On Suicide Prevention Day: University of Kassel participates in exhibition

How do you exhibit suicide? Podcast on "Let's talk about it".

Suicide is a silent affliction in our society. About 10,000 people die by their own hand every year in Germany, most of them in severe psychological, social and physical distress. The silence that accompanies their dying has a deadly effect. That is why the public conversation about suicide, its causes and its consequences is a social concern.
An exhibition at the Museum für Sepulkralkultur in Kassel, which has been dealing with the topics of dying, death, mourning and commemoration since 1992, is dedicated to this. In cooperation with the University of Kassel and other national and international partners from the fields of art, culture and science, the exhibition "Suicide - Let's talk about it!" has been created.

Contemporary artistic as well as cultural and socio-historical exhibits are on display; via voices of those affected, epidemiological data and content-related research in the field of humanities and the humanities, the museum is seeking with this project a way to find a new language for approaching suicide and suicidality and the experiential horizons of pain, grief and silence, but also humor, that tie into it.

In addition to Prof. Dr. Lindner, other directors include Dr. Dirk Pörschmann, director of the Museum für Sepulkralkultur, and curator Tatjana Ahle. Lindner, who is also head of the National Suicide Prevention Program (NaSPro), provided impetus for the concept of the exhibition together with students from the University of Kassel. The students also offer accompanying discussion and counseling opportunities.

An extensive accompanying program has been designed for the duration of the exhibition. For six months, the museum will thus become a stage for creative artists and a center for the discussion of philosophical, legal, intercultural, interreligious and human-scientific questions about suicide.

SYMPOSIUM
In January 2022, a symposium will take place in the Gießhaus of the University of Kassel. In the spirit of "Let's talk about it!" the audience will be invited to actively participate in the conversation.

PODCAST
How do you exhibit suicide? And when did this exhibition succeed? A podcast on the topic can be found here.

BEGLEITBOOK
A comprehensive accompanying publication will be published for the exhibition, containing in-depth discussions of individual topics, which will be introduced in a multi-voiced way via interviews, essays and artistic discussions. The publication serves the exhibition and the accompanying program as a complementary platform for current research results and opens up an associative space of thought through artistic explorations.

COOPERATIONS AND PARTNERS
An interdisciplinary scientific advisory board has accompanied the project since 2019. In order to bring the topic into society, cooperations have been established with cultural and research institutions in Germany, Austria and New Zealand: among others, with the International Research Center for Cultural Studies / Linz University of Art in Vienna, Depot Artspace, New Zealand, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel and Caricatura, Galerie für Komische Kunst Kassel.

The project is financially supported by the Hessische Kulturstiftung, Funus-Stiftung, Heidehof Stiftung GmbH, Ahorn Gruppe, Stiftung Deutsche Bestattungskultur, Westermann Gerüstbau and Service Learning of the University of Kassel.

Exhibition: September 10, 2021 to February 27, 2022
Opening of the exhibition: September 10, 2021, 6:30 p.m.
International Symposium "Arts meet Science" on January 28, 2022
A podcast on the topic can be found here.

ADDRESS
Museum für Sepulkralkultur
Weinbergstraße 25-27
D-34117 Kassel
Tel: +49 561 91893 0
E-mail: info[at]sepulkralmuseum[dot]de
www.sepulkralmuseum.de

OPENING HOURS
Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 - 17.00. Closed Monday
During the duration of the exhibition, public events will be held on Wednesdays from 6 pm and Fridays from 7 pm. For current dates and topics, visit www.sepulkralmuseum.de

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Lindner
University of Kassel
Institute for Social Work
Department of Theory, Empiricism and Methods of Social Therapy
Tel.: +49 561 804-2841
E-mail: reinhard.lindner[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

Jutta Lange
Museum für Sepulkralkultur
Press and Public Relations
Tel. +49 561 91893
E-mail: pr[at]sepulkralmuseum[dot]de

Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Communication, Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 561 804-1961
E-Mail: presse[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
www.uni-kassel.de
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