Abundantia
October 1, 2026–January 10, 2027
Anna Hulačová’s figurative sculptures combine influences from Surrealism, Socialist Realism, and Czech folk art to create a distinctive cosmos of their own. From October 1, 2026, to January 10, 2027, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is presenting the artist’s first solo exhibition in Germany, coinciding with the Czech Republic’s appearance as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2026.
Hulačová, who grew up on a farm, draws on a deep connection to plants and animals in her artistic practice, exploring the relationship between humans, nature, and technology from an ecofeminist perspective. Her work addresses the loss of biodiversity, declining insect populations, and the consequences of industrial agriculture. The bee—a symbol of collective labor, ecological crisis, and mystical immortality—is a central metaphor in her work, but its role extends beyond the symbolic: Hulačová creates her works in collaboration with her own bee colonies. Together, the artist and the bees produce hybrid creatures and faceless science-fiction figures in which concrete and honeycomb, the organic and the technological, nature and machine merge.
Sebastian Baden, Director of the Schirn, notes: “Anna Hulačová is one of the most compelling artists of the younger generation in the Czech Republic. Her engagement with the legacy of socialist visual traditions and the cultural landscape they shaped has given rise to an important perspective. With her distinctive artistic language, Hulačová demonstrates a keen awareness of pressing issues, such as the industrialization of agriculture, the consequences of monoculture, and the loss of biodiversity.”
The exhibition at the Schirn presents sculptures, reliefs, and installations, many of which were created specifically for the occasion. The exhibition’s title refers to the figure of Abundantia, the Roman personification of prosperity and abundance. Her attribute, the cornucopia, magically pours forth its riches, while the resources, effort, and labor on which prosperity depends remain invisible.
Martina Weinhart, curator of the exhibition, further remarks: “Anna Hulačová addresses our alienated relationship with nature. Trained as a wood sculptor, she creates her work through an unusual process of co-creation with her bee colonies, which swarm into the cavities of her sculptures and fill them with honeycomb. Hulačová brings these elements together in science-fiction tableaux of an ecofeminist future that combine utopia and dystopia, antiquity and the present, myth and a radical engagement with the here and now.”
The new print format SCHIRN PAPER is published three times a year at the SCHIRN’s temporary venue as a supplement to the existing digital SCHIRN MAG. For the exhibition “Anna Hulačová: Abundantia,” issue four (fall 2026) of SCHIRN PAPER will feature contributions by Franz Essl, Martina Weinhart, and others.
The exhibition “Anna Hulačová: Abundantia” is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Moravian Library as part of the country’s Guest of Honour appearance at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2026, with additional support from the German-Czech Future Fund as well as the foundations Dr. Hans Feith und Dr. Elisabeth Feith-Stiftung and Kummer-Vanotti-Stiftung. The education and outreach program is supported by the Polytechnische Gesellschaft Foundation, Frankfurt am Main.
Director: Sebastian Baden / Curator: Martina Weinhart / Press contact: Johanna Pulz (Head of Press/Public Relations): presse [at] schirn.de / T +49 (0) 69 29 98 82 148 / Press material: here.
