When does the lecture series take place?

The event takes place on Thursday, November 5, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Where does the lecture take place?

The venue is UNI:Lokal at the University of Kassel, Wilhelmstraße 21, 34117 Kassel.

Who is giving the lecture?

The lecture will be given by Dr. Doreen Mende, head of the research department at the State Art Collections Dresden.

What is Min(d)ing: Relational Capital about?

The lecture examines how raw materials become cultural objects and cultural capital through global circulation, scientific investigation, and museum presentation.

Is registration required?

Registration is not mentioned in the published event information.

What topics does the lecture series cover?

The series deals with the post-fossil resource age and its implications for economics, politics, technology, urban development, mobility, agriculture, and society.

Min(d)ing: Relational Capital Kassel 2026

Name: Lecture Series Resource Worlds | Min(d)ing: Relational Capital
Start: 2026-11-05T18:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-11-05T20:00:00+01:00
Location: UNI:Lokal

Resource Worlds in Kassel: When Materials Become Cultural Capital

How do raw materials transform into art, knowledge, and social values? This question will be addressed by Dr. Doreen Mende on November 5, 2026, in the lecture series of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg at the University of Kassel. Her talk Min(d)ing: Relational Capital connects the history of raw materials, provenance research, global circulations, and contemporary exhibition practices.

An Evening Between Lithium, Gold, and Museum Objects

The research project min(d)ing: relational capital of the State Art Collections Dresden is at the center. Historical collections will be scientifically examined for the origin of their materials and placed in global contexts. Silver, gold, and copper already shaped Saxony in the early modern period as part of global circulations. Today, lithium is becoming the focus as a strategic raw material between global networking and national sovereignty.

The Invisible Paths of Things

The lecture questions how the value of a raw material changes once it becomes a cultural object or artwork. Using artistic works by Harun Farocki, Goldin+Senneby, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, and Su Yu Hsin, Doreen Mende highlights the transformation of material into artifact. This also involves looking at the infrastructures of exhibiting and at the museum as a defining technology of modernity.

Resource Worlds in the Era of the Post-Fossil Age

The lecture places the evening in a comprehensive social upheaval. International conflicts, renewable energies, oil and gas, mobility, urban development, agriculture, and new technologies demonstrate how significantly resource issues shape the present. The Käte Hamburger Kolleg Resource Worlds: Cultures in Transition connects scientific expertise with an open discussion about winners, losers, uncertainty, and future ideas.

Expertise from Research, Curatorship, and Provenance Research

Doreen Mende leads the research department of the State Art Collections Dresden with a focus on provenance research, natural sciences, and curatorship. From 2015 to 2025 she was a professor at HEAD Genève, earned her doctorate on the geopolitics of exhibiting at Goldsmiths, University of London, and founded the Harun Farocki Institute in Berlin in 2015. Her exhibition activities include projects with Steve McQueen and exhibitions on Forensic Architecture and Candida Höfer.

Context and Event Experience

The UNI:Lokal provides the suitable setting for a focused evening between science, art, and urban society. The audience's mood thrives on the connection between demanding analysis and current questions: Who owns the value of a raw material, what stories do materials carry, and what responsibility arises from this for museums and institutions?

The event is organized by the Käte Hamburger Kolleg at the University of Kassel, in cooperation with the SDG+ Lab and the State Theatre Kassel. The lecture series is funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space.

Conclusion: Learning to See Raw Materials Anew

The lecture opens an unusual perspective on the relationships between nature, culture, technology, and global history. Those who want to understand how geological materials create cultural significance and institutional capital will experience an enlightening evening with Doreen Mende at UNI:Lokal. The lecture series invites discussions not only about resource worlds as an economic issue but also as a social and cultural challenge.