Tag Archive for: Zeitgenössische Kunst

Vernissage – Mit Borrás

/in , , /by

VERNISSAGE –
INVITATION
Sat 28 Feb 5 – 8 pm

TRANSHUMAN N°1
Mit Borrás
NATORU ナとル

Shortly after the snow melts, the Kunstverein Göttingen heralds the start of the new exhibition year and warmly welcomes you. Spanish artist Mit Borrás kicks off the season with the colourful exhibition NATORU ナとル.

Expansive installations and minimalist object assemblages complement several large video installations with intertwining soundscapes. We invite you to come and see for yourself, listen to the opening and introductory speeches, take a short tour of the transformed rooms with curator Stephan Klee, and join us in toasting the start of the artistic year. The artist will be present.


Location
Künstlerhaus Göttingen (1st Floor)
Gotmarstraße 1
37073 Göttingen – Germany

FURTHER PROGRAMME

Sun 8 Mar / Sun 15 Mar / Sun 29 Mar
at 3 pm each day
Sunday Guided Tour with Joos Ziegler

Sun, 12 Apr, 3–5 p.m.
Finissage
3 pm
Guided tour and discussion – ‘Walk and Talk’
through the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee in German and English
4 pm
Closure

 

…

” The core of the exhibition title ‘nato’ comes from Latin and has multiple meanings: e.g. ‘to be born’ or the first-person form of ‘to swim,’ ‘to surge,’ ‘to billow’ and ‘to sway’, or even just ‘the children.’ In Spanish, “nato” simply means ‘born.’ The Japanese syllable ‘Ru’ rounds off the title and not only refers to the Japanese inspiration in the exhibition, but also underlines the active character of the title, as “Ru” often finalises verbs in Japanese. NATURO could be loosely translated as ‘continuous creation’, for example.
This meaning and connection between Western and Far Eastern culture in the title is no coincidence, but underlines the deeper concept of the exhibition. Inspired by the mystical Aokigahara forest in Japan, Mit Borrás creates an environment for the birth and presence of future creatures in the Künstlerhaus. To this end, he combines the directive power of prophecies in the video L.Y.R.A.- The Oracle (2025) with the essential significance of the forest for human existence in the central projection HANABA 突变花 (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022). And finally, the artist is already breathing life into a new species; the presence of this breathing sculpture permeates the spaces. ”
…


Event Images:
Mit Borrás. Hanaba. Aadaptasi Cycle. Film. Installation | Performance. Work by MIt Borrás. Art Director Rachel Lamot, Music Daniel Vacas Peralta. With Weixin Quek Chong, Written by Mit Borrás & Rachel Lamot, Fashion Design Kim Rosario, Fashion Design Path by Janine Grosche, Drone Liu Zhang, Drone Field, Jesús Moreno, Clinical Department Gómez Bravo, Dental department Dentix, Relevium, Make Up Andréa Méndez, Eloy Noguera Atienza, Production Design Cavve. Images courtesy of the artist, 2023

 

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mit Borrás (b. 1982, Madrid) is a Spanish visual artist based between Madrid and Berlin, recognized for his pioneering work and groundbreaking contributions to contemporary visual arts, videoart, media installation and digital art with performance. His transdisciplinary practice delves into the complex interplay between humanity, nature, and technology, frequently exploring themes such as adaptation, post-humanism, bioethics, and digital sensuality through immersive video installations, performances, and multimedia works. Borrás’s art is distinguished by its ability to merge the ancient with the futuristic, forging speculative mythologies that reflect profound societal transformations.

The central body of work Adaptasi, explores the artist’s personal worldview in his more recent oeuvre. Over the years, art director Rachel Lamot and many other contributors have created a multimedia cycle consisting of the following six parts: PHANTOM LIMB (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2021), HEAVVEN (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2021), EUPHORIA (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022), HANABA 突变花 (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022), YOKAI スワミ (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022), HERMES (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2025). The title ‘Adaptasi’ refers to the ability to adapt, to adjust. With HANABA 突变花 as its central work, the Adaptasi cycle is also strongly represented in Göttingen, albeit as the basis for an independent artistic narrative strand.

more information >>https://mitborras.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 DISAPORA (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: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen und Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.

 

 

Exhibition – Mit Borrás

/in , , /by

TRANSHUMAN N°1
Mit Borrás
NATORU ナとル

curated by Stephan Klee

Vernissage
Saturday, 28 Feb 5 – 8 pm

Duration
1 Mar – 12 Apr 2026
Tue – Fri 2 – 6 pm
Sat – Sun 11 am – 5 pm

Location
Künstlerhaus Göttingen (1st floor)
Gotmarstraße 1
37073 Göttingen– Germany

INTRODUCTION
Is the creation of a near-perfect universal utopia, in which nature, technology and human existence have finally found a balanced and flourishing coexistence, also one of the achievements of contemporary art? At the start of the year, the Kunstverein Göttingen gives a clearly positive answer to this question and, in doing so, provides some valid arguments for not viewing transhumanist developments with scepticism alone.
The first solo exhibition of the new year’s programme, 2026 TRANSHUMAN, is organised by Spanish artist Mit Borrás and is entitled NATORU ナとル. In a conceptual interplay of different media, the Madrid-based artist paints a visually stunning, immersive vision of how great the future could be. Admittedly, this is a rather rare approach in our sceptical times, but precisely for this reason, it is perhaps a liberating concept and a good introduction to the topic of transhuman tendencies.

With a strong focus on new technologies such as computer renderings and digital filters, 3D printing, animated videos and drone camera flights in his expressive media, Mit Borrás has been working systematically for years on elaborate video productions, always appropriately fused with immersive spatial settings in a striking design with high recognition value. For these elaborate works, he runs the production company CAVVE in Madrid together with his art director and partner Rachel Lamot. As a congenial duo, they maintain very fruitful connections to the performance and video art scene, but also to related scientific disciplines such as philosophy, the biosciences and cybernetics.
The artist is strongly inspired by the post-structural dispositives of cyberfeminism, post-naturalism and transhumanism, which open his eyes to the possibilities of technology and species hybridity. At the same time, he also places himself firmly in the traditions of animism, shamanism, spiritualism and mysticism, some of which date back thousands of years, which stems from and further nourishes his deep connection to nature. Significantly influenced by the theories of Donna Haraway, Bruno Latour, Mark Fischer and Gilles Deleuze, Mit Borrás follows a cyclical, fluid, post-patriarchal and ecological worldview, which is also strongly reflected in his works. These are mostly characterised by a seductively fertile, effective and sometimes meditative fusion of technology, nature and humanity, which has defined all his recent work since 2017.

