Kategorie: Begleitprogramm

INVITATION FOR PROGRAMME

The Professur Materialität des Wissens (Chair of Materiality of Knowledge) at the University of Göttingen and the Kunstverein Göttingen present in cooperation as part of the “Art from Collections” series:

TRANSHUMAN N°3
Michael Schmid
Support for Speakers

Sat 22 Aug 5 pm
Invitation for Panel Talk 

We are delighted to invite you to a discussion with the artist Michael Schmid and the art historian Dr Jana August on Saturday 22 August at 5.00 pm. Stephan Klee, Artistic Director of the Kunstverein, will moderate the event, which is taking place to mark Michael Schmid’s solo exhibition “Support for Speakers” at the Göttinger Kunstverein.
What does an object reveal to us, and when does it become an image? What distinguishes artistic from scientific objects, and analogue from digital photography? What do objects, surfaces and structures tell us about social and economic contexts? What links the studio, the artist’s residence and the campus? In collaboration with the Kunstverein Göttingen, a new series of works by Schmid was created as part of the ‘Art from Collections’ series organised by the Chair of Materiality of Knowledge at the University of Göttingen. We look forward to discussing the works and the questions they raise with you. The discussion will take place in German.

Michael Schmid works with photography, sculpture and installation. His works explore the material and institutional conditions of images, their media, production processes and forms of presentation. He studied Fine Art at the University of the Arts Bremen and photography at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig. His works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Germany and abroad. He is represented by Galerie K’ in Bremen.
Jana August is an art and visual history scholar. As a standing-in professor, she currently heads the “Materialität des Wissens” (‘Materiality of Knowledge’ ) research group at the Department of Art History at the University of Göttingen. As part of the”Kunst aus den Sammlungen” ( ‘Art from Collections’) series, she has been coordinating and curating projects with contemporary artists in the historical collections and at the Forum Wissen at the University of Göttingen since 2019, in collaboration with Prof. Dr Margarete Vöhringer. Her research and teaching focus on the art history and material culture of modernity, the history of museums, collections and exhibitions, as well as the history of knowledge and its visual worlds. She has worked on a freelance basis in various roles for exhibition venues, museums and festivals.
Stephan Klee is a curator and cultural manager from Berlin and has held the post of Artistic Director of the Kunstverein Göttingen e.V. since 2024. He studied philosophy, modern German history and fine art in Berlin and, since 2006, has been working as a freelance curator on various international contemporary art projects. He sees the partnership between the University and the Kunstverein Göttingen as offering excellent opportunities to integrate theory, education and practice even more effectively in Göttingen, thereby expanding and enriching the activities of both the Kunstverein and the University.

Sun 23 Aug 3 pm
Invitation for Finissage
The exhibition’s closing event will take place on Sunday 23 August from 3 pm to 5 pm. We’ll kick things off with a guided tour led by Stephan Klee from 3 pm until around 4 pm, before bringing the exhibition to a close together at 5 pm. Refreshments will be provided, and admission is free.

Duration
12 Jul – 23 Aug 2026
Tue – Fri 4 pm – 6 pm
Sat + Sun 11 am – 4 pm

Location
Künstlerhaus Göttingen (1. floor)
Gotmarstraße 1
37073 Göttingen
Germany

Admission Fee:
Free admission to the exhibtion and all events

REMAINING PROGRAMME

Sun 16 Aug at 3 pm
Sunday–Tour with Stephan Klee
(No admission fee)

Sat 22 Aug at 5 – 7 pm
Paneltalk about the exhibition Support for Speakers
with Michael Schmid, Dr. Jana August and Stephan Klee
Sat 22 Aug at 7 – 9 pm
Film Screening Trafic, 1971, directed by Jacques Tati
(No admission fee)

Sun 23 Aug from 3 – 5 pm
Finissage
3 pm
Guided Tour
“Walk and Talk” – through the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee, in German and English
4 om
Closure
(No admission fee)

Event images:
Michael Schmid, without title (Mathematisches Institut, Bunsenstraße) 2022/2026, inkjet print, 25×20 cm, VG Bildkunst Bonn | Courtesy of the artist

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Michael Schmid lives and works in Berlin. In his work, he combines photography, sculpture and installation. His starting points are often industrial materials, photographic processes and presentation systems, whose functions shift between image, object and medium. His works explore surfaces, support systems and spatial situations in which material and image are mutually dependent.

more information >> schmidmichael.com/

THE ANNUAL PROGRAMME

TRANSHUMAN (2026)
>POSTHUMAN (2027)

The Kunstverein Göttingen continues to follow the proven two-year biennial programme rhythm in order to enable the most in-depth examination possible of the programme’s overarching themes. After TERRA DIASPORA (2024–2025) explored contemporary phenomena, our current programme looks to the near and distant future.
The two-year programme TRANSHUMAN >POSTHUMAN (2026 > 2027) takes a critical look at the global transformation anticipated by some schools of thought: the transition from the anthropocentric humans of our time to the technically optimised transhumans of the near future and, even further into the future of our species, to posthumans. In short: the development of humanity from modern humanism to transhumanism to posthumanism.

The basic theme for the first year is TRANSHUMAN (2026) and includes four solo exhibitions and one group exhibition, bringing together artistic approaches and works to form a collection of perspectives and aspects of transhumanism. The formal and thematic basis of all exhibitions is the artistic exploration of the acceleration of technological development and capitalist growth, and the desired biotechnological optimisation of the human body and mind. The resulting social upheavals are already taking place in many ways in our present, with drastic consequences for coexistence within the span of a generation. These acute experiences flow into the visions of the approaching future and into the collective critical reflection of both the artists and our audience. With this in mind, a wide-ranging discourse and education programme is offered. We also aim to publish the annual programme again. The ideology of transhumanism should not be propagated uncritically, but rather deconstructed as critically as possible, collectively and on the basis of the works on display. We cordially invite all interested parties to join us.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Universität Göttingen, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen And Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.