21. August 2022 Open Day at the Federal Foreign Office
After two years of corona break, the German government invited again to the Open Day. On August 20 and 21, 2022, interested visitors had the opportunity to visit the Federal Ministries, the Federal Press Office and the Chancellery and to get an insight into the work of the German government. In the German Foreign Office, we, the team of the Planet Africa exhibition, presented the two exhibition boxes the second time. We already kicked off with the two boxes at the GROUNDCHECK conference in June 2022. At this climate conference, we were already able to lively discuss the exhibition design with the expert audience and collect suggestions and feedback. But now we were finally able to present the two boxes to a broad audience - we were eagerly awaiting the opinions of the many visitors weeks in advance.
The set-up already took place on Friday. Early in the morning at 8 a.m. Miriam met with the two exhibition builders and Nicole from the DAI in front of the German Foreign Office to dismantle and set up the boxes. Since the climate conference, the two boxes were located in the office building of the German Foreign Office and had to be transported from there to the World Hall. Everything went smoothly and already in the early afternoon Gerd and Johanna arrived in Berlin. Over a relaxed dinner, we discussed how we wanted to conduct the interviews, what questions we wanted to ask and wondered how many visitors would come. On Saturday, a long queue formed in front of the Foreign Office from half past nine, half an hour before admission. Now we were able to have a look at the more than 60 other stands for the first time. There was something for everyone: Live connection to the Arctic, photo printouts, cultural goods rescuers and of course the stand of the Planet Africa exhibition and the DAI! At every corner you could experience something, learn and also pick up the one or other cool jute bag! The whole thing was accompanied by live music.
Once we arrived at our stand, we prepared for the first visitors: connected the monitors to the power and laid out flyers. Besides the cinematic, which is shown on the big box and introduces the topic "Gewusst wie - Agiles Wissen und flexible Technik", we also showed the pilot film on a big screen. Shortly after 10 a.m. the first visitors arrived at our booth and we conducted some interviews this weekend. We asked everyone the same questions: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Africa? Are you already familiar with African cultural sites or finds? How did you like the first two boxes of the exhibition? The same terms often came up: Biodiversity, scenic diversity, destination, Egypt, pyramids.... However, most visitors agreed: actually, we know far too little about this huge continent, its diversity and archaeology! Everyone was enthusiastic about the exhibition concept. Especially the interaction of reading texts, great photographs and media was highly praised. It was a great weekend with interested conversations. We were able to gather a lot of new input and are already looking forward to sharing more content with you and to keep you updated. Until the exhibition opens in 2024 in the James Simon Gallery of the Museum of Pre- and Early History in Berlin, the two presentation boxes will be located in the bright and spacious hallway of the Archaeological Center, Berlin.
