Name: Strangers and Freedom. Pückler - Dialogue about a Cosmopolitan. Mona Höke and Kathrin Karras
Start: 2026-06-27T13:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-06-27T21:00:00+02:00
Location: Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst - Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus

Between Landscape, Cosmos and Image Space: an exhibition rethinking Pückler

At the Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art in Cottbus, Strangers and Freedom opens up a multifaceted art experience that translates Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau into a contemporary visual language. Painter Mona Höke and photographer Kathrin Karras combine painting, photography, digital image production, and unique painting into a dialogue about strangeness, cosmopolitanism, and artistic freedom.

An exhibition cycle with a dual perspective

The three-part cycle does not rely on mere illustration but on artistic friction. Höke's painterly style meets Karras' photographic perspective; together, they create works in which layering, overlapping, and image montage become central design principles. It is precisely this collaborative approach that makes the exhibition art historically exciting, as it intertwines individual positions with a shared visual idea.

Pückler as a figure of modernity

Hermann von Pückler-Muskau appears here not as a figure of monumentality, but as a projection surface for questions about mobility, global knowledge, and cultural openness. The exhibition thinks of the cosmopolitan as a historical figure in the tension between travel, landscape design, and cultural appropriation. This opens up a space for aesthetic experience and critical consideration of works at the same time.

Painting and photography in dialogue

Particularly striking is the fusion of the media. Photography is not used as a documentary counterpart but rather as material for new image spaces. The painting reacts with color, surface, and rhythm. Thus, an exhibition emerges in which the eye constantly wanders between surface and depth, between representation and interpretation.

The place as part of the effect

The Diesel Power Plant Cottbus enhances this effect with its industrial architecture and clear spatial structure. The house of BLMK brings modern art into an environment that breathes history itself. Anyone walking through the exhibition here does not just experience images, but also a special exhibition atmosphere in which space, light, and material enter into dialogue.

Cultural education and museum visit

With its large collection of modern art and a demanding educational program, BLMK is among the important art venues in Brandenburg. The exhibition is suitable for anyone interested in art history, contemporary art, and museum curation. It also offers a strong access point for educational visits as it vividly illustrates questions about image production, artistic collaboration, and cultural memory.

Conclusion: Strangers and Freedom promises an intense look at Pückler, contemporary painting, and photography, as well as at the productive tension between historical ideas and today's visual language. Those seeking art as a space for thought and experience should definitely visit this exhibition live in Cottbus.