The core of the exhibition title ‘nato’ comes from Latin and has multiple meanings: e.g. ‘to be born’ or the first-person form of ‘to swim,’ ‘to surge,’ ‘to billow’ and ‘to sway’, or even just ‘the children.’ In Spanish, “nato” simply means ‘born.’ The Japanese syllable ‘Ru’ rounds off the title and not only refers to the Japanese inspiration in the exhibition, but also underlines the active character of the title, as “Ru” often finalises verbs in Japanese. “NATURO” could be loosely translated as ‘continuous creation’, for example.
This meaning and connection between Western and Far Eastern culture in the title is no coincidence, but underlines the deeper concept of the exhibition. Inspired by the mystical Aokigahara forest in Japan, Mit Borrás creates an environment for the birth and presence of future creatures in the Künstlerhaus. To this end, he combines the directive power of prophecies in the video L.Y.R.A.- The Oracle (2025) with the essential significance of the forest for human existence in the central projection HANABA 突变花 (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022). And finally, the artist is already breathing life into a new species; the presence of this breathing sculpture permeates the spaces.
This interconnection of works in the exhibition space highlights variations in the exchange of impulses, information and materials. Staging the boundaries of species and transcending the boundaries of animate and inanimate matter, these diverse variations explore new forms of cooperation and cohabitation. The potentials on display reinforce the hope that mutual adaptation, proactive forms of empathy and cross-species fusions, combined with new technologies, could lead to a sustainable future for all. Providing a forum for this affirmative version of progress was not only necessary for artistic quality but also to balance the desired discursive exchange with a positive prognosis.

 

PROGRAMME
Sat, 28 Feb 5 – 8 pm
Vernissage
Welcome speeches and introduction to the exhibition
by curator Stephan Klee

Sun 8 Mar / Sun 15 Mar / Sun 29 Mar
at 3 pm each day
Sunday Guided Tour with Joos Ziegler

Sun, 12 Apr, 3–5 p.m.
Finissage
3 pm
Guided tour and discussion – ‘Walk and Talk’
through the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee in German and English
4 pm
Closure

 

Event Images:
Mit Borrás. Hanaba. Aadaptasi Cycle. Film. Installation | Performance. Work by MIt Borrás. Art Director Rachel Lamot, Music Daniel Vacas Peralta. With Weixin Quek Chong, Written by Mit Borrás & Rachel Lamot, Fashion Design Kim Rosario, Fashion Design Path by Janine Grosche, Drone Liu Zhang, Drone Field, Jesús Moreno, Clinical Department Gómez Bravo, Dental department Dentix, Relevium, Make Up Andréa Méndez, Eloy Noguera Atienza, Production Design Cavve. Images courtesy of the artist, 2023

 

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mit Borrás (b. 1982, Madrid) is a Spanish visual artist based between Madrid and Berlin, recognized for his pioneering work and groundbreaking contributions to contemporary visual arts, videoart, media installation and digital art with performance. His transdisciplinary practice delves into the complex interplay between humanity, nature, and technology, frequently exploring themes such as adaptation, post-humanism, bioethics, and digital sensuality through immersive video installations, performances, and multimedia works. Borrás’s art is distinguished by its ability to merge the ancient with the futuristic, forging speculative mythologies that reflect profound societal transformations.

The central body of work Adaptasi, explores the artist’s personal worldview in his more recent oeuvre. Over the years, art director Rachel Lamot and many other contributors have created a multimedia cycle consisting of the following six parts: PHANTOM LIMB (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2021), HEAVVEN (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2021), EUPHORIA (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022), HANABA 突变花 (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022), YOKAI スワミ (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2022), HERMES (ADAPTASI CYCLE 2025). The title ‘Adaptasi’ refers to the ability to adapt, to adjust. With HANABA 突变花 as its central work, the Adaptasi cycle is also strongly represented in Göttingen, albeit as the basis for an independent artistic narrative strand.

more information >>https://mitborras.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 DISAPORA (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: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen und Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.

 

The Long Afternoon of Art – Marjolijn Dijkman

/in , , , /by

THE LONG AFTERNOON OF ART

AKTIVES TERRAIN N°4
Marjolijn Dijkman
Between the Lines

We present the final Long Afternoon of Art in 2025 and warmly welcome you to attend.

The Long Afternoon of Art
Saturday, 6 December, 3 – 7 pm
At the end of the year, the team at Kunstverein Göttingen invites you to a varied afternoon combining content-based communication of the solo exhibition and a charity campaign for the Kunstverein for the season. Artist Marjolijn Dijkman and curator Stephan Klee will be present at the exhibition and have put together a varied programme. In addition, the Kunstverein will present an overview of all exhibition editions of the two-year TERRA DIASPORA exhibition programme (2024–2025), offering visitors the opportunity to take home a work of art as a gift while also supporting culture in the city. We will be there for the entire four hours. You can come and go as you please, and admission to the event is free.

Stephan Klee will open the afternoon at 3 pm with a guided tour of the exhibition. Afterwards, there will be time to delve deeper into the exhibition and examine the editions on display. At 5 pm, there will be a panel discussion between artist Marjolijn Dijkman, Prof. Dr Lasafam Iturrizaga from the University of Göttingen and artistic director Stephan Klee on the topic of ‘Geomorphology and Ecological Transformation in Economic Growth’. Prof. Dr Lasafam Iturrizaga from the University of Göttingen and artistic director Stephan Klee on the topic of ‘Geomorphology and Ecological Transformation in Economic Growth.’ Using examples from around the world and the region, we will discuss how industrial production and expansive geopolitics are massively changing the geographical landscape and biochemical cycles in the affected territories. Stephan Klee will be responsible for preparing and moderating the discussion this time. The introduction and the audience-inclusive discourse at the end will be in German and English, but the three-way discussion in the middle will be conducted largely in English to ensure a natural flow of conversation for our English-speaking panel guests.
After the joint discussion at the end of the open panel discussion, there will be time for personal conversations and questions until 7 p.m. Throughout the Long Afternoon of Art, we will serve pastries and warm drinks in keeping with the festive season.

