Special exhibition "Rock Fossils - Yes, it's love!"
Exhibition opening with exclusive concert & after-show party and a synergetic cultural event
On 11 November 2016, the spectacular exhibition "Rock Fossils - Yes, it's love!" will open at the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz in TIETZ, Moritzstraße 20. It reveals the almost secret affair of palaeontology: the passion for rock music of all kinds. The exhibition can be seen in the museum from 12 November 2016 to 18 April 2017.
The opening kicks off with a bang: Swedish heavy metal heavyweights WOLF will do the honours with an exclusive concert on 11 November 2016. The stage will be nothing less than the famous Petrified Forest at the TIETZ. What's more, the opening of the exhibition will see the release party for the 300-copy limited edition record "Kalloprion kilmisteri - Silurian Overkill" take a deep bow to the great Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead. Last but not least, the Museum für Naturkunde is celebrating the exhibition with a very special Stonewood beer and a "Rock Fossils" T-shirt designed by Motörhead logo designer Joe Petagno. Still not enough? The Atomino invites you to the after-show party.
20:15 Admission, 21:00 start of the concert.
Advance booking 6 euros (concessions 4 euros); box office 8 euros (concessions 6 euros)
Ticket reservations can be made online at www.naturkunde-chemnitz.de from 13 October 2016. Advance ticket sales start at the same time at the museum box office.
Ticket raffle
In the current special exhibition "Sharks - predators for millions of years", the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz is placing a question until 16 October 2016 that opens the door to 3x2 free Rock Fossils tickets. The draw for the correct answers will take place on 17 October 2016.
About the special exhibition "Rock Fossils - Yes, it's love!"
In palaeontology, new animal species are usually given names that refer to the location or shape of the fossil or honour deserving colleagues. But there are also scientists who are true music freaks. They prefer to dedicate a new species to their own personal rock stars. For example, AC/DC, Lemmy from Motörhead, Frank Zappa, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Sex Pistols have "immortalised" their place in the history of the earth.
The special exhibition "Rock Fossils - Yes, it's love!" reveals this hitherto concealed love affair of the natural sciences with a great deal of passion. Visitors to the exhibition can look forward to fossils that do honour to their namesakes: bizarre punk rock trilobites, lustful prehistoric hippos and snails named after Mick Jagger, King Diamond creepy-crawlies and a Michael Jackson crab as old as the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. Of course, the group of dinosaurs and prehistoric birds is not to be missed: Honour to whom honour is due they bear the name of Mark Knopfler and Greg Graffin, the punk rock doctor from Bad Religion.
The rock legends, scientists and fossils are portrayed in words (German/English) and pictures. Life models and skeletons of selected fossils illustrate the bizarre beauty of rock fossils. Real vinyl collector's items are juxtaposed with epoch-making fossils in the "Rocking Earth History" section. Gripping background information sheds light on the blood brotherhood between rock star, scientist and fossil. In another section of the exhibition, the researchers at the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz present the personalities from Chemnitz who were virtually immortalised by the naming of animal and plant fossils.
Fan merchandise in the museum shop
Fan merchandise is of course a must for an exhibition like this in the museum shop: for example, the Rock Fossils T-shirt designed by Motörhead logo designer Joe Petagno, vinyl (picture discs) limited to a few hundred copies by the exhibition organisers featuring well-known rock and heavy metal musicians or real trilobites.
"Rock-Fossils" collaborations
As impressive as this special exhibition is, the collaborations that the Museum für Naturkunde has entered into with several cultural institutions are just as special. Following the introduction of the City of Chemnitz's cultural programme, this is the first ever cross-institutional project. In the supporting programme for the exhibition, in the opening event as well as in addressing visitors and in marketing, the strengths of the individual institutions are brought to bear and new synergies are developed. In addition to events at the Atomino, the Science Slam Chemnitz in cooperation with Zauberberg Mediengesellschaft mbH and the Chemnitz University of Technology's student union, the adult education centre will be offering a special course that allows visitors to experience the world of rock 'n' roll and science with all their senses through palaeo-drawing, graphic design for record covers and palaeo-cooking.
For further information please contact:
City of Chemnitz, Cultural Services
Chemnitz Museum of Natural History
Dr Thorid Zierold, Deputy Director, Curator Natural Sciences
Telephone: 0371 488-4552
E-mail: zierold(at)naturkunde-chemnitz.de