Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven: Exhibition „High as a Kite“

Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven – a Venue with a Supra-regional Profile

Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven is one of the most distinguished exhibition venues in Northwest Lower Saxony. With its consistent focus on contemporary art, international positions, and socially relevant themes, the institution has made a name for itself far beyond the Jade city in recent years.

„High as a Kite“ – Castles in the Air Between Vision and Reality

The exhibition „High as a Kite – Castles in the Air in Art and Reality“ opens on January 16, 2026, at 6 PM and runs until April 6, 2026. It revolves around a central theme: castles in the air. This refers to both – the utopian architectures of art and the real megaprojects that can hardly keep their promises. The show spans a spectrum between dreams, visions, built architecture, and critique.

Three Curatorial Strands

The exhibition is divided into several thematic areas:

• Celestial Architectures: Works that explore imaginary, floating, or utopian buildings
• Commentaries on Megaprojects: critical examinations of real mega-structures – skyscrapers, urban expansions, infrastructure projects
• Activist Art Projects: works that position themselves politically and socially against grand architectural visions

Curator and Artists

The curator is Petra Stegmann, an experienced curator who has accompanied several significant projects in recent years. The artist selection is international: Limbo Accra (architecture collective from Ghana), Markus Dorfmüller, Christian Jankowski (known for humorous and conceptual works), Gordon Matta-Clark (legendary New York architect-artist whose legacy continues to be influential), Andrea Pichl, and Thomas Ravens – as well as other positions.

An Exhibition with a Claim to Discourse

„High as a Kite“ is not just an aesthetic show but a political commentary on the present. In a time when ever-larger construction projects are being realized worldwide – from smart cities on the Arabian Peninsula and mega-investments in Africa to European skyscraper projects – the exhibition questions the images and ideologies behind these visions. Who builds castles in the air? For whom? By what right? Art provides answers – not didactically, but visually, ironically, critically, and sometimes poetically.