In Asia, dance is an integral aspect of cultural, religious and social life. Numerous temples contain depictions of dancing deities, among these the well-known Shiva Nataraja, whose movement in dance tells of the creation of the world. In many regions of Asia, dance serves as the connection between humans and the gods. Thus, in some traditions, the creation of a new dance choreography is preceded by a sacrificial rite, or alternatively, the dance itself is understood as a sacrificial offering. An exhibition about dance is inconceivable without dancers - for who represents dance better than dancers and choreographers themselves? For this reason, the exhibition is deliberately presented “with them” and not “about them”. To this end, six contemporary Asian artists were selected to participate: Bulan Trisna Djelantik (Bali), Didik Nini Thowok (Java), Matsune Michikazu (Japan), Hiah Park (Korea), Terence Lewis (India) and Pichet Klunchun (Thailand). They embody six different Asian dance traditions while at the same time serving as prime examples of current Asian arts. Besides personal items such as costumes and props, the exhibition also displays museum objects hand-picked by these artists. A vital aspect of the exhibition concept is the interactive transfer of knowledge, which extends into the exhibition’s extensive supporting programme. For the entire duration of the exhibition, special weekly guided tours (danced tours!), workshops, presentations and events such as K-Pop are planned. In addition, there will be a series of performances in cooperation with the ImPulsTanz Festival, presented by Singaporean choreographer Ong Ken Sen. The exhibition is curated by Jani Kuhnt-Saptodewo, Bettina Zorn, and the above-mentioned co-curators from Asia. At the end of July and beginning of August the renowned ImPulsTanz festival will be residing in the museum. Together with ImPulsTanz and the Indonesian Dance Festival a performance series consisting of two parts has been created: Occupy the Museum and East-West Meetings. From the 18^th of July on 14 young artists will occupy some of the empty rooms in the museum and in the form of a public lab develop new performance pieces: Occupy the Museum. They will be supported by the curators Michael Stolhofer and Ong Keng Sen. On the 3^rd and 4^th of August visitors will be able to see their work. „Over the course of ‚Occupy the Museum‘, dance artists will focus on the agency of exhibition and display and undoing the ethnographic. Th­rough interviews with the labour around the museum, the power const­ruction of heritage will be re-performed by the occupiers. The occupiers will focus on the creation of value and its circulation by the empire.“ ONG Keng Sen, 2013 (with thanks to bkg!) Titled East-West Meetings, six evening performances will bring together stars of the international dance scene, both from the West and the East. Padmini Chettur and David Hernandez (27^th and 29^th of July), Jérôme Bel and Pichet Klunchun (31^st of July/2^nd of August) as well as Michikazu Matsune and Clara Furey (8^th and 10^th of August). As a sort of introduction to the project with ImPulsTanz we are inviting Ong Keng Sen and three of the artists represented in Danced Creation to give artist talks in the exhibition. On the 21^st of July Terence Lewis, star of the Indian dance scene will talk about his work. From the 24^th to the 29^th of July Pichet Klunchun, contemporary Khon dancer, will present his work. And on the 25^th of July Ong Keng Sen will talk both to Pichet Klunchun and the Japanese performance artist Michikazu Matsune about their work. This project is supported by the programme Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe, promoted by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and Arts Network Asia (ANA), in collaboration with Trans Europe Halles (TEH). Detailed schedule and tickets: www.impulstanz.com