An exhibition featuring master’s students and graduates of the Kassel Art Academy.
Young artistic practice rarely emerges in a vacuum. It develops at the intersection between the desire for artistic self-determination and a reality in which time, space and visibility are scarce resources. Various forms of support promise to bridge this gap: they provide studios, award grants and open exhibition spaces. Yet every form of support also carries with it a particular conception of what art is and how it should appear.
This exhibition addresses precisely this point. It does not question whether funding is necessary – because it is. This is particularly true for artists at the start of their careers, who would otherwise be worn down by part-time jobs, job applications and precarious living conditions. The real question is: which artistic practices become visible when funding is tied to specific venues, formats and expectations? And which remain invisible because they cannot be translated into marketable objects, institutional exhibitions or established forms of presentation?
Art that emerges in public spaces, grows within communities, operates as a process, or utilises digital and collective structures often struggles to find its place within the existing funding system. Not because it is any less relevant, but because many funding frameworks are geared towards a specific conception of artistic production. Those seeking support learn early on to navigate within this framework. This is not a matter of individual failure, but a structural condition under which artistic development takes place today.
Funding institutions and the art market, too, do not operate in a vacuum. They operate within political, economic and social contexts. Through their choice of venues, partners and forms of presentation, they make decisions that convey certain attitudes – even when these remain unspoken. Responsibility therefore lies not solely with art, but equally with the structures that enable it, support it and bring it to public attention.
This exhibition is intended as an invitation to lay bare these interconnections: the dependence on recognition, the often unnoticed adaptation to existing expectations, but also the indispensable role that funding can play in artistic development. The works on display navigate these perspectives. They serve as spaces for encounter, where contradiction is turned into something productive and the future can only emerge through negotiation.
Ultimately, the exhibition addresses its audience: Which art is made visible, and which is not? Who decides this? And who bears the responsibility if anything is to change?
Artists
Kunsthochschule Kassel: Vreneli Harborth, Johan Steinmetz, Tetyana Zolotopupova, Sita Verena Scherer, Lara Pigorsch, Juejun Chen, Maximilian Graf, Nuria Rojas Castaneda, monia pieniążek, Gabriel Weise
HfG Offenbach: Barnebas Vollmer, Zhang Boshuan, Ella Pechechian, Enxi Mehmeti, Hae Dam Lee, Jasper Bamberger, Jonathan Mink, Malte Moeller, Marina Koestel, Nani Lee, Pei-chin Lee, Rose Kaufhold, Setareh Alipour, Timon Sioulvegas, Johannes Schwalm, Shanjie Dong, Luca Ganz
Curator: Jero van Nieuwkoop
Opening:
8 September 2026, 10.00 am
Duration & opening hours:
8 September to 23 September 2026
daily from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm
Venue
Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung, Kunst und Kultur
Rheinstraße 23–25
65185 Wiesbaden