Say, old top-knot, what do you want?

Artists: Benera + Estefán, Sarah Burger, Binta Diaw, Richard Mosse, Reto Pulfer, Julian Rosefeldt, New Mineral Collective (Emilija Škarnulytė & Tanya Busse)

How is landscape represented today? What kind of relationship do we have to it? How do visual artists approach the transformational processes that landscapes have been subject to in recent decades, leading to their current appearance? What can we interpret in contemporary landscapes? These are all questions that the exhibition Say, old top-knot, what do you want? seeks to explore, with the “top-knot” in this case representing the earth’s mantle.

Present-day artists can view it through an ecological, societal, colonial, healing or spiritual lens. There are absolutely no limits on its artistic potential, with approaches that range from a sober, documentary-style review through to metaphorical processes and direct interactions, and even generating visionary states – in fact, artists access this theme in ways that are as diverse as the wide spectrum of media they use.

Say, old top-knot, what do you want? enables visitors to navigate their way through landscapes which, having already been shaped by interaction in the past, are now experiencing interaction once more in the exhibition. The artistic interventions create new landscapes which, in turn, lead to new kinds of spatial experiences, thereby allowing visitors to comprehend landscape as a result of action and interaction from both natural and human factors.

The exhibition is curated by Stefanie Böttcher.

The exhibition is supported by Ministerium für Frauen, Familien, Kultur und Integration Rheinland-Pfalz, Pro Helvetia and Karrié Bauunternehmung.

Do not miss out on our programme accompanying the exhibition, for example: 

Guided walk
Through the Weisenau quarry with Ulrike Mauel (BUND)
Sunday, October 26, 2025, 2:30pm

Palette of a warmer century
Workshop on colours with Sina Hensel
Saturday, November 15, 2025, 2–5pm

Fire, water, earth, air – sound walk and audio pieces
With Nathalia Grotenhuis, La Pesch & Anna Schimkat
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 5pm

Dark legacy: Power relations and their influence on the landscape
Discussion panel with Taylor McConnell, Marlène Harles et al.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 6pm