TRANSHUMAN N°5 at the Old Town Hall Göttingen: Art Between Decline and Renewal

TRANSHUMAN N°5: Art in the Twilight of an Emerging World

With TRANSHUMAN N°5, the Kunstverein Göttingen presents an international group exhibition on the transition from transhumanism to posthumanism in the Old Town Hall. The opening on October 17, 2026, marks the final exhibition of the annual program TRANSHUMAN. Curated by Stephan Klee, the exhibition brings together works by Dysis, Astali/Peirce, Birte Bosse, Simon Faithfull, Olga Fedorova, Stella Geppert, Bastian Hoffmann, Virginie Ittah, Delia Jürgens, Felix Kiessling, Frederik Marks, Aline Schwörer, and Geerten Verheus.

An Exhibition as a Threshold Space

The title Dysis refers to the ancient Greek word for the downfall of a celestial body, west, twilight, and hideout. In the historic spaces of the Old Town Hall, a staged liminality emerges from this: The exhibition navigates between a past civilization and a possible future after humans. Sculptures, objects, installations, and digital works appear as relics of an era whose technical and economic systems have already produced their own afterimages.

Between Anthropocene and Posthumanism

The curatorial concept takes seriously the idea that industrial modernity has made humanity a geophysical force. Following the debate on the Anthropocene, TRANSHUMAN N°5 examines the consequences of technological acceleration, global resource exploitation, and artificial systems. The works do not ask for a simple vision of the future, but instead for the traces our present might leave in a later world.

Sculptures, Installations, and Alien Life Forms

The atmosphere of the exhibition thrives on the tension between familiar things and deformed, functionless objects. Some individual works appear as remnants of human activity, while others resemble the manifestations of an unknown species. Among the works on display are Aline Schwörer's Shells of unwritten times, Geerten Verheus' Kanikule, Virginie Ittah's Anaïs, Astali/Peirce's Monobloc, Frederik Marks' The Knee of Another, Stella Geppert's Snow Leopard Track, Bastian Hoffmann's Flat Six, and Felix Kiessling's Work.

Aesthetic Experience and Critical Engagement with the Works

The exhibition combines sensual spatial impact with art historical reflection. Materials, surfaces, body forms, and media processes shift the boundary between artwork, artifact, and environment. It is precisely this uncertainty that is part of the art experience: Is the object a sculpture, a technical relic, or already a remnant from a future that writes its own history?

Opening and Exhibition Duration

The opening takes place on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 5 to 8 p.m. and is free of charge. Afterward, the exhibition can be seen until December 13, 2026, on the first floor of the Old Town Hall. The Kunstverein Göttingen is regularly open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is 3 euros, reduced 1.50 euros; visitors under 18 years old and holders of a cultural ticket receive free admission.

Conclusion: An Artistic Experience Between Decline and Renewal

TRANSHUMAN N°5 invites a focused engagement with the issues of technological transformation, ecological crisis, and the future of the human. Those wishing to experience contemporary painting, sculpture, installation, and digital art in dialogue with art historical and societal questions will find here an intense aesthetic experience. A visit to the Old Town Hall Göttingen opens a space for cultural education, irritation, and new perspectives on our present.

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• Website: https://www.kunstvereingoettingen.de/

Sources:

• Exhibition – TRANSHUMAN – Kunstverein Göttingen
• TRANSHUMAN N°5 – kulturis.online
• Stella Geppert – Biography and Exhibitions
• Curatorial Conclusion – art-in.de