AiD ART M – Kunst als Zukunftskraft

Mannheim | From June 7 to July 4, 2026, room S4, 17 in Mannheim's Quadrat S4 will be an open space for contemporary art, exchange and social participation. The non-profit art fair AiD ART M 2026, organized by Ateliers im Delta (Mannheim) and Overhead Gallery (Münster), has two main focuses this year: "Art meets Science" and "Zen 42". Free admission on all days. The fair will be opened on June 7 at 2 p.m. by Mannheim's mayor Thorsten Riehle. This will be followed by an introduction by Kerstin Weinberger, 1st Chairwoman of Kunst- und Kulturvermittlung Rhein-Neckar.

For almost a month, from June 7 to July 4, AiD ART M will showcase artistic positions that understand art not only as an aesthetic object, but also as a space for thought, a form of experience and an impulse for our complex present. The fair thus ties in with the self-image of the studios in the Delta: creating, publishing, curating and promoting art - and bringing people together in conversation.

The focus "Art meets Science" explores the connections between artistic practice, science, technology and knowledge. Art does not appear here as an illustration of knowledge, but as an independent form of research. The dialog between cosmology, cybernetics and perception opens up new approaches to complex interrelationships. A symposium on June 14 will deepen the artistic perspectives with contributions on cosmology, interdisciplinary practice, art as cognitive practice and meta-art. The day event starts at 11 a.m.; participation is free, a ticket is required.

Numerous new artworks by Harald Fuchs, Bahram Hajou, Paul Hirsch, Gerhard Kilger, Hannah S. Moser, Ralf Jochen Moser, Dieter Nusbaum, Dominik Schmitt and Rubica von Streng will be on display at the fair. The works range from Fuchs' drawings and photographs to Kilger's painting "Me-Men-To" and Hirsch's "Movable Sculptures" to Nusbaum's series "Unschärferelation", in which painting, drawing and screen printing meet questions of perception, indeterminacy and open pictorial order. Hannah and Ralf Moser show an engineering approach to questions of scenography and art theory in their projects "Aura Reloaded" and "Carpe Diem et Noctem". Rubica von Streng presents her new cycle "Affinity Void", which combines the paintings from her series "Hole",

"Filament" and "Nebula". Dominik Schmitt will be showing works in which biological, psychological and cultural systems of order are transformed into hybrid visual worlds.

The second focus, "Zen 42", on June 20 and 21, focuses on a closely related question: How can we develop our own meaning in a world characterized by acceleration, knowledge and technical possibilities? Meditative art is understood here as a conscious interruption of everyday life. Works by Manfred Binzer, Isabelle Faragallah, Bettina Hachmann, Wolf Münninghoff, Jessen Oestergaard, Björn Ruppert and others open up spaces for concentration, resonance and personal orientation. Hachmann's painting and her edition "Vom Werden, Vergehen, Wachsen und Voranschreiten" (On Becoming, Passing Away, Growing and Progressing) take up processes of change, vulnerability and inner balance. Oestergaard's work "The Visit" works with analog instant images, memory and transience. Münninghoff's exhibits include wooden sculptures from the "Reife und Ringe" series, while Björn Ruppert explores the tension between landscape, construction and imagination in paintings and linocuts.

AiD ART M 2026 thus combines two movements: an outward look at science, systems and future issues - and an inward look at perception, freedom and the art of living. "It is precisely in this connection that the fair sees itself as an invitation to a broad audience: to people interested in art as well as to people from science, technology, education and urban society," says Ralf Moser from Ateliers im Delta. "In the former space of the city gallery, we are creating a place for four weeks where contemporary art can be experienced, questioned and thought about."

Organizers: Ateliers im Delta, Mannheim, and Overhead Gallery, Münster Period: 7 June to 4 July 2026
Opening: Sunday, June 7, 2026, 2 pm; open from 1 pm
Location: Room S4,17 Mannheim in Quadrat S4, former city gallery, S4, 17, 68161 Mannheim
Opening hours: Friday and Saturday 3pm-8pm, Sunday 11am-6pm
Free admission