Cultures of Representation

is a collaborative research project and teaching resource: It presents virtual exhibitions on human cultures of representation, that are developed by student groups from the University of Kassel, Germany in the context of semester-long seminars. Its aim is to provide a repository of and insights into the forms, role and impact representations have in human cultures, as well as the particular cultures that have developed around the act of representing.

Representation, and with it the act of representing, is ubiquitous in our culture. From 40.000 years old wall paintings in the Indonesian cave Lubang Jeriji Saléh to billboards, movies and virtual realities today: we represent and encounter the world through representations. These are as much subject to historical circumstances and cultural and geographical contexts as to the technologies applied in representation. At the same time, representations translate and mediate what is being represented, and thereby influence the way we perceive and comprehend the world. They provide specific images. As such, competencies in both reading and producing representations are crucial; the advent of highly mediated, decentralized and delocalized virtual culture makes these capacities maybe even more important.

Cultures of Representation engages this challenge in two ways: it provides an opportunity for the students who are preparing the exhibitions to critically reflect on the cultural role of representations, while as a resource it hopes to raise awareness of the intricate presence and role of representations that we engage and encounter in our lives. The exhibitions cover different approaches and media of representation as well as various objects of representation, while they integrate historical and cultural studies perspectives.

Cultures of Representation is maintained and supervised by Dr. André Krebber, who teaches social and cultural history and human-animal studies at the University of Kassel.