„under a starry sky on a clear night, the hidden power of knowing speaks a language with no name“

Eliot Weinberger

Der König, der Allah töten wollte. (The King Who Wanted to Kill Allah. A story from the Arabian desert)

On the occasion of Sternenhimmel der Erde – Panoramen der Nacht, the 2nd STERNENHIMMEL Festival hosted by the Stiftung Kunst und Natur, the reading Arabian Nights / Arabische Nächte took place on October 17, 2022. It provides the starting point for this captivating film by Joachim Gaertner – a story of King Solomon, the birds and the winds, in search of the lost city.

It is Written in the Stars

In all times, on all continents, in all cultures, people see, experience, and feel differently. One thing, however, is common to all: the desire to gaze at the night sky.

But every culture sees its own images in its stars. From these it draws its oral traditions, onto these it projects its environments and stories – of the origin of the world and its human inhabitants, their hunting and harvests, their battles, and passions.

Seen from every point in our world, the night skies are different: each culture sees it from its own vantage point. By clicking into the globes, you will be taken directly to the respective night sky.

The network of stars spanning our world is also a global map of human history in cultural terms – and thus at once the most primordial and the most visible testimony to the connection between art and nature at the core of humankind.

The Night Skies

The Starry Heavens of the Mesopotamians: Of Fields, Gods and Exalted Lions

A glimpse into the starry sky of the Western sky culture – which consists of the constellations that Arabs adopted from the Romans, these from the Greeks and the latter from the Babylonians – is also a glimpse into the starry skies of the Mesopotamians and into the history of their migration to the north.

The Starry Heavens of the Arabians: On the Autonomy of the Stars

Before it was overdrawn by the Greco-Roman constellations in the early Middle Ages, the Arabian starry sky consisted of only a few constellations but numerous individual stars, interpreted as camels, dogs or monkeys, for example. It is one of the most detailed starry skies in the world.

The Starry Heavens of the Bororo: Of Rituals, Birds and Animals

The Bororo of central Brazil live semi-nomadically from farming, hunting and fishing. Their nightly stargazing activities are accompanied by storytelling and ritual chanting. Their most important constellation is the Pleiades, which are known as the White Downs.

Tuareg – The Guide

The culture of the Tuareg stretches across the Sahara and the Sahel zone. In the past the night sky served this desert people as a means of orientation, for journeys, prayer and their calendar, which marks activities essential for survival. One of its most prominent asterisms is Amanar.

Inuit – Wolf + Reindeer

The lands of the Inuit stretch from Greenland across Canada to Alaska and across the Bering Straits. Their culture has a very particular view of the few stars and constellations that are visible in the polar night. In some regions a star is only considered to be the size of a harp seal.

Navajo – Thunder + Lightning

The Southern Dene – or Navajo and Apache – live in the American Southwest. Their kinship with the Northern Dene does also manifest itself in the constellations of their night skies – which also, however, betray Asian influences. Their Thunderbird is probably the largest constellation in the world.

The Sternenhimmeltool

With the Sternenhimmeltool, you can enter the centre of the night skies and their stories interactively – a sensational journey of discovery across the globe and across the universe.

Essays – Interviews – Films –

The Stars of the Night Sky

Andreas Blühm

Drawing on the images of stars in works by significant artists of the period 1609 to 2004 – including Adam Elsheimer, Caspar David Friedrich, Vincent van Gogh, Alexander Calder und Thomas Ruff – the art historian Andreas Blühm provides an entertaining insight into the history of astronomy.

The Conquest of the Heavens

Sibylle Anderl

"There is an extraordinarily close connection between astrophysics and art", says Sibylle Anderl, astrophysicist and philosopher of science. In this interview, she talks about looking and wonder, about the limits of knowledge, about detective work and the creative magic of astronomy.

Sternenhimmel der Menschheit

Program 2023

In 2023, the Stiftung Kunst und Natur (Foundation for Art and Nature) will once again continue its journey into the vastness of space. Of course, a large arc will be spanned again this time: From the very first evidence of sky observation and the star images of the Mesopotamians (Raoul Schrott) to our starry sky with its turbulent, entertaining and profound myths and stories. We learn what "solar geoengineering" means and what Elizabeth Kolbert's "white sky" is all about, and learn from Frank Schätzing how people become stars: Lost in Stars.

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