Body.Cult.Religion

Exhibition of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” on the body in the religions of the world

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“The exhibition views the human body as both object and expression of religious ideas”, explains Egyptologist Prof. Dr. Angelika Lohwasser, who is coordinating the annual theme and organizing the exhibition with the museum directors, as well as with archaeologist Prof. Dr. Achim Lichtenberger and theologian Prof. Dr. Holger Strutwolf from the Cluster of Excellence. “Whether healing and purification rituals, asceticism and fasting, head coverings and tattoos, or practices involving the dead body – religious ideas about people, gods and otherworldly realms are reflected in our treatment of the human body across epochs and cultures”.

As archaeologist Prof. Dr. Achim Lichtenberger explains, the exhibition presents important exhibits from, for example, the Louvre in Paris, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Fundação Pierre Verger in Salvador, and museums in the region. The objects range from the ancient statuette of the Roman god Hermaphroditus and ritual objects such as a nail fetish from the Congo, to replicas of famous pieces such as the death mask of the Unknown Woman of the Seine, as well as animated and documentary films about religious clothing.

The exhibition draws on the findings of the Cluster of Excellence’s interreligious, transepochal and interdisciplinary research on the relationship between religion and the body, and involves many disciplines: for example, ancient studies (Assyriology, Near Eastern archaeology, Egyptology, classical and Christian archaeology), Jewish studies, Arabic studies, Christian and Islamic theologies, religious and social sciences, sinology, and anthropology, as well as the University of Münster’s Brazil Centre.

The exhibition is divided into seven thematic areas, as theologian Holger Strutwolf explains. The Archaeological Museum is presenting the areas “Divine figures”, “Gender roles?”, “Religion and healing”, and “After death”, which deal with the bodily representation of the divine, the treatment of gender roles, religious healing rituals, and the treatment of the dead body in past and present religions. The Bible Museum is covering the areas “Rituals of life”, “Purity for mind and body” and “Disembodiment”, these dealing with initiation rituals, purification rites and the relationship between mind and body in the world’s religions.

The exhibition is financed by funds from the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the Rectorate of the University of Münster as well as funding from the Kulturstiftung der Länder.