Scythian exhibition in Berlin

“Im Zeichen des goldenen Greifen. Königsgräber der Skythen”

Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin

2007 July 6 - October 1

I have to admit: I laughed when I read the title of the exhibition. First, there is no griffin in Central Asia. Second, there where no kings in Central Asia.

In this mainstream exhibition our dear Csodaszarvas becomes a profane “deer figure”, our beloved Turul becomes a griffin and – I think that's the most ridiculous – the Dragon becomes a “rolled animal”.

But let's forget about the details: the showed material is really great and we have to be thankful that somebody deals with the great cultures of the steppe. The beautiful gold works – all have been presents to the dead – embarrasses every admirer of ancient Greek culture.

To contain the embarrassment they presented the treasure of Mezôkeresztes-Zöldhalompuszta, where they found a Greek necklace. Wearing gold chains made by the big, beautiful and mighty Greeks! Those Scythian guys must have been very sophisticated...

The photo material was also very good. They had a nice wall with steppe pictures from Hungary to Kazakhstan – they used similar motifs and perspectives, so every region looked the same.

The exhibition was also a punch in the face to some people in Eastern Europe. If you mention the Scythians in Hungary the people call you a fascist. The different Scythian influenced cultures and peoples where presented as one cultural conglomerate; the organizers stressed the importance of the steppe warriors and traders for the connection between East and West.

A sentence in the exhibition guide illustrates a problem I had: “Kimmerer, Skythen, Sarmaten, Hunnen und Awaren, im Mittelalter Turkvölker, Tartaren und Mongolen, stellten eine permanente Bedrohung der zivilisierten Welt dar. Je nach politischer Konstellation kontrollierten die Steppenkrieger die Handelswege zwischen Ost und West, errichteten kurzlebige Grossreiche und verschwanden wieder aus der Geschichte”.

1. There is one people missing: the Magyar. Do they think we belong to the Huns, Avars or Turks? I would be happy! But when we tell it, they say Turanism is the worst kind of chauvinism.

2. “Permanent danger to the civilised world” Excuse me... what? That's the worst kind of Western chauvinism I ever read. They had exhibits from the ninth century B.C. What civilised world do they mean?

3. “Short-lived empires”? Dynasties from steppe origin ruled China. Hungary's empire lasted 1000 years.

The conclusion: You should visit the exhibition when you're in Berlin. I don't want to know how a real admirer of ancient Egyptian culture feels when he visits a mainstream exhibition on that topic – but I enjoy looking at all those beautiful things human hands (I hope so) have done. It is the same with this exhibition. “Im Zeichen des goldenen Greifen” is the first really big exhibition on Scythian art with exhibits from Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Germany ever.