Group exhibition at KunstWerk Cologne, 12 December 2026 to 22 January 2027.
How do we communicate with machines that listen to us? The exhibition SENTIMENT presents artistic works that explore artificial intelligence as a cultural, relational and political construct. The focus is on intimate communication with chatbots: projection, closeness, fragility and the structural weaknesses of the systems to which we entrust ourselves.
Through films, installations, textile works, performances, sound pieces and other media forms, the artists create a tangible dimension for topics that are difficult to grasp. Their artistic research centres on vulnerability, intimacy and the handling of personal data, set against the backdrop of digitality, closeness and the discourses that shape our present.
The exhibition marks the conclusion of SENTIMENT, an interdisciplinary research project by the Kassel Art Academy, the University of Kassel, Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Duisburg-Essen, funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). Students from the Kassel Art Academy (KhK) have collectively curated the exhibition as part of a seminar led by Laura Därr and Joel Baumann. Their works are on display alongside pieces by international artists.
An accompanying programme of events will take place, including workshops and the English-language panel discussion ‘Engineered for Intimacy: An Ethics–Privacy–Psychology Dialogue on Intimate AI’ on 21 January 2027, at which researchers from the fields of psychology, computer science and ethics will discuss intimate relationships between humans and AI.
Artists: Geeske Janßen, Rahel Zaugg, Elko Braas, Angelika Waniek, Dasha Ilina, Laura Därr, Michael Wallinger, Zeno Gries, Ferre Vander Elst, Tammo de Fries, Judith Blijden, Gala Hernandez Lopez, Echo Can Luo, as well as Martina Groeger, Vreneli Harborth, Chiara Fehling, Leonie Witka, Fabian Gimpel, Bob Döring, Vy Bui, Lara Piggorsch, Matti Kählke, Alexandra Walker
A two-part publication will accompany the exhibition.
Link:
Download Press Kit
DATES
Opening: 11 December 2026, 6 pm
Panel discussion: 21 January 2027, 7–9 pm (EN)
Closing event: 22 January 2027, 6 pm
Openinghours
Thu–Sun, 12 noon–8 pm
Free admission
Please note: Closed on public holidays
Thu, 24 Dec 2026
Fri, 25 Dec 2026
Sat, 26 Dec 2026
Fri, 1 Jan 2027
Venue
KunstWerk Köln
Deutz-Mülheimer Str. 115, 51063 Cologne
Press contact: Laura Därr, lauradaerr☞ Please insert an @ at this point ☜uni-kassel☞ Please insert a period at this pointde
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)