March 22–October 5, 2025
Bruehl (near Cologne) 50321
Germany
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11am–6pm
Acute global crises make clear in many respects the role of the human being in the network of all lifeforms on our planet. They show how closely human activity is linked with ecological, climatic, social and cultural systems—and what wide-ranging consequences human intervention has for the entire earth. These crises are a chance to rethink the position of the human being in these systems: no longer as a dominant species, but instead as part of a common network.
Hypercreatures—Future Mythologies occupies itself with world views in which human and non-human lifeforms can live together collectively. The exhibition encourages us to question the separation between “nature” and “culture” as well as the power relations that influence the relationships between humans and non-humans, with the aim of enabling fairer and more diverse perspectives for the future.
There where human being, animal, plant and machine coexist, one-sided narratives can be revealed, boundaries blurred and new conceptions of lifeforms beyond dominant categories be developed. These “Hypercreatures” are agents of a world in crisis. Their hybrid bodies tell of transcultural interrelations, tensions and healing attention between various lifeforms.
26 artists and collectives from 16 countries populate the exhibition spaces with visions of hybrid creatures and transform the museum into a speculative biotope. In a dialogue with selected works by Max Ernst from the museum collection, the artists occupy themselves with the mythologies of our capitalistically defined times and with new, shared narratives for a future that is more than human. The exhibition invites us to consider the role and importance of hybrid beings in our society and to discover the varied stories they embody.
Artists: Marco Brambilla, Kévin Bray, Federico Cuatlacuatl, Disnovation.org, Nieves de la Fuente Gutiérrez, Libby Heaney, Anne Horel, Hyeseon Jeong und Seongmin Yuk, Suzanne Kite und Devin Ronneberg, Lu Yang, Bertrand Mandico, Linda Jasmin Mayer, Wangechi Mutu, Eva Papamargariti, Nina Paszkowski, Angelo Plessas, Mary-Audrey Ramirez, Anys Reimann, Naomi Rincón-Gallardo, Lex Rütten und Jana Kerima Stolzer, SOFF, Troika, Kira Xonorika
Curated by Patrick Blümel and Sophia Naumann.
Further information on the exhibition and individual works can be found on our microsite.
