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 is dedicated to the migration history of so-called neophytes: plants that were introduced and culturally appropriated from other regions of the world in the course of colonial expansion and botanical exploration. The result is an expansive garden that also serves as a living archive, revealing the close interweaving of natural and cultural history.

In line with »Assembling Grounds«, the opening of the India Summer Days will also take place on this day: indiasummerdays.de