Coming soon: Dead as a Dodo

Expected from 4 September 2026 at the Natural History Museum Bamberg.

This new special exhibition, developed in-house in cooperation with the Bamberg artist Thomas Michel, explores the various causes of the current biodiversity crisis, with a particular focus on the birds displayed in Bamberg’s historic Bird Hall. At the same time, it highlights positive conservation success stories and presents ways in which this trend can be countered. Thomas Michel’s paintings offer inverted views into the display cases of the Bird Hall, depicting the preserved diversity in a distorted form. Using their own smartphones, visitors can transform these images back into their original colours and embark on a search for the corresponding original specimens.

The paintings are complemented by display cases containing taxidermy specimens of bird species not depicted in the artworks. These specimens tell stories related to three thematic areas. In the first gallery, visitors are introduced both to the causes of species extinction and to successful conservation efforts that have saved—or continue to save—certain species from extinction. In the second gallery, the central exhibit is a newly created, scientifically accurate reconstruction of the Dodo, produced specifically for the Natural History Museum Bamberg (NKMB).

The exhibition offers visitors insight into the complex processes that drive species extinction. While negative examples illustrate the severity of the current situation, the positive case studies presented alongside them demonstrate that meaningful opportunities for action still exist and that conservation success remains possible.