End of exhibition:
19. September 2020
The ART & Vielfalt exhibition was on show at the Museum für Naturkunde for the 6th time. The special exhibition showed wild animals in portraits, in their habitat or in their relationship to humans using the artistic means of painting, sculpture or plastic. A new addition in 2020 was the artistic depiction of plants. The exhibition is the result of the art competition for the "Guericke Unicorn", which is organized every two years by Magdeburgs society of natural sciences (Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein zu Magdeburg e.V.) and the Museum of Natural History.
The Guericke Unicorn
The prize is awarded to artists who depict wild animals and plants in a realistic way and thus artistically realize the theme "Biodiversity of our Earth". The “Guericke Unicorn”, a 17 cm high bronze sculpture, commemorates the report handed down by Otto von GUERICKE in 1672 on the discovery of a unicorn in Quedlinburg - one of the earliest scientific interpretations of fossil bone finds. With this exhibition, the museum aims to promote the tradition of realistic depictions of animals and plants and to give this art form its own forum.
The exhibition
A jury selected 34 artists from the pool of applicants at the end of January 2020. Each of the selected artists was involved in the exhibition with up to 5 works of art. Due to the hygiene measures to protect against the coronavirus, the exhibition could only be shown from June 13, 2020. As a replacement for the canceled opening ceremony, there was a festive finissage on the last day of opening, September 19, 2020, with the presentation of the Guericke Unicorn to the award winner.
