Events

The Kunsthalle Mainz wants to give as many people as possible access to contemporary art. The entire exhibition is accessible without steps and we are strive to make all events as barrier-free as possible.

Many offers are also specifically aimed at people with disabilities. If you need assistance, please let us know.

You can find more information about barrier-free access to the Kunsthalle here.

We look forward to your visit!

FILMZ and Kunsthalle Mainz present experimental films on friendship:

Wed 04/11
5 pm

Before the screening visitors can view the current exhibition Freund*innenschaft until 5 pm; the screening that follows is included in the price of admission to the exhibition.

Attendance at the screening without visiting the exhibition is free of charge.

What can film reveal when it consciously breaks away from conventional narrative forms?

Any film that deviates stylistically or narratively from existing norms and thus reimagines the possibilities of the medium of film can be described as experimental – which, for now, is a wonderfully vague description. But perhaps experimental film shouldn’t be described with words at all; it must be experienced. It’s all the more fitting, then, that FILMZ, in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Mainz, is hosting a screening of a special kind: 12 selected works will be presented, followed by a Q&A session.

In the context of the exhibition *Friendship*, the twelve films on display offer diverse perspectives on interpersonal relationships, identity, connection, and social coexistence. With unconventional imagery, narrative forms, and artistic approaches, they invite viewers to discover new ways of seeing and storytelling and to experience film as an experiment.

Please note that the films contain sensitive topics and visually intense stimuli/effects, including: flickering lights, rapid sequences of images; depictions of violence and sex; and themes such as child abuse, bullying, borderline personality disorder, homelessness, death, cancer, and grief.

Program:

HERAKLES (SAV NEZHAD), 6 MIN.
TECHNISCHE STÖRUNG (PHILIPP BAUMEISTER), 9 MIN.
EIN WALDSTÜCK (MILENA FLEMISCH), 4 MIN.
INTIMACY. PROJECTING MASCULINITY. (FYNN HAUKE, LUNA WAGNER RODRÍGUEZ, AN TIM NGO), 7 MIN.
WINDOW SHOPPER (KIM-FABIO KLEIN), 12 MIN.
植物園 – JARDIM BOTÂNICO (YUKI KODAIRA), 3 MIN.
ROUGH & SMOOTH (TILL GOMBERT), 15 MIN.
GHOSTS (ALISA BERGER), 6 MIN.
THE WINDOW (ARASH LORESTANI), 7 MIN.
FELLWECHSEL (LIOBA SCHMIDT), 16 MIN.
GHOSTING MOTHER (BERNARD MESCHEROWSKY), 16 MIN.
CAVE CONNECTION (JEANIE DASER), 1 MIN.

More information about the program can be found here.

This workshop invites participants to explore friendship through art: as a feeling, as a structure, as a trace. Drawing serves as the initial point of entry, whilst ceramics act as a second, more physical interpretation. The current exhibition will be actively incorporated and used as a source of inspiration. The closeness, distance, time and timelessness of friendships will be explored and given physical form. Somewhere between observation and free interpretation, individual works will emerge on the themes of friendship, friends and connections.

Course comprising 2 sessions each:

Fri 13/11 + 27/11

4–5.30 pm

Cost: 50 euros / 2 sessions, including materials

With registration at mail@kunsthalle-mainz.de

No prior knowledge is required.

On several Sundays throughout the exhibition period, entry to the Kunsthalle is free from 1–5 pm. Come by, take a look at the current exhibition and take part in our diverse free programme.

Sun 15/11

1–2 pm free entry

2–3 pm Dance from the Space – Interactive tour for families

Free hours is enabled by Rheinhessen Sparkasse

How can an exhibition become a learning space?

How can exhibitions be explored using artistic methods? And how can this provide inspiration for one’s own teaching, regardless of subject?

The Generation K – Culture Meets School further education day invites teachers from all types of schools and subjects to discover Kunsthalle Mainz as an out-of-school space for learning and experience.

Taking the exhibition Friendship as their starting point, participants will experiment with creative and participatory approaches to art in various learning workshops. The focus is on personal experience: how do observations give rise to questions? How can perspectives be shifted and content explored in greater depth through artistic practice? The methods used extend beyond the subject of art and open up links to a wide variety of school subjects and learning settings.

