BELLA! Nonplusultra!

In the organizer's words:

The pigeon leads an ostracized life in German cities, but at the same time it is a symbol of peace, kindness and love. For Hamburg artist Daniel Dominguez Teruel, this reflects the central question of his exhibition at the Völkerkundemuseum: Where and how do people find their place in society?

The site-specific installation, curated by the Verein gegen Müdigkeit, transforms the museum's traditional display cases into "listening boxes". Between objects such as spikes to repel pigeons, photos and audiovisual works, the artist explores the themes of German identity, social belonging and division as well as romanticism.

The exhibition at the Völkerkundemuseum combines his work on the German national anthem with video fragments from the selfie procession "BELLA". In it, the artist's eight-metre tall, green pigeon sculpture poses in touristically or historically charged locations in Heidelberg's old town before finally returning home to monumental sounds in BELLA PARK - an impetuous and perhaps undesirable place that is not suitable as an idyllic postcard motif.

Time and again, Daniel Dominguez Teruel invites visitors to question their relationship to themselves and the supposed Other. For example, when an Arabic love song resounds through the megaphone across Heidelberg's market square, when the artist shouts the national anthem into the wind of Heligoland or when flag-wavers hurl the German flag through the air with the precision of a sword.

In his site-specific work, Daniel Dominguez Teruel comes across the Hercules Fountain on the market square and adds the words "Nonplusultra" to the title. Hercules is said to have affixed these words - translated as "no further here" - to the Strait of Gibraltar to mark the end of the known world. The Hercules figure on the market square thus reminds us not only of our limited view, but also of the question of the "foreign", which is linked to European identity and current discourses in ethnology. The Ethnological Museum not only exhibits historical objects, but is also increasingly concerned with contemporary stories and debates. To this end, the museum is opening its doors and developing new exhibition and mediation formats with external curators. From January 2025, the museum and the Verein gegen Müdigkeit will be inviting visitors to selected bar evenings for conversations that only take place at the bar. With various actors from the city, the focus will be on cultural and socio-political issues.

Concept, artistic direction: Daniel Dominguez Teruel
Performance: Some pigeons
Curation: Verein gegen Müdigkeit e.V.