School of Listening

The exhibition “School of Listening” will open at ZKM | Karlsruhe in spring 2027. It is curated by Maayan Sheleff and Nora Sternfeld and in collaboration with Mira Hirtz and Philipp Ziegler from the ZKM team. It explores forms of collaboration and participation through the act of listening, reacting to the polarisation of public debate around the world. Cultural institutions also find themselves increasingly called upon to state their positions and to align with either one side or the other, a discourse resulting in dichotomic identity politics and no space for nuances. With “School of Listening” the curators invite, exhibit, facilitate and create artistic and civic platforms that offer subtle ways to listen to one other, beyond the demand of “either/or”, in order to speak in between and under the logic of the antagonistic.

The exhibition consists of installations in various mediums, sound and acoustic works, films and videos, as well as participatory and performative formats such as radio and audio tours. As an inherent part of the exhibtion, two clusters of residencies, workshops, talks and performances and an extensive education programm are planned together with Janine Burger and Alexandra Hermann from the ZKM education team, one around the opening in February and one in the summer of 2027. 

The project is being organised in cooperation with international partners and, following its initial presentation in Karlsruhe, will go on tour to other countries.

Curators:Maayan Sheleff, Nora Sternfeld, Philipp Ziegler, Mira Hirtz, and.

Exhibition: 5 February 2027 – 08 August 2027, ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe