Past

rans–Art–Val
August 30, 2026
3–10 PM
Installation, Performance
August 31 – October 26, 2026

In his largest installation to date—and his first situated in a natural environment—
MY S(h)ELF, Mathias takes up residence on the grounds of ↗ Trans–Art–Val in a large-scale shelving system, quite literally turning it into a temporary space for living and working. At the same time, it becomes a walk-in aesthetic space for reflection, where thoughts, images, and objects from his artistic research enter into a relationship with the surrounding natural environment.

What happens when scientific thinking in categories and systems of order encounters the order of cultivated nature? What happens to the urge and longing for systematic organization when the usually carefully protected archive of scientific and artistic artifacts is subjected to renewed examination?

At the same time, the installation connects the question of observation—for example, the perspective of primate researchers observing great apes—with the artist’s own situatedness in the storefront studio in Leipzig-Grünau that he has occupied for the past year.

How do artists and scientists relate to the realities of their lives, as well as to societal questions of participation and connectedness? How does moving through their own living environments and those of others affect their perspectives?

As part of the exhibition, a public round table on artistic research, organized by the ↗ Very Ape Institut and Emanuel Mathias, will take place on September 3. In the form of a fishbowl discussion, visitors are invited to listen to the conversation and, if they wish, take part themselves.

The event is part of the ↗ A Horse With No Name festival, an art route through rural Saxony.

17 July 2026 | 2:00–6:00 PM
18 July 2026 | 11:00 AM–4:00 PM

Alte Salzstraße 53, 04209 Leipzig-Grünau, Germany

On 17 and 18 July, Studio Baustein and Emanuel Mathias will present a series of artistic interventions in and around Mathias’s shop studio, located along one of Grünau’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfares. Together with visitors, neighbours, and local participants, the project will temporarily activate and reimagine the public space, inviting new ways of experiencing it.

The project is explicitly aimed at the people who use this place as a street, a route, and a space to spend time. At its core is the creation of temporary situations that foster encounters, participation, and cultural activation within the neighbourhood. The aim is to encourage active engagement with contemporary art, highlight the site’s unique atmosphere, and open up perspectives for future community-based projects in Grünau.

The project is generously supported by the City of Leipzig and is part of the Grünau Cultural Summer.

Photo: Emanuel Mathias, Untitled, from the series Fieldwork Grünau, 2026. © Emanuel Mathias / VG Bild-Kunst, Berlin, Bonn.

Schwarze Zunge (2025) will be presented as part of the BEGEHUNGEN Art Festival 2026 in Chemnitz. Curated by Claudia Tittel, the exhibition In der Vorstellung brings together international artists including Cindy Sherman, Hito Steyerl, Danica Dakić, and Erwin Wurm. The festival explores the construction of reality and the role of images, imagination, and digital technologies in contemporary society. Black Tongue engages with these questions through an examination of the material and cultural inscriptions of photographic images. The festival takes place in the former Schauspielhaus Chemnitz under the theme In der Vorstellung.

19 June – 5 July 2026

Former Schauspielhaus Chemnitz

Further information

The aim of this format is to bring together Leipzig-based artists as well as other actors and to establish a regular meeting point where current questions, projects, and methods in the field of artistic research can be discussed. Through digital hybrid formats, there is also the possibility of inviting international guests.

A central focus lies on the role and function of artistic research as a genre of art within broader social contexts—particularly in times of volatile transformation. To what extent do new forms of knowledge production emerge through collaboration with other disciplines? And which new forms of public engagement and becoming public can be productively developed within the field of research-based art? All topics are discussed with a strong emphasis on practice.

The Round Table for Artistic Research Leipzig is initiated by the artist Dr. Emanuel Mathias in cooperation with the Society for Artistic Research.

