Symbiotic Wood

About

Climate change and monocultures have made forests vulnerable to insects and fungi. Wood infested by beetles is considered to be of little value from an economic standpoint. The Symbiotic Wood exhibition focuses on this more-than-human material. It informs visitors how a material that undermines conventional notions of quality and usefulness can inspire new design solutions. The interdisciplinary exhibition, featuring contributions by artists, designers, architects and art historians, is supplemented by a series of public events.

Symbiosis as Science

The first part of the exhibition describes the scientific basis of beetle infestation and the associated fungal infestation of spruce forests – both locally in Germany and worldwide. These phenomena are linked to climate change and monoculture, two factors that accelerate the growth of beetle populations in nature. Visitors gain insights into how forest ecosystems react to changing environmental conditions and come to understand the complex relationships between climate, forestry and forest health.

Symbiosis as Culture

The second section focuses on the cultural discourse surrounding Symbiotic Wood, in which beetles, fungi and environmental factors such as drought are viewed as co-shaping actors. In addition to design objects and works of art, there are exhibits on the cultural history and theory of beetle infestation. Ceramic casts of trees from near the museum link the exhibition subject with the immediate environment: What if we could see and understand Berlin’s trees as part of this symbiosis?

Sensitivity to cultural and aesthetic reorientation is cultivated at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) with its historical collections. The aim is to discern the age of objects and artworks and to see them in their historicity. We understand traces of use, age, and care, as well as of neglect and decay, as valuable “patina”. It opens our eyes to human limitations and the symbiotic relationship with nature. This perspective is embodied by a late medieval griffin figure from the Kunstgewerbemuseum collection – an impressive artwork despite its considerable damage from insect infestation.

Symbiose as Creation

The exhibition ultimately leads into the museum’s large inner courtyard. A walk-in open-air installation takes up the theme of harvesting, storing and re-evaluating beetle wood. It shows how a material that has generally been rejected by industry can be rethought and repurposed. Its material system draws on the techniques of crate storage, which allow additional drying and future use after the installation’s dismantling. Walking through the architectural structure, visitors can observe gradual changes from less to more infested wood while examining and touching its differing textures.

Event Programme

Symbiotic Wood is accompanied by a discourse programme. A closing event invites participants to help disassemble the installation in the museum’s inner courtyard and to take selected pieces of the structure home with them. In this way, the installation itself is transformed into a symbiotic network.

Artists

Pelin Asa
Karola Dierichs
Judith Dobler 
Tarik Goetzke
Başak Günak
Florent Jouy
Nuri Kang
Rahel Kesselring
Karin Krauthausen
Anna Kubelík
Julia Rhein
Siegfried Saerberg
Robert Stock

Participating Institution

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity)
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Department of Biomaterials)
Technische Universität Berlin (Robot-Assisted Manufacturing of the Built Environment, Structural Design and Construction)
Weißensee School of Art and Design Berlin (Material and Code)

Team

Curator: Karola Dierichs
Curatorial assistance: Jessica Farmer
Coordination and co-curating: Achim Stiegel; Claudia Banz, curating of the More-than-Human series: Design after the Anthropocene
Coordination of the ＿matter Festival 2025: Sophia Gräfe
Production assistance: Julia Blumenthal
Lighting design: Caspar Pichner
Graphic design: Nuri Kang

The special exhibition Symbiotic Wood is a section of the More than Human exhibition series at the Kunstgewerbemuseum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. It has been developed in collaboration with the Matters of Activity Cluster of Excellence at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin as part of the ＿matter Festival 2025.