Classical Archaeology


Degree Programmes

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		Special Exhibition Xammlung Ancient Objects, Contemporary Perspectives – A Collaborative Project between the JLU Classical Antiquities Collection and the Artist Collective Guirlanden (More about the artist collective) In the autumn of 2025, contemporary art meets classical antiquity in Giessen – in an exhibition that opens new spaces for perspectives, questions, and aesthetic tensions. Following widely acclaimed projects in Aarhus (2018) and Cambridge (2022), the Danish artist collective Guirlanden now brings its interdisciplinary, multimedia practice to the Classical Antiquities Collection of Justus Liebig University Giessen. Here, a dynamic dialogue unfolds between past and present, between form, fragment, research, and artistic interpretation. Working across sculpture, installation, photography, painting, and text, Guirlanden responds to core themes of ancient culture and archaeology. In close collaboration with the collection, the exhibition challenges classical systems of order, disrupts historical contexts, and reconsiders museum structures from a contemporary perspective. The exhibition will be on view from 9 October to 16 November 2025 at two venues: the exhibition space of KIZ (Kultur im Zentrum, Südanlage 3a) and the University Library gallery in Philosophikum I. In doing so, it spatially underscores the close connection between the university and the city of Giessen.
		Special Exhibition: Wanderlust – Ancient Adventurers, Explorers, and Conquerors Travel plays a central role in many ancient myths. Daring journeys and perilous quests lead heroes to distant lands. Among the most famous are the wanderings of Odysseus and his thrilling tales of adventure. The demigod Heracles had to venture to the very edges of the world—and even into the Underworld—to complete his twelve labors. Ancient geography blended reality with legend: wild centaurs in Thessaly, fierce Amazons by the Black Sea, and gold-guarding griffins at the northernmost edge of the known world, in the fabled land of the Hyperboreans. But travel was not just the subject of myths—it was a fundamental part of ancient life. Whether journeying to grand festivals in distant cities and sacred sites, exploring new territories, expanding trade networks, founding cities, or embarking on military campaigns, travel shaped the ancient world. For the people of antiquity, it was far more than an adventure—travel created myths, gave rise to cities, connected cultures, and opened new trade routes. This special exhibition explores the fascinating stories of ancient heroes, explorers, and conquerors and how their journeys transformed the ancient world.
		EU-Peace-Project ‘Our Cultural Heritage - The Basis of Our House Europe’ The archaeological departments of the universities of Marburg (geoarchaeology), Giessen (classical archaeology), Comillas (landscape archaeology), Mostar (Roman archaeology) and Sarajevo (remote sensing) have joined forces for the EU-Peace project ‘Our Cultural Heritage - The Basis of Our House Europe’ in order to train students at an international level in the conservation and management of cultural heritage. Through joint courses, workshops and summer and spring schools conducted in English, the program will teach and test approaches and practices of cultural heritage conservation and management on both theoretical and practical levels. The practical training will involve applying traditional excavation and conservation methods, as well as learning innovative digital techniques, which will be taught in the field during ongoing excavations.