Location
Altes Rathaus / 1. OG
Markt 9
37073 Göttingen

Further programme of the exhibition

Sat 6 Dec 3 pm – 7 pm
The Long Afternoon of Art
Admission is free

3 pm – 7 pm
Presentation of the Editions
Comprehensive presentation of the exhibition edition
and all editions of the TERRA DIASPORA exhibition programme (2024/2025)
The proceeds will go towards the charitable work of the Kunstverein Göttingen e.V.

3 pm
Guided tour through the exhibition
with Stephan Klee

5 pm
Open panel discussion
Activated Terrains –
Geomorphology and Ecological Transformation in Economic Growth
with Marjolijn Dijkman (artist), apl. Prof. Dr Lasafam Iturrizaga and Stephan Klee
How does economic exploitation by humans change the nature of the Earth in terms of its appearance, composition and the coexistence of species? How can political and social conflicts become inscribed in the affected territories and leave a lasting mark on them? It is not only since the Industrial Revolution that humans have been actively and mostly consciously shaping the landscapes of this planet through their actions. Significant areas of ‘geomorphology’, i.e. the substantial reshaping of the globe, are now the result of human activity. As a result, since at least the last century, we have been living in the Anthropocene, the man-made geological epoch.
Marjolijn Dijkman has artistically manifested some striking examples of this dynamic and brought them to Göttingen. In this way, the processes in question, made vivid and comprehensible in a creative way, can form the basis for a discussion. Prof. Dr. Lasafam Iturrizaga contributes her expertise, wealth of experience and regional examples from the field of geomorphology to the topic, while Stephan Klee will attempt to draw parallels with global developments and their impact on culture. Afterwards, we will open the discussion to the audience to clarify any remaining questions and engage in a possible discourse together.
The discussion will be held in German and English for the introduction and final audience discourse,
while the middle section of the discussion between the panel guests will be held in English only.

6 pm
Closure

 

Sun 7 Dec 3 – 5 pm
Finissage
3 – 5 pm
Presentation of the Editions
Comprehensive presentation of all editions of the TERRA DIASPORA exhibition programme (2024/2025)
3 pm
Guided tour and discussion – ‘Walk and Talk’
through the exhibition with artist Marjolijn Dijkman
and curator Stephan Klee in German and English
4 pm
Closure

>> To help us plan better, we would be grateful if you could make reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de, respectively by telephone under +49 (0) 551-44899

Eventimage: Marjolijn Dijkman Earthing Discharge (crop out), courtesy the artist and NOME Berlin,
Photo and all rights by Marjolijn Dijkman, published without fee with the friendly agreement of the artist

 

…

Brussels-based Dutch artist Marjolijn Dijkman concludes our exhibition series TERRA DIASPORA – AKTIVE TERRAINS in 2025 with unusually elaborate, spatially accessible arrangements. For example, a tonally animated forest area transfers the former front lines of Verdun with original trees and shrapnel into the exhibition rooms, artificially produced fulgurites of rare earths from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium define silicon sand areas, and microorganisms multiply in glass-filled water samples from the Göttingen region in a room-filling metal framework.”
…

 

THE EDITION OF THE SHOW

 


Marjolijn Dijkman
Earthing Discharge
Edition for the Kunstverein Göttingen, 2025

Edition size 12 + 5 AP, H 29.7 cm x W 42 cm (A 3), archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG, velvety–matt, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

Courtesy of the artist
Price: €320 / €240 for members of KV Göttingen

The artificially generated ‘earthing discharge’ of hard coal creates unique structures of electrical sparks and transports viewers into a precisely captured world of formerly natural energy flows. However, it is precisely this combination that also symbolises two of the most important industrial revolutions: the comprehensive use of hard coal and electricity in production processes. These ‘releases’ of human resource exploitation and their effects on organically animated terrestrial zones are exemplary of the themes in Marjolijn Dijkman’s work and our 2025 annual programme.

> If you are interested, please contact us here: klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

VITA Marjolijn Dijkman

Marjolijn Dijkman (1978, NL) is an artist and co-founder of Enough Room for Space. She lives and works in Brussels (BE) and Lahaymeix (FR).
 
She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam in 2001 and at the MFA Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam in 2003, and was a researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht from 2006 to 2007.

She is currently part of the artistic research cluster Deep Histories Fragile Memories as a PhD student at the LUCA School of Arts Brussels / University of Leuven, supervised by Wendy Morris and Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou (2023-2027).

In 2005, she founded Enough Room for Space (ERforS) together with Maarten Vanden Eynde. Enough Room for Space is an interdependent art organisation that initiates experimental collaborative research projects. We tend to operate as freely as possible and to transcend the boundaries between disciplines (artistic, scientific or activist).

more informationen >>www.marjolijndijkman.com

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen und Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. . We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our essential supporters from the Netherlands: Mondriaan Fund and from Belgium: the Flanders Culture Fund.

Vernissage – Marjolijn Dijkman

/in , , /by

VERNISSAGE

AKTIVES TERRAIN N°4
Marjolijn Dijkman
Between the Lines

You are cordially invited to the final exhibition of the year.

Vernissage
Saturday, 11 October at 5 p.m.
The rooms in the Old Town Hall have been filled with expansive, immersive installations, and the KVG team is delighted to present three extensive areas of research in the work of Marjolijn Dijkmans. After the welcome speech by the managing director and introductory words by the artistic director, there will be plenty of time to explore the exhibition. The artist and curator will be present and available for conversation over a drink or two. The event will then end at 7 p.m.

