13. Feb 2027 –
06. Jun 2027
Fragile Systems
Post-War to Contemporary Art from the Collection
The main building of the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe is closed for the coming years due to renovation.
During this time, exhibitions will take place at ZKM | Center for Art and Media, the Orangerie, and the Junge Kunsthalle.
Fragile Structures invites visitors on a journey of discovery through art from 1945 to the present day.
After the catastrophe of the Second World War, the world changed fundamentally. New political alliances, social ideals and cultural orientations emerged and were soon called into question again. Art, too, searched for new forms, broke with conventions and responded to the upheavals of its time. Fragile Structures invites visitors on a journey of discovery through art from 1945 to the present day.
Drawing on the Kunsthalle’s collection, it brings together different generations, artistic stances and media. On view are works by Yves Klein, Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke, as well as by Sophie Calle, Miriam Cahn, Nevin Aladağ and Sung Tieu, among others. Their works speak of new departures and protest, of memory and identity, of social change and of the experience that certainties can be shaken.
In doing so, the exhibition also turns its gaze on the museum itself: What is collected, preserved and displayed – and according to which ideas and criteria? In this way, Fragile Systems also tells the story of the development of the collection of the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe and opens up surprising perspectives on questions that directly concern our present.
