Strangers and Freedom in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus: Art Between Pückler, Painting, and Photography

A Cosmos of Painting, Photography, and Pückler Reflection

At the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus, an exhibition cycle titled Strangers and Freedom opens, transforming contemporary art and cultural history into a concentrated visual language. Mona Höke and Kathrin Karras approach Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau not as a monument figure, but as a starting point for an aesthetic experience about movement, openness, and the productive tension between foreignness and belonging. The exhibition opens on August 7, 2026, at 11:00 AM and invites a contemplation of works where painting, photography, and digital image production intertwine. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/cb-events-test/fremde-und-freiheit-pueckler-dialog-ueber-einen-kosmopolit-mona-hoeke-und-kathrin-karras-5/?utm_source=openai))

When Images Become Thought Movements

The three-part cycle unfolds its effect in the calm of the museum space. The former diesel power plant, now a venue for modern art, provides the project with a special atmospheric depth: industrial architecture, proximity to a park, and museum precision intertwine to create an art experience that sharpens the gaze. The BLMK closely connects its exhibition work with its collection, presenting modern art in a historical yet contemporary resonance space. ([blmk.de](https://www.blmk.de/sammlung/))

Mona Höke: Painting as Poetic Condensation

Mona Höke, born in 1971 in Guben, has been working freelance in Cottbus and Berlin for many years. Her artistic practice is shaped by literature, color, and form; awards such as the Young Art Promotion Prize, the Art Promotion Prize of the Sparkasse Spree-Neiße, and the Brandenburg Art Prize mark a consistently recognized position within the regional art landscape. Her painting develops from an intuitive, yet reflective image structure, where text, gesture, and color tones permeate each other. ([galeriebrandenburg.de](https://galeriebrandenburg.de/mona-hoeke/?utm_source=openai))

Kathrin Karras: Photography Between Perception and Interspace

Kathrin Karras is present as a photographic artist with works exhibited in contexts that deal with perception, landscape, and image reality. Her visual language opens photographic spaces where what is seen does not appear closed, but transitions into a poetic state of suspension. In dialogue with Höke's painting, a tension field emerges that productively shifts the boundary between documentary view and artistic construction. ([bbk-brandenburg.de](https://www.bbk-brandenburg.de/kathrin-karras/?utm_source=openai))

A Museum with a Distinct Collection and Strong Mediation

BLMK has an extensive collection of around 45,000 artworks, with a particularly strong focus on art from the GDR and on East German traditions. Changing exhibitions, art mediation, and a broad educational offering are part of the house's profile. This creates a place for visitors where collection knowledge, exhibition curation, and aesthetic experience intertwine. The opening hours in Cottbus are Tuesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 7 PM. ([blmk.de](https://www.blmk.de/sammlung/))

Space, Light, and Historical Depth

The diesel power plant is located at Goethe Park in a distinctive cultural landscape of water, green space, and industrial architecture. This place sharpens the perception of what modern art can achieve today: not just contemplation, but encounter. The exhibition benefits from the architecture of the house, which still lets one feel its former technical function, thus making the cultural transformation of the place visible. ([cottbus-news.de](https://www.cottbus-news.de/locations/brandenburgisches-landesmuseum-fuer-moderne-kunst-dieselkraftwerk-ChIJqbo-Fmp0CEcRZ2dOazwrJqA))

Conclusion

Strangers and Freedom promises an intelligent dialogue between painting and photography, between cosmopolitanism and contemporary perspective, between image and idea. Those interested in modern art, art-historical contexts, and sensual exhibition spaces will experience a precisely curated show with lasting impact. A visit to Cottbus is particularly worthwhile for all who wish to not only see art but think about it in the best sense. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/cb-events-test/fremde-und-freiheit-pueckler-dialog-ueber-einen-kosmopolit-mona-hoeke-und-kathrin-karras-5/?utm_source=openai))

Official Channels of Mona Höke and Kathrin Karras:

• Instagram: no official profile found
• Facebook: no official profile found
• YouTube: no official profile found
• Website Mona Höke: https://galeriebrandenburg.de/mona-hoeke/
• Website Kathrin Karras: https://www.karrasfotografie.de/
• Website BLMK: https://www.blmk.de/

Sources:

• BLMK - Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art
• BLMK Collection - Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art
• Museums Brandenburg - Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art Diesel Power Plant Cottbus
• City of Cottbus - Event Entry Strangers and Freedom
• Galerie Brandenburg - Biography Mona Höke
• BBK Brandenburg - Kathrin Karras