The palace facade of Tell Halaf as part of the reconception of the Museum of the Ancient Near East – Material monumentality or virtual multiplicity

Jochen SCHMID
(Vorderasiatisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Germany)

Keywords: museum concept, architectural reconstruction, 3D space projection, Tell Halaf

Abstract:
The upcoming restoration of the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin provides the Museum of the Ancient Near East with an opportunity to create a new concept for its exhibition space. Amongst other changes, it will include the integration of the entrance facade of the Western-Palace of Tell Halaf in northeastern Syria. According to the famous 1930s reconstruction by Max von Oppenheim, there existed three main parts, each consisting of a base animal carrying a standing statue of a god with a head pillar.
Research related to the restoration of numerous stone sculptures from Tell Halaf has shown that this reconstruction is not tenable. At the same time, new considerations regarding the facade uncovered hitherto unconsidered alternatives. Now, the Museum has to decide whether to use the famous reconstruction, which has been proven wrong, but is already a monument in its own right, or to portray the variety of possible interpretations simultaneously according to modern methodological and didactic concepts. A first step in this direction was the presentation of the facade in the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, where different possible reconstructions were alternately projected on canvas tracks, placed over the base animals.
A continuation of this approach could be a mixture of a material reconstruction of secured components and a virtual projection of different proposals for the unsecured sections. Recent developments in holography and 3D high performance space projections make this a viable solution, even taking into account the special requirements in the Pergamonmuseum regarding object dimensions, brightness and visitor numbers. The tradition of architectural reconstructions in the Pergamonmuseum represents a special challenge in this case, as such a hybrid solution would have to stand in contest with famous traditional reconstructions such as the Pergamonaltar and the Ishtar-Gate. This lecture will illustrate and discuss the current state of planning and the possibilities, pros and cons of using new technologies.