Galleries of Marvel

Around 1,500 years ago, the Moche culture along the arid northern coast of Peru performed human sacrifices to mitigate climatic and ecological disasters caused by severe “El Niño” events. The precarious living conditions in consequence of “El Niño” have shaped societal structures and affected communities from Moche times until now. What can we learn from this past and our present to envision a better future?

The Moche people constructed villages with elaborate irrigation systems for agriculture and ceremonial centres. As part of their material culture, the Moche left behind painted ceramic vessels illustrating scenes from everyday life, including battles and human sacrificial rituals. These vessels also depicted Moche portraits, mostly of warriors and religious figures, as well as plants and animals from their environment.

This showcase is part of the TAKING CARE Project,  co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

From May 2022 until July 2023, the team of the research project "Travels & Collections" will be researching the collections of the ship Aurora, k.(u.)k. Kriegsmarine. The collections from the years 1886 – 1896, located in Weltmuseum Wien, contain over 400 objects from the Caribbean, Oceania, Africa and Asia, as well as 132 photographs. Based on 18 selected objects, the exhibition shows which questions are pursued, but also where the research faces its current limits. The aim of the project is to gain a better understanding of the collections by the k.(u.)k. Kriegsmarine, as acquisition took place in colonial contexts.