The Kunsthalle spends a day focusing on public art. Sculptures in public spaces are usually planned and installed for a long time. They are often made of solid stone or metal and change very little over time. But their meaning, their spirit, can change. Public art is not silent. It reminds us of the past, of identity, and of trauma. It creates a space of tension between memory and forgetting.
The dialogue lab “Silent Monuments, Speaking Spirits” [orig. Stille Monumente, sprechende Geister] invites us to see public art as something that can change. The Public Art Collection in Osnabrück is the starting point. The Kunsthalle Osnabrück is responsible for around 39 public artworks.
We want to ask:
Which spirits do these mostly silent public artworks tell us about?
How can collections that have grown over many years create new ideas for the city?
How can they become spaces for new forms of thinking, sharing, and participation in urban life?
How can silent artworks become visible and audible again?
The discussion lab brings together experts, artists, students, and people from the city. We aim for open conversations. We present different perspectives on public art: from everyday urban life, from research, from artistic practice, and from experiences of participation.
Participants will experience a varied day. There will be lectures, walks to the artworks, workshops to discuss and reflect, and a performance related to public art.
More details about the programme will follow soon.
• Prof. Dr. Bärbel Schlüter (Artist and Professor Professor of Sculpture at the Institute of Art / Art Education, University of Osnabrück) and Anna Holms (Head of the Public Art Collection, Kunsthalle Osnabrück) will present the public art collection in Osnabrück.
• Prof. Dr. Ursula Frohne (Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Münster; Co-founder of the Skulptur Projekte Archive) will talk about memory, conflicts, and shared processes around public art. She will also present parts of a new book, she has co-written.
• Individual city lab workshops will be led by:
- Malin Kuth (mediator and video artist) co-founder of para-education e. V. (association for critical art mediation of public art)
- Julia Kurz (curator, author and art mediator, “Stadtkuratorin Leipzig“)
- Marijke Lukowicz und Sophia Trollmann (curators of “Tatort Paderborn” and part of the initiative “Neue Auftraggeber”)
They will present their projects on public art and engage in conversation with participants.
• Students from the University of Osnabrück will lead walks to the artworks in the collection.
• The artist Olga Hohmann will perform a poetic lecture-performance, giving new voices to the spirits of the collection.
The Kunsthalle will offer a light snack with coffee, cake, and other small bites. There will also be time and space for conversations, exchange, and making new contacts.
Participation is free of charge.
Please register by 23.01.2026 at: sammlung.kunsthalle@osnabrueck.de
Note: The dialogue lab will take place primarily in German. If you would like to participate but do not speak German, please contact us at the address above. We will be happy to find a solution.
The Dialogue Lab on Osnabrück’s public art collection was created in cooperation with the Institute for Art/Art Education at the University of Osnabrück and is funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, the Lower Saxony Foundation and Zukunft Niedersachsen.
