Scena
HD video loop, 4’, without sound
Emma van der Put (2026)
Courtesy tegenboschvanvreden, Amsterdam
In Renaissance and Baroque architectural theory, scena (from the ancient Greek/Roman theatre) became associated with the architectural background against which a performance takes place. As a stage, the architectural setting frames and presents the action. Architecture, sculpture, ornament and spatial movement are thereby orchestrated as one unified spectacle.
The video ‘Scena’ is set in the Bode-Museum in Berlin, where Van der Put unexpectedly encountered a group of young women animating different sculptures of the museums collection, by rehearsing a scene on a grand staircase in the Kuppelhalle erected in neo-barok and rococo style.
Wilhelm von Bode, art historian and founder of the Bode Museum, envisioned the building’s architecture—with its ornamental sculptures and historical furniture—to evoke an atmospheric impression of historical eras rather than merely display objects. Driven by this conviction, the Bode - Museum was built in 1904 and is deliberately designed to be a staged historical environment in which to present works of art from different eras.
