Pergamon Museum

From October 2011 to October 2012 the National Museums in Berlin will be presenting the first major exhibition dedicated entirely to the ancient city of Pergamon. To accompany the exhibition, the company Asisi Visual Culture will erect a new monumental 360° panorama of the city in the cour d'honneur of the museum on the Museum Island.

The city, situated on the west coast of Turkey, famous for its impressive monumental structures, its sculpture workshops, its important library and school of philosophers, was a flourishing centre of Greek art and culture in the Hellenistic period. The Pergamenian kings ruled over great parts of Asia Minor and exerted considerable power in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The excavations in Pergamon conducted by the Berlin museums were one of the most successful endeavours ever undertaken in the history of German classical scholarship. The most important find from these digs, the altar reconstructed in the Pergamonmuseum, is now one of the most famous exhibits on the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the Museum Island Berlin, and is a spell-binding attraction for well over a million visitors each year, both from home and abroad. Now over a surface of approx. 1500 square metres many exhibits, never seen before, from the Collection of Classical Antiquities in Berlin will go on show in the north wing of the Pergamonmuseum. Ancient sculptures, architectural elements, mosaics, tools, musical instruments, votive offerings and technical devices all reveal something of the city's art and culture. In addition, countless drawings, paintings, photographs and archive records will serve to document the fascinating history of the discovery of artefacts and early research activity on the excavation sites. A special section will be dedicated in the show to the impact that Pergamenian art, and the famous Pergamon Altar in particular, had on art and literature at the turn of the last century.

Accompanying the museum's exhibition, the newly designed monumental 360° panoramic view of the ancient city, created by Berlin-based artist Yadegar Asisi, will be on display in the museum's forecourt. The 25 x 100 m large photorealistic panoramic view brings the ancient culture, architecture and public goings-on in an ancient Greek-Roman city to life. Audio impressions including day and night simulations, complete with sunrise and sunset, and ambient sound effects that recreate life in an ancient city, allow the visitor to experience a whole day in Pergamon. Subtle background music by the composer of film music, Eric Babak, adds the final touches to the journey through time that takes visitors back to the year 124 CE.