The unique partnership that took place in 2011/2012 between the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and artist Yadegar Asisi is set to continue in now. In the temporary exhibition building Pergamonmuseum. The Panorama, the exhibition project PERGAMON. Masterpieces from the Ancient Metropolis with a 360° Panorama by Yadegar Asisi is on view, with highlights from the Antikensammlung’s holdings as well as a completely revised panorama by Yadegar Asisi.

The panorama takes visitors back to the year AD 129, showing the ancient city of Pergamon on the west coast of Asia Minor. Yadegar Asisi reconstructs the city as it was during the time of the High Roman Empire under the rule of the Emperor Hadrian (AD 117–138).

The visuals from the first Pergamon panorama have been comprehensively reworked. In co-operation with the team of the Antikensammlung, the artist has conceived roughly 40 new scenes and woven them into the picture. An elaborate photo shoot in a Berlin film studio brought the work to completion in October 2017.

The parallel exhibition has been planned by Studio asisi and incorporates approximately 80 of the Antikensammlung’s most important works from Pergamon – including the largest piece of the Telephos frieze from the Pergamon Altar. In preparation for the show, the originals underwent extensive conservation and restoration. This is especially true of the large statues of women from the courtyard of the Pergamon Altar, and the sculptures from its roof. With the exception of the Statue of Athena Parthenos from the Pergamon Library (on loan to the Metropolitan Museum in New York), all of the city’s famous sculptures are on view, including the so-called Beautiful Head, the colossal head of Herakles, portrait sculptures of the king, the Archaistic Dancer from the palace, the Prometheus group, and the Athena with cross-strapped aegis.

Different installations deepen the visitor experience through artistic interpretation. Essential elements include newly created drawings by Yadegar Asisi that illustrate Pergamon’s sculptures, architecture, and urban layout.

PERGAMON. Masterpieces from the Ancient Metropolis with a 360° Panorama by Yadegar Asisi is a Gesamtkunstwerk: the product of a close collaboration between the Antikensammlung and Yadegar Asisi, it combines the results of many years of archaeological and architectural research with the vision of a contemporary artist and is guaranteed to captivate a multitude of visitors, just as its predecessor did in 2011/12. At that time, 1.5 million people visited the exhibition. The combined presentation of the sculptures from the Pergamon Museum and of the Asisi panorama will enable visitors to feel as if they have stepped back in time and are partaking in life in the ancient city. For a short time only, the Pergamon Altar can be experienced here, in its original architectural context, on the Acropolis.