The international participants–academics, artists and curators–will explore this charged material and share their research as well as experiences on the use of natural and animal dyes in contemporary art in general and on purple (snails) in particular.
In order to deepen the discussion, past and present of the zoological institution will be investigated in order to gain insights into the cultural and historical role of murex snails, also in ancient art in the Gulf of Naples. Sea snails had been used to obtain a pigment known as Tyrian purple, traces of which can already be found in the frescos of Pompeii. Visits to the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and the Museo di Capodimonte will be part of the program.
Secrets and Secrations
Secrets and Secrations: On Sigmar Polke, Purple Snails, and the Gulf of Naples
The starting point of this two-day interdisciplinary workshop, held at the Goethe-Institut Naples, is Sigmar Polke's very own interest in purple: A visit to the Zoological Station in Naples in 1986, led him to extract the dye for the Purpurtuch (Purple Cloth) shown in the Athanor installation himself.
The workshop schedule will follow shortly.
Participants:
Violaine Barrois (artist), Southern France
Kathrin Barutzki (art historian and curator), Cologne
Inge Boesken-Kanold (artist and purple researcher), Southern France
Susanne Kridlo (biologist and curator), Wiesbaden
Petra Lange-Berndt (art historian), Hamburg
Andrea Travaglini (archivist SZN), Naples
Elsa Wellmann-Gilcher (art historian), Cologne
Concept:
Kathrin Barutzki, Petra Lange-Berndt
Organizers:
Kathrin Barutzki, Petra Lange-Berndt with Elsa Wellmann-Gilcher and Lucas Stübbe
Purples Snails in Art and Science
International Workshop, 17 and 18 June 2026, Goethe-Institut, Naples