MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Event

Nov 3-4, 2023
Berlin Science Week: The kn/own/able Project—Handloom Weaving as Knowing and Owning

red and white logo for Berlin Science Week 2023

Exhibition at Berlin Science Week "Campus," Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

We see throughout history and across societies that there are many ways people can own knowledge. Knowing words enables us to name a human gene, making it ownable as intellectual property. A dancer owns knowledge of a performance through the skilled use of their body. An artisan owns knowledge of a loom as they weave threads into intricately-designed fabrics. The kn/own/able project seeks to challenge how we think of knowing and owning through words, bodies, and objects.

In this multimedia exhibition we explore how diverse ways of knowing handloom weaving in India came to be replaced by singular algorithmically-encoded patterns owned as “intellectual property.” Practice weaving at our tablet loom and be ready to question your assumptions about knowledge! How do we own it? What happens to that knowledge, and to ourselves as social beings, when these diverse ways are replaced by a singular idea of what it means to know and own? And how can we rethink this issue towards social change?

  • More about the exhibition "The kn/own/able Project: Handloom Weaving as Knowing and Owning" here.

Short talk "How is Knowledge Owned? Thinking Beyond Intellectual Property"

Friday November 3, 2023, 13:30–14:15

  • More about the short talk "How is Knowledge Owned? Thinking Beyond Intellectual Property" by Annapurna Mamidipudi and Dagmar Schäfer (Friday November 3, 2023, 13:30–14:15) here.

 

Entry is free

pink and blue logo for the knownable project
Address
Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany

 

About Berlin Science Week "Campus"

Located in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, the Berlin Science Week CAMPUS is the Berlin Science Week center in the heart of Berlin. Dedicated to dialogue, engagement, and exchange, the CAMPUS brings together experts, researchers, scientists, and the general audience for two days of open dialogue, knowledge sharing, and discovery.  Taking place on 3–4 November 2023, the CAMPUS will reunite interactive events, temporary exhibitions, public lectures, hands-on experiments, film screenings, networking opportunities, and community building formats.

This year, the CAMPUS is organized around the motto “Dare to Know: Our Narratives, Our Future.” Scientific discovery is ever accelerating—where are we heading? The way we frame our desirable future defines how we act today to make it a reality. At the same time, the people who get to create this narrative have a vital role—but who are they exactly? What knowledge do we need, who can offer it, and to whom?  

At the CAMPUS, (future) researchers, knowledge-seekers, curious citizens and families will all join in on co-creating visionary spaces and a dialogue between science, civil society, art, and technology, in formats which go beyond the conventional.

More information on the Berlin Science Week website: https://berlinscienceweek.com/campus/

2023-11-03T00:00:00SAVE IN I-CAL 2023-11-03 00:00:00 2023-11-04 00:00:00 Berlin Science Week: The kn/own/able Project—Handloom Weaving as Knowing and Owning Exhibition at Berlin Science Week "Campus," Museum für Naturkunde Berlin We see throughout history and across societies that there are many ways people can own knowledge. Knowing words enables us to name a human gene, making it ownable as intellectual property. A dancer owns knowledge of a performance through the skilled use of their body. An artisan owns knowledge of a loom as they weave threads into intricately-designed fabrics. The kn/own/able project seeks to challenge how we think of knowing and owning through words, bodies, and objects. In this multimedia exhibition we explore how diverse ways of knowing handloom weaving in India came to be replaced by singular algorithmically-encoded patterns owned as “intellectual property.” Practice weaving at our tablet loom and be ready to question your assumptions about knowledge! How do we own it? What happens to that knowledge, and to ourselves as social beings, when these diverse ways are replaced by a singular idea of what it means to know and own? And how can we rethink this issue towards social change? More about the exhibition "The kn/own/able Project: Handloom Weaving as Knowing and Owning" here. Short talk "How is Knowledge Owned? Thinking Beyond Intellectual Property" Friday November 3, 2023, 13:30–14:15 More about the short talk "How is Knowledge Owned? Thinking Beyond Intellectual Property" by Annapurna Mamidipudi and Dagmar Schäfer (Friday November 3, 2023, 13:30–14:15) here.   Entry is free Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany Europe/Berlin public