Location
Altes Rathaus / 1. Floor
Markt 9
37073 Göttingen

Upcoming Programme

Sun 19 Oct / Sun 2 Nov
each at 3 pm
Sunday Tour with Joos Ziegler

Sat 6 Dec 3 – 7 pm
The Long Afternoon of Art

3 pm
Exhibition Tour
with Stephan Klee
4 pm
Presentation & Sound Performance
by the artist Nele Möller
5:30 pm
Roundtable Discussion
with Marjolijn Dijkman, Nele Möller
and Stephan Klee

Sun 7 Dec 5 pm
Finissage
Comprehensive presentation of the
Edition of the Show
and all editions of the year
3 pm
Guided tour and conversation – “Walk and Talk”
through the exhibition with the artist Marjokijn Dijkman
and the curator Stephan Klee in English and German
4 pm
Conclusion
open till 5 pm

>> To help us plan better, we would be grateful if you could make reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de, respectively by telephone under +49 (0) 551-44899

Veranstaltungsbild: Marjolijn Dijkman Earthing Discharge (crop out), courtesy the artist and NOME Berlin,
Photo and all rights by Marjolijn Dijkman, published without fee with the friendly agreement of the artist

 

…

Brussels-based Dutch artist Marjolijn Dijkman concludes our exhibition series TERRA DIASPORA – AKTIVE TERRAINS in 2025 with unusually elaborate, spatially accessible arrangements. For example, a tonally animated forest area transfers the former front lines of Verdun with original trees and shrapnel into the exhibition rooms, artificially produced fulgurites of rare earths from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium define silicon sand areas, and microorganisms multiply in glass-filled water samples from the Göttingen region in a room-filling metal framework.”
…

THE EDITION OF THE SHOW

 


Marjolijn Dijkman
Earthing Discharge
Edition for the Kunstverein Göttingen, 2025

Edition size 12 + 5 AP, H 29.7 cm x W 42 cm (A 3), archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG, velvety–matt, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

Courtesy of the artist
Price: €320 / €240 for members of KV Göttingen

The artificially generated ‘earthing discharge’ of hard coal creates unique structures of electrical sparks and transports viewers into a precisely captured world of formerly natural energy flows. However, it is precisely this combination that also symbolises two of the most important industrial revolutions: the comprehensive use of hard coal and electricity in production processes. These ‘releases’ of human resource exploitation and their effects on organically animated terrestrial zones are exemplary of the themes in Marjolijn Dijkman’s work and our 2025 annual programme.

> If you are interested, please contact us here: klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de

VITA Marjolijn Dijkman

Marjolijn Dijkman (1978, NL) is an artist and co-founder of Enough Room for Space. She lives and works in Brussels (BE) and Lahaymeix (FR).
 
She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam in 2001 and at the MFA Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam in 2003, and was a researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht from 2006 to 2007.

She is currently part of the artistic research cluster Deep Histories Fragile Memories as a PhD student at the LUCA School of Arts Brussels / University of Leuven, supervised by Wendy Morris and Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou (2023-2027).

In 2005, she founded Enough Room for Space (ERforS) together with Maarten Vanden Eynde. Enough Room for Space is an interdependent art organisation that initiates experimental collaborative research projects. We tend to operate as freely as possible and to transcend the boundaries between disciplines (artistic, scientific or activist).

more nformation >>www.marjolijndijkman.com

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

 

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen und Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. . We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our essential supporters from the Netherlands: Mondriaan Fund and from Belgium: the Flanders Culture Fund.

Exhibition – Marjolijn Dijkman

/in , , /by

ACTIVE TERRAIN N°4
Marjolijn Dijkman
Between the Lines

curated by Stephan Klee

Vernissage
Saturday, 11 October, 5 pm
Duration
12 October–7 December 2025
Tuesday–Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm

The Brussels-based Dutch artist concludes our exhibition series TERRA DIASPORA – AKTIVE TERRAINS in 2025 with unusually elaborate, spatially accessible arrangements. For example, a tonally animated forest area transfers the former front lines of Verdun with original trees and shrapnel into the exhibition rooms, artificially produced fulgurites of rare earths from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium define silicon sand areas, and microorganisms multiply in glass-filled water samples from the Göttingen region in a room-filling metal framework.
Through spatially accessible arrangements, sculptural objects, photographs and film contributions, the artist succeeds in an inimitable way in making the dynamic upheavals of the regions in question tangible for the audience, thus exemplifying the acute changes taking place on Earth. Or, as she herself says: “I am a research-based and multidisciplinary artist who uses film, photography, sculpture and installation. My work focuses on the intersections between culture and other fields of research. The works themselves are speculative, based in part on facts and research, but often shifted into the realm of imagination. I work on multi-year, process-based research projects that culminate in various works, discursive events, exhibitions and publications.” Multidisciplinary collaboration with other people is important here. In many of these long-term research projects, works are created through close collective creation with other people working on the same topics.
With a scientific foundation and inspiration in uncovering complex interrelationships, Marjolijn Dijkman succeeds in precisely transforming the materials and substances of global processes into concise forms and testimonies. These groups of works embody global eco-geographical changes and make them accessible to visitors on a rational, intuitive and emotional level. Through the artistic manifestations of the changing realities ‘out there,’ a new understanding of the world emerges ‘here with us.’ This finale, in particular, creatively sums up the concept of Active Terrain like no other exhibition in the series.

PROGRAMME
Sat 11 Oct at 5 pm
Vernissage
Welcome speech by Helmut Wenzel,
introduction to the exhibition by the curator Stephan  Klee,
and presentation of the Edition of the Show
open till 7 pm

Sun 19 Oct / Sun 2 Nov
each at 3 pm
Sunday Tour with Joos Ziegler

Sat 6 Dec 3 – 7 pm
The Long Afternoon of Art

3 pm
Exhibition Tour
with Stephan Klee
5 pm
Open panel discussion
Activated Terrains – Geomorphology and Ecological Transformation in Economic Growth
with Marjolijn Dijkman (artist), apl. Prof. Dr Lasafam Iturrizaga and Stephan Klee
with an integrative conversation, including the audience in the end

Sun 7 Dec 5 pm
Finissage
Comprehensive presentation of the
Edition of the Show
and all editions of the year
3 pm
Guided tour and conversation – “Walk and Talk”
through the exhibition with the artist Marjokijn Dijkman
and the curator Stephan Klee in English and German
4 pm
Conclusion
open till 5 pm

>> To help us plan better, we would be grateful if you could make reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de, respectively by telephone under +49 (0) 551-44899

event image: Marjolijn Dijkman Earthing Discharge (crop out), courtesy the artist and NOME Berlin,
Photo and all rights by Marjolijn Dijkman, published without fee with the friendly agreement of the artist

THE EDITION FOR THE EXHIBITION

 


Marjolijn Dijkman
Earthing Discharge
Edition for the Kunstverein Göttingen, 2025

Edition size 12 + 5 AP, H 29.7 cm x W 42 cm (A 3), archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG, velvety–matt, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

Courtesy of the artist
Price: €320 / €240 for members of KV Göttingen

The artificially generated ‘earthing discharge’ of hard coal creates unique structures of electrical sparks and transports viewers into a precisely captured world of formerly natural energy flows. However, it is precisely this combination that also symbolises two of the most important industrial revolutions: the comprehensive use of hard coal and electricity in production processes. These ‘releases’ of human resource exploitation and their effects on organically animated terrestrial zones are exemplary of the themes in Marjolijn Dijkman’s work and our 2025 annual programme.

