway
U Museumsinsel (U5): 1 min walk
S/U Alexanderplatz: 15 min walk
S Hackescher Markt: 10 min walk
By bus
Lustgarten: 100, 300, N5; 1 min walk
Berlin Palace: 147; 1 min walk
