Into the deep

Based on works from its own collection, the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen presents the climate-neutral exhibition “Into the deep” which investigates the complex future of raw material extraction – from the ocean depths to mountains to outer space – with all of its consequences and possibilities of resistance.

Global extractivism, i.e. the world-spanning extraction of non-renewable raw materials, has played a key role in the museum’s collection history. The process of extracting and importing the mineral bauxite and the energy-intensive production of aluminium required for building zeppelins have resulted in environmental destruction around the world, e.g. in the form of “red sludge”, a toxic waste product. The exhibition will address the topic and its classical application in mining from an interdisciplinary perspective, while also exploring more recent and future forms like deep sea mining and deep space mining. Contemporary artistic positions will be used to shed light on these mechanisms and the resistance these have evoked, e.g. in an installation by the forensic scientist, filmmaker and researcher Ignacio Acosta which envisions future forms of resistance to mining. The Estonian artist Kristina Õllek compares Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” with the realities of modern deep sea mining. To reduce greenhouse emissions caused by art transports and accommodation, almost all the presented works will be newly created on site, and the invited artists will be put up in an apartment instead of hotel rooms.

The exhibition is part of a comprehensive sustainability programme targeted at visitors, employees and city residents. By using recycled exhibition architecture, the organisers hope to sensitise museum visitors to the value of our resources. The accompanying programme includes upcycling workshops and the establishment of a free sustainability studio inside the museum.