Bird’s-Eye Views – The Birds and Us

In a café recently I heard someone happily recounting a reunion with a robin that always used to come to their balcony but that had been absent for a long time. The poet Norbert Hummelt has been waiting for the common swifts every year since he first noticed them at the age of forty. As a child with my grandparents, I used to feed the titmice sunflower seeds from my hand, calling the birds “Hansi” (there were always different ones, but they were all called that). Seeing and hearing birds makes many people happy.1 Millions of people worldwide spend their free time observing them, and the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds have inspired the arts for centuries.

Our exhibition entitled “Bird’s-Eye Views – The Birds and Us” invites visitors to encounter birds at eye level, both literally and figuratively. We see them not as objects to be observed but rather as co-creators of shared habitats and as fellow creatures. The sculptures, films, photographs, and paintings by the participating artists record flight paths, songs, and swarm movements, acquainting us humans with birds in a different way. They reveal the beauty of the avian world and simultaneously inquire about responsible paths to a shared future and possibilities for changing our perspective – or expanding our imagination. You will encounter flocks of starlings, a giant yellowhammer, pigeons, nightingales, dreaming zebra finches, and many others. Sadly, we probably have more bird species on display in the exhibition than some ecosystems do – bird populations have been declining worldwide for decades (see p. 38). In that context the exhibition asks what birds mean to us. How do we engage with the birds around us? What questions about them do we pose ourselves? What do we make of our coexistence with them, our role, and our responsibility? How can we imagine the bird’s perspective on the world?

And what do we actually mean by “bird’s-eye views”? At any rate, we do not show you what the world looks like from above but instead reveal facets of the human view of birds. We invite you to broaden your own perspective and wish you an enjoyable visit to this exhibition.

Artists: Amerikakrähe, Amsel, Austernfischer, Basstölpel, Birkenzeisig, Blauhäher, Xavi Bou, Blaumeise, Björn Braun, Christoph Brech, Buntspecht, Carolinaspecht, Carolinataube, CMUK, Marcus Coates, Distelfink/Stieglitz, Dominik Eulberg und Matthias Garff, Fitis, Feldsperling, Ulrike Franke und Michael Loeken, Gelbspötter, Gimpel/Dompfaff, Goldammer, Goldspecht, Goldwaldsänger, Grauhäubchenmeise, Andreas Greiner, Grünfink, Hausgans, Haushuhn, Haussperling, Selbi Jumayeva/Alisa Verbina/Olha Vinichenko, Kanadagans, Sanna Kannisto, Karin Kneffel, Kranich, Volker Kreidler, Kuckuck, Mantelmöwe, Mauersegler, Robin Meier Wiratunga, Mornellregenpfeifer, Nachtigall, Papagei, Pirol, Rosenseeschwalbe, Rotkardinal, Rotkehlchen, Anna Yeliz Schentke, Schwalben, Schwanzmeise, Schwarzspecht, Vroni Schwegler, Singammer, Stahlbischof, Star, Stadttaube, Steppenkiebitz, Stockente, Turteltaube, Wanderdrossel, Wanderfalke, Ina Weber, Weißbrust-Kleiber, Weißkehlammer, Zebrafink, Zilpzalp