Sixth edition

Held every ten years in the public space of the city of Münster, Skulptur Projekte opens its sixth edition on June 12, 2027, with around thirty newly commissioned site-specific artistic projects.

Reflecting on how the local context of Münster is interconnected with the many fluid elsewheres of the present, the Artistic Directors, curatorial collective What, How & for Whom / WHW (Ivet Ćurlin, Nataša Ilić, and Sabina Sabolović), together with curators Vincent Schier and Eva Wilson, take the city itself as a starting point. Münster’s identity is deeply rooted in the legacy of the Peace of Westphalia, which, in 1648, brought a diplomatic end to the Thirty Years’ War that had devastated much of Europe. Even as the city continues to repurpose some of the military infrastructure from more recent wars under its official slogan as “City of Peace,” the lingering imprint of this history can still be felt within Münster and its surroundings.

Skulptur Projekte 2027 unfolds in awareness of the violence of the present and the political decisions, historical global relations, and economic systems that have shaped it. Against the ruptures and losses of recent years, the exhibition asks not only what art can show, but what it can hold. In times when cancellations, censorship, and withdrawal have constrained cultural work, Skulptur Projekte 2027 seek to make room for voices to be heard, for losses to be mourned, for consolation, and for alternatives to be proposed. An artwork in public space need not compete for visibility in an already overly saturated world; it can offer time to witness, to feel, and to stay with what cannot readily be resolved.

It is the faint hope of Skulptur Projekte 2027 that, at a moment when political and economic propositions struggle to make a positive future imaginable, encounters with artistic interventions in the public space might allow for perspectives to be felt and acknowledged that are often misrepresented or obscured, without forcing consensus where none exists.

Fifty years after Klaus Bußmann and Kasper König launched the inaugural exhibition, the 2027 edition models continuity with change, building on the tradition of Skulptur Projekte as, at its core, an artists’ project. Around thirty site-specific artist commissions will unfold across Münster’s city center, while also extending into neighborhoods that have been less present in previous editions, including Berg Fidel, Gremmendorf, and Kinderhaus. While each artistic proposal is deeply engrained in the specific context of Münster, the artists approach the city through individual experiences, histories, and realities that resonate both locally and beyond. 

The first participants to be announced are: Mercedes Azpilicueta, Ali Cherri, Alice Creischer and Andreas Siekmann, Róza El-Hassan, Vlatka Horvat, Iman Issa, Anton Kats, Kapwani Kiwanga, Hew Locke, Oscar Murillo, Myvillages (Kathrin Böhm and Wapke Feenstra), Kosen Ohtsubo, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Khalil Rabah, Ashfika Rahman, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Selma Selman, and Iza Tarasewicz.

The full list of artists and projects will be announced in March 2027. Guided tours will also be available to book from March.

Admission is free.

A public opening celebration will take place on the evening of Saturday, June 12, 2027, followed by an extensive program of public events throughout the opening week from June 13 to 20. 

Skulptur Projekte are hosted by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) and the City of Münster. The exhibition is organized by the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur.

Accreditation for press and professionals:
Accreditation is now open for the press conference and press preview on Friday, June 11, as well as for the professional preview on Saturday, June 12. You can register here.

Press contact:
Skulptur Projekte Münster
Ann-Charlotte Günzel, Head of Communications
T +49 251 591 1761, press@skulptur-projekte.de