 

VITA Marjolijn Dijkman
Marjolijn Dijkman (1978, NL) is an artist and co-founder of Enough Room for Space. She lives and works in Brussels (BE) and Lahaymeix (FR).
 
She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam in 2001 and at the MFA Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam in 2003, and was a researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht from 2006 to 2007.

She is currently part of the artistic research cluster Deep Histories Fragile Memories as a PhD student at the LUCA School of Arts Brussels / University of Leuven, supervised by Wendy Morris and Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou (2023-2027).

In 2005, she founded Enough Room for Space (ERforS) together with Maarten Vanden Eynde. Enough Room for Space is an interdependent art organisation that initiates experimental collaborative research projects. We tend to operate as freely as possible and to transcend the boundaries between disciplines (artistic, scientific or activist).

more information >>www.marjolijndijkman.com

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

 

We would like to thank our sponsors:  Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen und Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our essential supporters from the Netherlands: Mondriaan Fund and from Belgium: the Flanders Culture Fund.

The Grand Finissage – TERRA DIASPORA

/in , , /by

The Grand Finissage
of

TERRA DIASPORA – Active Terrain N°2
“Collapse is not a destination, it is a process”

Julius von Bismarck, Julian Charrière, Marjolijn Dijkman, Raphaël Fischer-Dieskau,
Andreas Greiner, Robert Gschwantner, Spiros Hadjidjanos, Kapwani Kiwanga,
Almut Linde, Ulrike Mohr, Mazenett Quiroga, Marike Schuurman, Raul Walch

curated by Dr. Almut Hüfler and Stephan Klee

On the occasion of the final weekend of this exhibition, the Kunstverein Göttingen is particularly pleased to invite you to a closing event full of programme items and interesting guests – The Grand Finissage – on Sunday, 21 September 2025, on the first floor of the Old Town Hall in Göttingen. The entire programme will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on–site, with snacks and drinks served, and the current edition presented. Feel free to drop by whenever it suits you best and when you are most interested. We look forward to seeing you! – The team at Kunstverein Göttingen.

 

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAMME

Sun 21 September, 11 am – 5 pm
The Grand Finissage
11 am
Guided tour of the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee

2 – 5 pm
Panel conversations on the topic
A real life in the wrong one?
An afternoon of talks on the benefits of the economy for the common good and the possibilities of culture in the climate crisis.

Part 1
2:00 – 3:15 pm
Book presentation
“Species extinction will continue, as will the melting of the polar ice caps, and the rainforests will continue to burn as long as nothing changes in our economic system. The pioneers of the economy for the common good are setting a positive direction for economic activity. Through their actions, they refute the philosopher Theodor W. Adorno and show that there is indeed a right way to live in a wrong world.”
Lawyer, cultural manager and author Sven Hartberger (Vienna) has been the spokesperson for the Economy for the Common Good Austria since 2021. He deals with the question of what needs to change in our economic system in order to halt the disastrous developments of climate change. In his trilogy Minotaurus (2019), Mallingers Abschied oder vom Sinn und Unsinn der Arbeit (2023) and Lasst Euch nicht täuschen! – Ein Brief an die letzte Generation, fundamental questions are posed and possible solutions discussed in literary form.
Moderator: Dr Almut Hüfler

Part 2
3:30 – 4:00 pm
Sustainability and the Economy for the Common Good in Göttingen
With:
Annabel Konermann, Coordinator of the Göttingen Regional Group of the Economy for the Common Good Germany;
Nils König, Scientists for Future, Climate Advisory Board of the City of Göttingen (Executive Board);
Michael Letmathe, Deutsches Theater Göttingen (Chief Dramaturg)
Co-moderator: Johanna Meyer

Part 3
4:00 pm
What opportunities and responsibilities do culture and art have in relation to the consequences of the climate crisis?
With:
Sven Hartberger, author;
Stephan Klee, curator of the Göttingen Art Association;
Nils König, KUNST e.V. (board member);
Michael Letmathe, Deutsches Theater Göttingen (chief dramaturge);
Annabel Konermann, coordinator of the Göttingen regional group of Gemeinwohl–Ökonomie Deutschland
Moderator: Dr Almut Hüfler

4:45 – 5:00 p.m.
Closing remarks and book signing with Sven Hartberger

Afterwards
from 5:15 p.m.
We cordially invite you to continue the conversation at the Künstlerhaus (Gotmarstraße 1) with snacks and drinks in an informal setting, to get to know each other better and to round off the evening.

Event image: Graphic by Stephan Klee, all rights reserved by the author and frontviews

THE EDITION OF THE EXHIBITION

 

Spiros Hadjidjanos

Chemicals are Internal to Us, 2022–2025

Edition of 12 + 5 AP
,
29.7 cm x W 42 cm,
Archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG,
velvety – matte, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

Courtesy of the artist
Price: €320 / €240 for members of KV Göttingen

Here, the artist presents a brilliantly surrealistic homage to the elemental semiconductor silicon, which is not only indispensable in many areas of the electronics industry, but also plays a key role as a natural substance in organic bodies, among other things, in holding tissue together. The motif thus humorously embodies our deep, material exchange with the terrestrial environment. By purchasing this edition, you are supporting the work of our association in a particularly sustainable and meaningful way.

