Open Lab for Bodies and Objects
The Object Lab at the Center for Cultural Technique offers space for innovative research and teaching at the HU Berlin, where material practices, bodies and objects are examined and investigated in an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary manner. In the tradition of researching cultural techniques at the Central Institute, the focus is on practices of producing, communicating and processing knowledge. The exchange of knowledge with society and the inclusion of non-academic knowledge sources and different types of knowledge play a central role here.
In the object lab- as in the neighboring Vetenary Anatomical Theatre (Tieranatomisches Theater)- dissecting and studying the animal body has always combined craft with academic and creative knowledge. Today, very different forms of teaching, research and practice take place in the object lab – including performances, installations, artistic research and participatory projects. In addition to a wet section and a fume cupboard for experiments, the basic equipment of the object lab also includes a dance floor for performative and body-centered work.
Exhibition showcases on one side of the wall enable the presentation of selected objects from the HU’s teaching collections or other objects/materials, which are thus visible and available for specific projects. The team for Public Engagement and Knowledge Exchange with Society supports the implementation of teaching and public formats that have a transdisciplinary or participatory character.
Contact: Leonie Kubigsteltig (Head of Object Lab)
Teaching and Learning with Society: Call for Proposals Summer Term 2026
The call for applications for ‘Teaching and Learning with Society’ for the summer semester 2026 is now open. If you are interested, please apply by 18 January 2026! The program “Teaching and Learning with Society: transdisciplinary course program” supports teachers across disciplines in shaping academic questions and seminar work in
A Decolonial Quartet on the Benin Bronzes: An Interview with Vincent Leonhardt
Insights into the Program “Learning and Teaching with Society” The following interview was conducted by Marlene Lüdorff, who is a student assistant at the Centre for Cultural Techniques, with Vincent Leonhardt, a participant in the ‘Overloaded: Interimperial Entanglements of Material and Photographic Collections’ seminar in August 2025. The seminar, which was
Learning and Teaching with Society in the Winter Term 2025/2026
We are delighted that nine seminars will be supported by the ‘Learning and Teaching with Society’ funding programme this winter semester! The seminars will receive seed funding of up to €1,000, as well as content-related advice and methodological support from the Knowledge Exchange with Society competence area. If you are
WisTanz at Primary Schools
During autumn break 2025, choreographer Irina Demina will collaborate with Prof. Valentina Forini, theoretical physicist at Humboldt-Universität to bring “WisTanz” to primary school children of Kolumbus Grundschule Berlin. They will co-create a workshop where the children experience within their bodies how the tiniest particles and the largest celestial bodies move,
Archiving Werkstatt der Kulturen: (Post)Migrant Histories in Berlin Arts – Insights into the program Teaching and Learning with Society
187 boxes formed the core of the seminar “Archiving Workshop of Cultures: (Post)Migrant Histories in Berlin Arts”. The materials left behind by the Werkstatt der Kulturen (WdK) are collected in these. From 1993 to 2019, the WdK was the only state-funded institution in the city dedicated to the presentation of
Teaching and Learning with Society: Call for Proposals
Seed-funding programm for courses that work in cooperation with society: apply by July 30, 2025. The program “Teaching and Learning with Society: transdisciplinary courses in the Object Lab” supports teachers and students across disciplines in shaping academic questions and seminar work in cooperation with society. The aim is to integrate