Opening: Assembling Grounds & Phyto-Travellers

How can we confront the many crises of our times as a society? And what active role can art play in this? How must we change our society on a systemic level so that the Earth remains habitable in the long term? How can we break with traditional notions of art in order to strengthen its social impact and forge new alliances between art, science, and society? 

The exhibition »Fellow Travellers: Art as a Tool to Change the World« acts as a catalyst for these questions: As a place for possibilities, it offers a platform for artistic projects that demonstrate the benefits of art for society in an exemplary way. Divided into various chapters, »Fellow Travellers« unites projects of this kind in order to bring them into a dialog and facilitate exchanges.

In July 2025, »Fellow Travellers« will open the new exhibition chapter »Assembling Grounds: Practices of Coexistence«. The chapter was developed in India and Sri Lanka on the basis of the ZKM traveling exhibition »Critical Zones. In Search of a Common Ground« (2022–24). On its journey, this exhibition brought together diverse locations, local communities, and ideas from different contexts. Artists who participated in the exhibition project through local networks have now been invited to respond to »Fellow Travelers« questions as part of »Assembling Grounds«.

The newly conceived installation »Phyto-Travellers« by the artist Eva-Maria Lopez for the ZKM | Kubus Subraum will also be opened. The work focuses on the cultural appropriation and domestication of plants from other regions and cultural contexts around the world.

We cordially invite you to the opening!

Opening program from 4 pm

Keynote in the Media Theater
Speaker: Sria Chatterjee, Head of Research Initiatives at the Paul Mellon Centre in London.

Panel discussion
Ravi Agarwal, Mira Hirtz, Bettina Korintenberg, Amruta Nemivant and Jahnavi Phalkey

Exhibition opening from 7:30 pm

Welcoming address
Alistair Hudson, ZKM | Karlsruhe's Scientific and Artistic Director

Greetings
Dr. Frank Mentrup, Lord Mayor, City of Karlsruhe
Johannes Ebert, Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut

Introduction
Daria Mille, Curator, ZKM | Karlsruhe
Mira Hirtz, Curator, ZKM | Karlsruhe

Opening hours
The exhibition rooms and the mint Bar in the ZKM foyer are open from 7:30 to 11 pm.

Sat, July 26 from 11 am
Talks & performances in the Useum with artists from the exhibition