In the Old Town Hall in Göttingen, the central group exhibition Active Terrain No. 2 in the second year of TERRA DIASPORA features artists whose works deal with the discrepancy between the ecological crisis of our planet and people’s perception of it. Given the scale and often vast distance of human intervention and its protracted nature, the profound consequences are hardly taken seriously as an acute danger. The complexity of the processes undermines humanity’s evolutionary response to danger, so that necessary countermeasures are repeatedly ‘postponed’ in the face of acute emergencies such as wars, economic crises, etc. As a result, ecological collapse is already taking place without humanity responding adequately.

The groups of works in the exhibition make the complex of themes directly accessible in visual, haptic and cognitive terms using original material and images of processes taking place globally in real life. Under the thematic headings ‘Changes in the Forest’ and ‘Changes in the Soil,’ twelve well–known international individual positions and a duo from eight different countries and three continents are represented. The works on display include evidence of ‘counter-ecological’ developments from five continents.

 

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsische Sparkassen Stiftung, Sparkasse Göttingen, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen,  and Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.

Exhibition – Mélodie Mousset and Ittah Yoda

/in /by

AKTIVES TERRAIN N°3

Mélodie Mousset and Ittah Yoda 
Dander the Symbiocene      

curated by Stephan Klee

Programme
Sat 26 Jul 5 pm
Vernissage
open till 8 pm

Sun 24 Aug / Sun 31 Aug
each at 3 pm
Sunday Tour with Joos Ziegler

Sat 06 Sep 3 – 6 pm
Finissage
presenting the Edition of the Exhibition
4 pm
guided “Walk and Talk” through the exhibition
with the curator Stephan Klee
5 pm
closure

In order to be able to plan better, we look forward to receiving your reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de or by telephone on 0551-44899

Event picture: Graphic by Stephan Klee, source: Alamy, all rights reserved by KV Göttingen

In summer 2025, artist Mélodie Mousset and art duo Virginie Ittah and Kai Yoda present a multimedia terrain on the first floor of the Künstlerhaus Göttingen that encloses the visitors and appeals to many senses, including touch and smell. The intertwining installations range from the origins of cave painting to virtually generated landscapes, played through VR glasses. One of the core works is the installation HanaHana by Swiss French artist Mélodie Mousset. This interactive virtual reality experience, which has been developed further over the years, offers guests the opportunity to walk through various virtual landscapes with the help of controllers, while actively shaping and generating them. The freedom, beauty and safety in HanaHana feels remarkable, and opens up a completely digitally generated alternative world, a material-free ‘safe space’ of a special kind.
HanaHana‘s simulation room will be embedded in a far-reaching exhibition design by the French-Japanese art duo Ittah Yoda. The two are working together to combine sculpture, painting and installation with technically advanced media such as LED screens, virtual reality and augmented reality. The two have coined the term ‘Symbiocene’ for these intertwined spaces between tangible materiality and digital vision, and they see their projects as utopian designs for a sustainable symbiosis of ecological cycles and technology.
Thematically, the exhibition offers an innovative examination of the visual culture of humans in Europe in their interaction with the surrounding landscape. As a source of inspiration, both positions share a fascination for the cave paintings of Lascoux and Chauvet and others, i.e. the first permanent images of the inhabitants of a region. These early testimonies can be understood as an act of self-assurance, as a permanent testimony to one’s own existence, as a visual archiving of fellow creatures or as cultic communication with the environment. These are all impulses that have always driven the creation of art. Inspired by these archaic testimonies of cultural self-empowerment, both Ittah Yoda and Mélodie Mousset explore in their works, among other things, the question: “How can the specificity of a territory be embodied today?” – “Or how can completely new imaginary terrains be created on the basis of our cultural history?” In their free, rather associative research, they largely detach themselves from real geographical conditions in comparison to other, more conceptual positions in the annual programme TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS. They negotiate concepts such as “landscape”, “place” and “production” more in dialogue with the anthropological and cultural appropriation of this theme by people in the course of cultural history. It is therefore more about the ideas of landscape than about current, actual geographical upheavals in the culmination of the Anthropocene. This exhibition thus not only adds important aspects to the annual programme, but also builds a bridge to the fantastic and surrealist tendencies of the 2024 TERRA DIASPORRA – WELTEN WANDELN annual programme.
In addition to our reliable supporting institutions, this time the additional support from the Lower Saxony Foundation and the Institut Français in particular enables the Kunstverein team to tackle and realise this exhibition concept at the cutting edge of technology and art in Göttingen.

 

THE EDITION OF THE EXHIBITION

 

 

Mélodie Mousset
HanaHana, 2017–2025
The printed edition for the Kunstverein Göttingen

Edition of 12 + 5 AP
H 29.7 cm x W 42 cm,
Archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG,
velvety – matte, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

The interactive virtual reality experience HanaHana, developed over many years by Swiss-French Artist Mélodie Mousset, offers visitors the opportunity to wander through various virtual landscapes with the help of controllers, while continuously reshaping these landscapes in a generative manner. The freedom, beauty, and safety in HanaHana feel remarkable and open up a completely digitally generated alternative world, a material-free “safe space” of a special kind. It is a great honor for us that Mélodie Mousset has now generated the first physically tangible work from the HanaHana universe as an edition print exclusively for the Kunstverein Göttingen. By purchasing this work, you are helping the Kunstverein to continue presenting such experimental works to the public.

> If you are interested, please contact us here: klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

VITA Mélodie Mousset
Mélodie Mousset (*1981, Abu Dhabi) is a French artist who lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. Mousset’s works oscillate between virtual and physical worlds, focusing on the physicality of the human body and the potential virtuality of the mind. Mousset works with numerous media for her investigations around the body, including installation, performance, sculpture, photography, video and virtual reality.
 Her work draws on personal biography to create playful and surreal narratives that explore the interactions between the self and technology. Her works are often intended to challenge the senses; elements are juxtaposed and transformed to create uncanny and whimsical assemblages in which the body becomes a site of physical and mental exchange with technology.

The artist studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, the ECAL (Lausanne) and the Royal College of Arts (London) and completed her training in 2011 with a Master of Fine Arts at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts).

