Aby Warburg. Mnemosyne Bilderatlas

To mark the 150th birthday of the cultural scientist Aby Warburg (1866–1929), the ZKM is exhibiting a complete reconstruction of his Mnemosyne picture atlas in its original size. Warburg developed this comprehen­sive and unusual instrument in his last years. All 63 panels are presented for the first time with a detailed commentary, combining the findings from Warburg’s writings with an analysis of his visual language. Due to his sudden death, it was long assumed that the work was a fragment. Even at the end of the 20th century, after the panels were first published as a book, the »Mnemosyne Atlas« remained a legend. Warburg examined the »Afterlife of the Antiquity« with its foundation in European culture. In the open structure of his picture systems, he showed how images and gestures — that he called »Pathosformeln« [expressions of pathos] — were passed on across cultures and periods of time.

Video Documentary:

ZKM | Institute for Visual Media

Camera: Francisco Aurell, Sarah Binder, Peter Müller, Christina Zartmann
Editing: Sarah Binder
Voice: Florentine Krafft
Voice Recording: Anton Kossjanenko
Music: Apple Loops