Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from antiquity to the present
Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” to present an exhibition on the body in world religions in 2024/25 – in the Archaeological Museum and Bible Museum at the University of Münster
The body has always been part of the practices and ideas of religions worldwide. This is shown by the exhibition Körper. Kult. Religion. Perspektiven von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart (Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from antiquity to the present), which the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster is organizing in the Archaeological Museum and the Bible Museum at the University from 25 October 2024 to 26 February 2025. The exhibition will present outstanding objects from institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, as well as from museums in the region.
The human body has been an important part of religious practices across epochs and cultures. Examples include asceticism and fasting, initiation rites, healing and purification rituals, and practices involving the dead body. The lines of traditions of rites involving the body often extend from ancient polytheistic religions to the contemporary monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and they act upon the ideas that each religion has regarding humans, gods, and the world beyond.
The body is both the object and expression of religious beliefs in the world’s religions: while a person’s spirit, beliefs and thoughts are invisible, the material body can become their visible manifestation. Head coverings, clothing, jewellery, and tattoos express religious beliefs and membership of a religious group. The rituals on the body take place from birth to death and beyond. They are subject to constant change. The body thus becomes a religious space of experience for individuals. At the same time, it becomes a surface for religion to present itself, and a seismograph of its change.
The exhibition presents these phenomena using a wide range of exhibits such as large sculptures, coins, texts, and paintings from many regions of the world. It is based on the Cluster of Excellence’s trans-epochal, trans-religious and interdisciplinary research into the relationship between religion and the body. The exhibition is divided into seven thematic areas: anthropomorphism and divinity; gender; medicine and magical practices; the dead body; the purity of the body; initiation rituals; and disembodiment.
Taking place at the Cluster of Excellence from 13 to 15 November 2023, the interdisciplinary conference “Body images and body practices in the religions of the world” will serve to provide an intellectual context for the exhibition. The keynote lecture “God and the body: Some unfamiliar perspectives from the Judeo-Christian tradition” will be given by the Protestant theologian Prof. Dr. Christoph Markschies, president of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and president of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities.
A broad programme for the general public is also planned. In preparation are also a catalogue and a volume of essays with findings from the interdisciplinary research at the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”. Many disciplines are involved, including Classical Studies (Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Near Eastern Archaeology, Egyptology, Classical and Christian Archaeology), Jewish Studies, Arabic Studies, Christian and Islamic Theologies, Religious and Social Sciences, Sinology and Anthropology. The Brazil Centre at the University of Münster is also a partner. (vvm)