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About the exhibition
What remains when something is incomplete? The cross-collection exhibition In:complete traces the stories behind unfinished and broken objects – from antiquity to the present day. Why does Adolph Menzel's portrait of a woman have a cut-out eye? Why were two ancient vases joined into a single vessel in the 19th century?
Fragments fascinate and unsettle in equal measure. They bear witness to wars, catastrophes and shifting tastes – and raise a fundamental question: what actually makes an object whole?
Explore six chapters full of gaps, absences and surprising discoveries.
un:certain ♦ How can the museum protect its works of art from destruction? un:important ♦ What does a museum collect and how does it preserve objects for future generations? un:real ♦ Are only masterpieces and authentic relics of the past on display in a museum? un:seen ♦ When is a work of art considered complete? un:usable ♦ What does collecting do to objects and by what criteria are they musealized? un:forgettable ♦ How do we understand art in the age of its reproducibility?
