Strangers and Freedom at BLMK Cottbus: Mona Höke and Kathrin Karras in Dialogue with Pückler
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Strangers and Freedom at the BLMK: An Artistic Experience Between Painting, Photography, and Cosmopolitan Ideas
At the Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus, an exhibition cycle unfolds that impressively intertwines historical reflection and contemporary art. Mona Höke and Kathrin Karras approach Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau not as a monumental figure, but as a starting point for an aesthetic experience about foreignness, openness, and cultural movement. The presentation brings painting, photography, digital image production, and unique painting into a precise dialogue. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/fremde-und-freiheit-pueckler-dialog-ueber-einen-kosmopolit-mona-hoeke-und-kathrin-karras-3/))
A Cosmopolitan as a Visual Figure of the Present
The exhibition title refers to Pückler as a thinker of landscapes, traveler, and cultural intermediary. In this constellation, the contemplation of the work becomes an investigation of belonging and distance. The artistic engagement shifts the historical figure into a present where questions of mobility, cosmopolitanism, and self-location become newly interpretable. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/fremde-und-freiheit-pueckler-dialog-ueber-einen-kosmopolit-mona-hoeke-und-kathrin-karras-3/))
Mona Höke: Painting between Gesture, Color, and Poetic Compression
Mona Höke's work is known for its expressive, often poetically charged visual language. Her works connect color, signification, and lyrical resonance; art-historically, references to visual poetry, abstract expressionism, and informal techniques can be identified. The artist has been awarded the Art Promotion Prize of the Sparkasse Spree-Neiße and the Brandenburg Art Prize of the Märkische Oderzeitung, among others. ([galeriebrandenburg.de](https://galeriebrandenburg.de/mona-hoeke/))
Kathrin Karras: Photography as Memory, Space, and Soul Landscape
Kathrin Karras works with photography as a medium of artistic knowledge. Her position revolves around biographies, memories, and inner states; series like Between Worlds or Shadow Outlines show how precisely she intertwines perception and psychological spaces. The combination of photographic practice and visual compression makes her contribution to this exhibition particularly exciting. ([karrasfotografie.de](https://www.karrasfotografie.de/))
The Exhibition Space as a Resonance Body
The Diesel Power Plant itself enhances the character of the visit. The architecture of the former industrial building gives the artistic experience a concentrated, almost contemplative tension. The BLMK houses one of the most significant collections of modern and contemporary art in Brandenburg, with more than 45,000 works; the institution is closely linked to art from the GDR and subsequent lines of tradition. ([museen-brandenburg.de](https://www.museen-brandenburg.de/de-ls/museen/nach-themen/kunstmuseen/brandenburgisches-landesmuseum-fuer-moderne-kunst-dieselkraftwerk-cottbus))
Education, Mediation, and Exhibition Atmosphere
The exhibition fits into the extensive mediation profile of the museum, which includes guided tours, workshops, and educational offerings. Thus, the exhibition becomes not only a means of contemplation but also a source of cultural education in the best sense: vivid, discursive, and accessible to different target groups. Opening hours for the Cottbus location are Tuesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 7 PM. ([blmk.de](https://www.blmk.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/blmk-2quartalsheft-2025-ansicht.pdf?utm_source=openai))
Conclusion
Strangers and Freedom is an exhibition for anyone seeking art as a space for thought and sensual experience. Between Pückler reflection, painting, photography, and digital image production, a multifaceted, intellectually stimulating art experience emerges that sharpens the view of history and the present. Those who engage in this contemplation of works will experience an exhibition of great atmospheric density and intellectual openness. A visit is definitely worthwhile live in Cottbus. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/fremde-und-freiheit-pueckler-dialog-ueber-einen-kosmopolit-mona-hoeke-und-kathrin-karras-3/))
Official Channels of Mona Höke and Kathrin Karras:
- Instagram: no official profile found
- Facebook: no official profile found
- YouTube: no official profile found
- Website: https://www.blmk.de/programm/fremde-und-freiheit/