Following the practical sessions, the approaches are reflected upon collectively and applied to participants’ own teaching practice. The aim is to take away concrete ideas and tools for the classroom and to discover the potential of cultural education for school-based learning processes.

The professional development programmes run by Generation K – Culture Meets School are participatory, stimulating and research-based. They create space for experimentation, exchange and collaborative development.

The learning labs are led by experienced artists and trainers who have been working at the intersection of art, education and artistic research for many years. They bring perspectives from the fields of performance, media art, photography, scenography and participatory art practice. The team includes Sabine Felker, Nicole Heidel, Helen Jilavu, Stefanie Manhillen, Erik Schmelz and Seweryn Zelazny.

The group exhibition Friendship explores relationships as spaces of closeness, care, creativity and solidarity, but also of conflict and negotiation. The lead artists examine together with the participants what connects people and what role friendships play in an increasingly individualised society. The exhibition thus opens up various points of reference for societal, social and personal questions.

Mon 23/11

9.30 am-3.30 pm

Cost: free of charge

Target audience: Teachers of all subjects and school types, as well as educational professionals.
PL-Nummer: 26ST024803

Registration: weber@kunsthalle-mainz.de

As part of the exhibition Friendship the Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland JugendEnsembleNeueMusik will be performing at Kunsthalle Mainz. Under the artistic direction of Francesco Cagnasso, the ensemble will present a concert featuring works by Mauricio Kagel, Frederic Rzewski, John Cage, Howard Jones, Michal Nyma, Howard Skempton, and Erik Satie.

The Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland JugendEnsembleNeueMusik is a state-level ensemble of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Music Council and is dedicated to performing contemporary music and promoting young musicians.

Sun 29/11
3 pm

Cost: included in admission

The event is sponsored by GlücksSpirale, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Construction, Housing, and Culture, and the Rhineland-Palatinate/Saar and JugendEnsembleNeueMusik.

with Dr. Hauke Dorsch (Archive for African Music, JGU)

Wed 09/12
18 Uhr

Starting at 5 p.m., you can visit the current exhibition, Freund*innenschaft.

Cost: included in admission

What defines friendship? How do trust, connection, and community develop? And how can such experiences be discovered through art?

With the Silent Lab, Kunsthalle Mainz offers visitors the opportunity to explore the exhibition Friendship in a unique way. Through guided exercises in observation, perception, and reflection, participants engage with the exhibited works step by step and develop their own perspectives on themes such as community, care, solidarity, connection, and conflict.

The Silent Lab is an educational format that makes art tangible through close observation, listening, and shared reflection. Rather than focusing on facts and explanations, it invites participants to discover their own perceptions, ask questions, and engage in conversation with one another.

The current exhibition Friendship, this format opens up new ways of approaching the diverse relationships people form with one another and encourages reflection on the meaning of friendship in one’s own life.

Silent Lab: Frienship is suitable for school classes, families, student groups, clubs, teams, and other groups who would like to experience the exhibition together.

Price: 75 € per group

Duration: 30 to 60 minutes

Group size: 15 to 30 people

An interactive educational program that uniquely combines art, perception, and social experiences.

About the Silent Lab Project: Friendship

Silent Lab was developed, produced, and recorded in June 2026 by students at the IGS Auguste Cornelius Mainz, under the guidance of Stefan Wandel and Tom Woschitz.

It was created in collaboration with Starkmacher e. V. and is made possible by funding from KMW Kraftwerke Mainz-Wiesbaden AG.

The Fade into You series shows single-channel video works that accompany exhibitions and explore the themes of the exhibitions in greater depth, presenting both established and new positions in video art. The series, whose title is derived from the cinematographic term, has been running since 2012. External curators, experts and artists are regularly invited to curate the video screenings and talk about their selections.

More information on the Fade Into You screening series :

In cooperation with the Fachschaft Filmwissenschaft of JGU Mainz, a program of old and new short films will be shown, which pursue an artistically experimental approach and invite discussion.

In cooperation with Fachschaft Filmwissenschaft of JGU Mainz.