Jul 04, 2025
Hot Temperatures and Cool Insights: FOSTER Students Explore the Special Exhibition “Air”
On July 2, FOSTER-funded students and ZiLL staff took the opportunity to gain refreshing perspectives on an often overlooked element in the special exhibition "Air" at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden. The date could hardly have been more appropriate: On the hottest day of the year so far, the exhibition not only offered air-conditioned cooling - the museum's ventilation system measures an impressive 500 meters - but also numerous interactive stations all about the facets of air.
The topics of the tour ranged from small anecdotes from pub smoke and highway exhaust fumes to the air and dust archive. The latter contains very different stories in around 200 inconspicuous-looking jars: Although the contents look almost identical, the samples are very different. Each one tells the story of how air connects people with their environment and becomes a carrier of individual sensations.
The exhibition was also thought-provoking:
Today, air is scientifically measured, politically regulated and technically designed. From "smoke-free" cities to visions of making people independent of the earth's atmosphere - the question always arises as to who is included or excluded by regulated air zones and artificial climates.
Who decides what is good and what is bad air? And how does air, invisible, transboundary and always in motion, resist these attempts at control?
Even as a common good, air is a contested terrain because it is not subject to any government. This makes it difficult to reach binding agreements on its protection and use. Is there a right to clean air? How can the needs of all breathing creatures be taken into account? And what opportunities and risks do technical solutions such as geoengineering entail?
Afterwards, the visit ended with a joint discussion in the museum café. The excursion was part of the FOSTER program's range of non-material support and offered participants exciting insights as well as a welcome breath of fresh air - in every respect.