What is the dream that makes you dream?

Artists: Marc Bauer, Dineo Seshee Raisibe Bopape, Rivane Neuenschwander, Sunna Nousuniemi, Radical Imaginaries Studio, Tabita Rezaire, Sarah Ancelle Schönfeld

Throughout the history of art, there have been recurring counternarratives challenging the prevailing canon and responding to crises of the time. Even today, artists call for breaking rigid thought patterns and expanding consciousness to create visions of the future that transcend the limitations of the present.

In the dream state, different realities interact. Compared to what is permitted in the conscious waking state, a freer form of perception and knowledge production takes place. There are temporal leaps and connections between different places—alternative realities and utopian spaces for the future arise through the power of the subconscious and imagination. Exploring our dreams provides insight into our joys, fears, and hopes.

The exhibition What is the dream that makes you dream? focuses on dreaming as a pathway to deeper levels of consciousness. Amid multiple global crises and the unsettling news we receive daily, What is the dream that makes you dream? deliberately offers optimistic counterpoints that propose hope, resilience, and healing.

Curated by Sabine Rusterholz Petko and Stefanie Böttcher.

The exhibition is supported by Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz, Ernst und Olga Gubler-Hablützel Stiftung, Erna und Curt Burgauer Stiftung, Pro Helvetia and Volksbank Darmstadt Mainz.