Joint f/stop – Fotoszene excursion to Merseburg
Visit to the exhibition “This Is the Turbulence” featuring works by Emanuel Mathias

5:30 PM Guided tour of the exhibition with Emanuel Mathias and Laura Bierau (Merseburg University of Applied Sciences)

If you are interested in forming carpool groups, please indicate offers or requests when registering.
Alternative options:
4:04 PM S5x via Halle (platform 2) or bus 131 from Leipzig Angerbrücke.
Shared dinner and informal get-together (optional)
Registration by April 29 at fotoszene@f-stop-leipzig.de

Background of the exhibition
The occasion for the exhibition was the 70th anniversary of the Merseburg campus in 2024. The site brings together the history of two institutions: the Technical University (TH) Leuna-Merseburg (1954–1993) and, since 1992, Merseburg University of Applied Sciences. In addition to its history, the focus is on the university’s present-day self-conception, regional knowledge transfer, and its close ties to the Leuna chemical industry.
The exhibition features contemporary photography, installations, scientific and historical objects, as well as multimedia works. Conceived as a space for reflection and social exchange, it invites visitors to see the university from a new perspective and to engage in dialogue about scientific practice.
Further information is available on the project website.

f/stop – Fotoszene Ausflug nach Merseburg: „Das ist die Turbulenz“

New Publication as part of the Exhibition Cooperation titled Das ist die Turbulenz with the Hochschule Merseburg.

Graphic Design: Camille Lelous

Projectmanagement Laura Bierau 

The publication is available free of charge at the university’s stand at the Leipzig Book Fair.

#artisticresearch #artsandscience #dasistdieturbulenz

September 29, 2025, 1:00 p.m.

Lecture: We are Your Primates

Panel: Performing Art-Science at the Limits of Ecological Uncertainty

Together with: Michael Klipphahn-Karge, Emre Sünter

Moderator: Robert Fischer

Conference: Performing Transformation: Shifting Landscapes in Art, Science, and Technology

TU Dresden, Andreas-Pfitzmann-Bau, Nöthnitzer Str. 46, 01187 Dresden

September 29–30, 2025

Organized and hosted by Dr. Özgün Eylül İşcen

Performing Transformation is a two-day event at TU Dresden that examines how knowledge is produced, embodied, and challenged in times of rapid social change at the intersections of art, science, and technology. The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers, artists, and practitioners to shed light on performative and collaborative research practices in the context of economic, political, cultural, ecological, and technological transformations.

The conference is organized by inter- and transdisciplinary institutions at TU Dresden, including the SchauflerLab@TU Dresden, TUDiSC, the Interactive Science Lab, the research priority area Societal Change, and the Artist-in-Residence program S+T+ARTS Ec(h)o based at the Office of Academic Heritage (Kustodie).

Bis uns das Licht uns einimmt

Opening: September 26, 2025, 7 p.m.

In the third exhibition of the newly founded Raw Lemon Gallery, the medium of photography—and specifically the subject of portraiture—is explored. On view are works by five contemporary photographic artists from different generations. Margit Emmrich, Emanuel Mathias, Volker Renner, Anett Stuth, and Jule Würfel each find their own distinctive approach to portraying portraiture, corporeality, or the human condition. What unites them is their modernist expansion, intensification, or questioning of the genre. The exhibition is curated by Björn Siebert.

With works by Margit Emmrich, Emanuel Mathias, Volker Renner, Anett Stuth & Jule Würfel

Curated by Björn Siebert

Raw Lemon Gallery

Franz-Flemming-Str. 9

04179 Leipzig

Opening hours: Fri, Sat 1—6 p.m. and by appointment

Closing event: November 1, 2025, 7 p.m.

www.rawlemongallery.com

Opening on Thursday, September 25, 2025, 4:00 p.m.

Merseburg University of Applied Sciences

Exhibition runs until August 31, 2027

Merseburg University of Applied Sciences

Main Building D, Foyer 3rd Floor (Hg/D/3)

Eberhard-Leibnitz-Straße 2

06217 Merseburg

September 3–6, 2025

4S Conference Seattle (50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science)

September 4, 2025, 1:30 p.m., Convention Center

Panel: Science–Society Communication about Global Challenges

Panel Organizer: Andreas Metzner-Szigeth

Lecturers: Tommaso Durante, Rachael Haya Diamond, Emanuel Mathias

Lecture: We Are Your Primates: New Perspectives on Global Challenges in Field Primatology Through Artistic Research

This trip is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).