Her projects have been exhibited in galleries and institutions worldwide since 2010, including the MOCA (Museum Of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles), the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, the MAC (Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon), The Metropolitan Art Society (Beirut) and the SALTS (Basel).
 In 2015, she was the winner of the Swiss Art Award. Her most recent work HanaHana, which was shown at the Zabludowicz Collection (London) in 2018, received seven awards, including the prize for the best artistic virtual reality experience at the VR Festival (Beijing), the prize for the best artistic achievement at the VR Days Festival 2017 and most recently the Visions Prize at the VR Arles Festival 2019. The artist’s most recent solo exhibitions included Intra-Aura at Last Tango (Zurich) in 2018. HanaHana was shown at Galerie V Glavnom (Tomsk, Russia) in 2018 and at Galerie Roehrs & Boetsch (Zurich) in 2019. She will soon be exhibiting at Swissnex (San Francisco).

more information >> https://fabbula.com/artists/hanahana-by-melodie-mousset/

 

VITA Ittah Yoda
The duo Ittah Yoda, consisting of Virgile Ittah and Kai Yoda, was formed after they met at the Royal College of London, where one was studying sculpture and the other photography and animation. From the beginning, they were fascinated by the natural and digital worlds and began working on the idea of a post-anthropocene world in which these two elements coexist harmoniously, what they call the ‘symbiosis’. While virtual reality occupies a central place in their work and serves as a matrix and maturation process, all the forms that later materialise in painting, sculpture and installation represent an ecosystem of their own, inspired by organic forms and materials and developed in collaboration with numerous artisans. Each of Ittah Yoda’s projects represents a step towards the realisation of this ideal symbiotic ecosystem, in which the media used and the objects created embody and transmit ‘genetic-artistic’ information from their environment. Although they are orientated towards an idea of the future, their work is rooted in art history, drawing in particular on references such as cave paintings and pigment painting techniques.

Recent exhibitions include Bally Foundation, Lugano (CH), ROH Projects, Jakarta (ID), Collection Lambert, Avignon (FR), CIAPV, Vassiviere (FR), Paris + by Art Basel, Paris (FR), the Armory Show, New York (US), the Rencontres d’Arles, Arles (FR), Poush Manifesto, Paris (FR), the Centre Culturel Jean Cocteau, Les Lilas (FR), the Musée des Beaux Arts d’Angers (FR), Hagiwara Projects, Tokyo (JP), Sprout Curation, Tokyo (JP), Cité International des Arts, Paris (FR), Frieze N°9 Cork Street, London (UK), ARCO Madrid, Madrid (ES), etc.

more information >> https://ittahyoda.com/

 

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

 

We would like to thank our sponsors:: , Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Siftung Niedersachsen, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. und Institut Français

Exhibition – TERRA DIASPORA

/in , , /by

TERRA DIASPORA – Actives Terrain N°2
“Collapse is not a destination, it is a process”

Julius von Bismarck, Julian Charrière, Marjolijn Dijkman, Raphaël Fischer-Dieskau,
Andreas Greiner, Robert Gschwantner, Spiros Hadjidjanos, Kapwani Kiwanga,
Almut Linde, Ulrike Mohr, Mazenett Quiroga, Marike Schuurman, Raul Walch

curated by Dr. Almut Hüfler and Stephan Klee

 

PROGRAMME

Fri 13 Jun 5 – 8 pm
Vernissage – Opening Reception with
– 5 pm: Welcome speeches
– 5 pm: Release of the new Edition by Spiros Hadjidjanos

Sat 14 Jun 3 – 10 pm
Pro City Nacht der Kultur
– 3 pm: Guided tour with the curators
– 5 pm: Talk with Dr. Almut Hüfler,
Prof. Dr. Almut Linde and Dr. Didem Aydurmus

Sun 22 Jun / Sun 06 Jul /
Sun 20 Jul / Sun 03 Aug
each at 3 pm
Sunday tour with Joos Ziegler

Sun 21 Sep 3 – 5 pm
Finissage – Closure
– 3 pm Panel Talk

 

Sun 21 September, 11 am – 5 pm
The Grand Finissage
11 am
Guided tour of the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee
2 – 5 pm
A three-part panel discussion on the theme of the exhibition
2 pm
Dr. Almut Hülfler (co-curator) in dialogue with the author Sven Hartberger
3 pm
Johana Meyer (Kunstverein Göttingen) presents active protagonists and developments in Göttingen
4 pm
Dr Almut Hüfler moderates the open closing discussion:
‘What can culture offer in times of ecological collapse?’
with Nils König (Kunst e.V. Göttingen) and Stephan Klee (artistic director, Kunstverein Göttingen)

Snacks and drinks will be provided during the breaks. Relevant books on the topic – including works by Sven Hartberger – will be available for purchase. The exhibition editions will be on display, and we look forward to seeing you there and hearing your contributions to the discussion.

To enable us to plan better, we would be delighted to receive your reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de or by telephone on 0551-44899

Event image: Graphic by Stephan Klee, all rights reserved by the author and frontviews

In the second year of TERRA DIASPORA, the central group exhibition Active Terrain N°2 brings together thirteen artistic positions in Göttingen’s Old Town Hall. The works on display, executed in various media such as sculpture, photography, drawing and video, all deal with the discrepancy between the ecological crisis of our planet and how people perceive it. In view of the magnitude and often great distance of human intervention and its consequences over a long period of time, this crisis can be recognised as an acute danger: This is because the complexity of these processes undermines the evolutionarily determined human response options to dangers, so that necessary countermeasures are repeatedly ‘postponed’ in the face of acute emergency situations such as wars, economic crises, etc. As a result, ecological collapse is already taking place without humanity being able to respond adequately. Or as Ugo Bardi, member of the Club of Rome, put it in 2022: ‘Collapse is not a destination, it is a process “*
The exhibition picks up on this phenomenon with a walk-in field of exhibition installations and makes these developments directly tangible – using the example of the two thematic areas ‘Processes in the forest’ and ‘Processes in the soil’. This is essentially made possible by the close connection of the works to real transformation processes from many globally distributed terrains: not only are the relevant places and their changes shown visually and acoustically, but often the affected, original material itself is also used artistically in real in the gallery space, so that the works shown can offer a material translation of external geological-industrial processes.
Like the mineral trickling of an hourglass, the artistic settings make a dilemma of the capitalist growth paradigm and the implications of our lifestyle directly and sensually comprehensible: That the long-term effects of short-term profitable productions are already going on tirelessly underground, but are not adequately incorporated into the planning and actions of the economy. The collected works as a whole become a polyphonic canon of consumption with a real core and the exhibition unfolds as an activated cabinet of curiosities of the urgent ecological upheavals of modern times in a fortified merchant guild house from the High Middle Ages.

*Quote: Ugo Bardi in ‘Limits and Beyond: 50 years on from The Limits to Growth, what did we learn and what’s next?’, 2022

 

THE EDITION OF THE EXHIBITION

 


Spiros Hadjidjanos

Chemicals are Internal to Us, 2022–2025

Edition of 12 + 5 AP
,
29.7 cm x W 42 cm,
Archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG,
velvety – matte, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

Courtesy of the artist
Price: €320 / €240 for members of KV Göttingen

Here, the artist presents a brilliantly surrealistic homage to the elemental semiconductor silicon, which
is not only indispensable in many areas of the electronics industry, but also plays a key role as a natural substance in organic bodies, among other things, in holding tissue together. The motif thus humorously embodies our deep, material exchange with the terrestrial environment. By purchasing this edition, you are supporting the work of our association in a particularly sustainable and meaningful way.

 

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsische Sparkassen Stiftung, Sparkasse Göttingen, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen,  and Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.

Ellen Akimoto

/in , , , /by

WELTEN WANDLERIN N°1
Ellen Akimoto – Matter Ecstatic
> Exhibition tour, artist talk & edition

On the occasion of the first institutional solo presentation of Ellen Akimoto’s paintings,
the Kunstverein Göttingen e.V. is very pleased to invite you to the following event:

Friday, Feb the 2nd at 6 – 8 pm at Künstlerhaus Göttingen, 2nd upper floor
> Guided tour through the exhibition with the artist and the curator
and publication of the edition Ellen Akimoto “Picture Holder”, 2024

> Artist talk with Ellen Akimoto, Dr Anne-Katrin Sors (Custodian of the Art Collection of the University of Göttingen) & the curator Stephan Klee with a concluding open discussion on the topic:

A New Surreality
– Digital Images, AI, Generated Spaces and
the Role of Painting as a Contemporary Medium
based on the work of Ellen Akimoto –

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

 

The Kunstverein Göttingen has created an exquisite edition for all friends of Ellen Akimoto’s current works:

Ellen Akimoto Picture Holder Again, 2024, 42 x 29.7 cm, age-resistant digital FINE ART – pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Matt Baryta paper, 308g/m², edition of 15 / 3 AP,
Price: 320 € / 240 € for members of the KV Göttingen

As a thank you for an important donation to the programme, you are not only bringing a wonderful work into your private space, but you are also supporting the work of the Kunstverein Göttingen for contemporary young art and the artists involved.
> If you are interested, please contact us here: info@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

We would like to thank our sponsors: Ministry of Science and Art of Lower Saxony, City of Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V., and Sparkasse Göttingen.

Ellen Akimoto

/in , , /by

WELTEN WANDLERIN N°1
Ellen Akimoto – Matter Ecstatic
curated by Stephan Klee

Ellen Akimoto’s (*1988 Westlake Village, US) paintings often centre on individual people in their personal interiors. The private living space in its architecture and atmosphere, with its furnishings and pets, not only offers a place of retreat and shelter but also reflects the inner life of the occupants and their often tense relationship to the world. As the room layout, daytime mood, incidence of light, colour scheme and fragmented details sometimes seem unfamiliar and alienating, the sense of security within one’s own four walls is put to the test.
Where does this unique, subterranean mysteriousness in Akimoto’s works come from? Is it due to the artist’s dialogue between real paintings and computer-based images? Drawing from both sources, she assembles her painterly collages from digital set pieces of various bodies and fragments of several spatial views on the canvas. In this way, almost floating, modular actors, like mannequins, wander through fragmented spaces.
In these dreamy de-arrangements, Akimoto does not create authentic studies of people but rather generates images of people in a more general sense, which nevertheless sometimes carry the faces of real people in front of them like a mask. Her pictures fundamentally show the sensitivity and flexibility of the human being, as a being that absorbs the most diverse influences and reacts in unexpected ways.

Akimoto earned her BFA from the California State University Chico, during which she spent a year studying at the Mainz Academy of Arts in Germany. She went on to complete a post-graduate Meisterschüler degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig, funded by a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD. She has received grants from the Cultural Foundation of Saxony and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and her work has been acquired by the Dresden Public Art Collection. From 2021 to 2022 she was a Visual Arts Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. She has exhibited widely in Germany and has had solo shows in Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Saint Rémy de Provence in France.


Programme

  • Sun 14.01.24, 11:30 am – 3:00 pm: Vernissage & Reception
  • Fri 02.02.24, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Guided tour with artist, Dr Sors & curator plus panel discussion & edition
  • Sun 04.02.24, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Sunday guided tour
  • Sun 25.02.24, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Finissage with guided tour & edition

Please book your participation in the events at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettigen.de respectively by telephone at 0551-44899

 


Edition of Ellen Akimoto

The Kunstverein Göttingen has created an exquisite edition for all friends of Ellen Akimoto’s current works:
Ellen Akimoto Picture Holder Again, 2024, 42 x 29.7 cm, age-resistant digital FINE ART – pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Matt Baryta paper, 308g/m², edition of 15 / 3 AP,
Price: 320 € / 240 € for members of the KV Göttingen
As a thank you for an important donation to the programme, you are not only bringing a wonderful work into your private space, but you are also supporting the work of the Kunstverein Göttingen for contemporary young art and the artists involved.
> If you are interested, please contact us here: info@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

 

The Annual Programme 2024

TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN – ( CHANGING WORLDS )
TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024-2025. In the face of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.

The first part of the 2024 programme series is called TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN (CHANGING WORLDS) and shows artists, who create new worlds between rational reality, dream and fantasy. Doubting a purely functional reality and often characterised by experiences of family migration, the exhibited artists combine the familiar with the new, fuse facts with the fantastic and create their own identity from old stories and new experiences. Worlds become visible that lie in our roots and emerge as we walk across this earth.
The 2024-2025 annual programme was developed by curator Stephan Klee and will be overseen by him over the next two years. The artist Ellen Akimoto will kick off the 2024 annual programme with her solo paintings in the liminal spaces between reality, vision and virtuality.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and the Arts, City of Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. and Sparkasse Göttingen.