Democracy and Climate

Exhibition April 10 – 15.5.2026

⇓ Press release (pdf)
⇓ Flyer

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Everything a Crisis?

An artistic perspective on democracy and climate protection

15 international artists explore how democracies are under threat and how this can impact the climate crisis. Through installations, painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, video, and sound, they confront the status quo with scenarios for the future.

Artistically, they address democratic vulnerabilities, thematicize the abuse of power, and remind us of the scope for our own agency. “Democracy and Climate: Democratic Action for Climate Protection” is an exhibition where various perspectives can be practiced. In the accompanying program, children and young people also present their art on the subject, while speakers provide examples of active civil society and cooperative democracy.

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GG3 Jury Team: Tom Albrecht, Stephan Groß, Maria Korporal, Katja Hock, Andrea Striesova

Curator: Tom Albrecht

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Program

April 10, 2026, 7 PM Opening Reception

Welcome: Tom Albrecht, Introduction to the exhibition: Katja Hock, DJ/Live/Hybrid Set: teiaaa. Experimental sounds, textures, and collages

April 17, 7 PM Civil society active. Reading and discussion.

Katharina Dietze, Omas for Future and Omas gegen Rechts

April 24, 7 PM Artist Talk,

in which participating artists explain their works and engage in dialogue with visitors. Moderation Katja Hock

1.5. Works for children, teenagers, and adults

5 PM – 8 PM Exhibition, 5:30 PM Guided tour of the exhibition, Stephan Groß

May 2, 5 PM – 7 PM Exhibition of works by adults, children, and young people

May 3, 5 PM – 8 PM Exhibition of works by adults

May 8, 7 PM Lecture and discussion

Direct Cooperative Democracy using the example of the Berliner BaumEntscheid. Aglaia Hajkova

May 15, 7 PM Closing Reception

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Artworks:

“Article 20 Alternative” by Thomas Behling opens the debate. Created in 2026, the work transforms Article 20 of the Basic Law into a critical-ironic version, primarily directed against the concept of democracy. Stephan Groß shows in “ZORN” (2024) the acronym of a fictional party that cloaks itself in the buzzwords duty-free, ecological, revolutionary, and national. In Groß’s “VOTE/VETO” (2026), composed of four large-format cardboard letters, the artist invites visitors to swap the letters O and E, illustrating that political action means decision, movement, and responsibility. On Labor Day, May 1, his 30-minute video work “The Economic Sages” will be presented. Created in 2026, it is a combination of experimental films and music video.

Thirty wooden toy dice are inscribed with terms and buzzwords from the catalog of measures of the COP30 (Conference of Parties) climate framework conventions. A roll of the dice creates a random arrangement of words, resulting in new (non)sensical contexts. Artist In her participatory work “random principle _ climate conference” (2026), Ute Dietz humorously points out how arbitrarily the measures of the UN climate conferences are set. The playful approach is also found in the graphic “Rock, Paper, Scissors I” by Lioba von den Driesch the playful approach can be found. Her loosely drawn, varying hand positions are interspersed with terms from political discourse and compete against each other—with devastating results.

A small thumb figure under a dome on a mirrored base plays with the deceptive clarity of democratic decision-making processes. Gosia Hejnat addresses the distortion of approval and rejection in the context of the climate crisis in her 2026 assemblage object “The Thumb.”

A table-like sculpture made of paper scraps and straw, “How to Start a Movement” (2022) by Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson, evokes associations of a gathering of political decision-makers.

In “Big Tech: The Price is Too High,” a serial graphic work from 2026, Carsten Borck deals with the negative consequences of the business practices of large technology corporations on society, the environment, and the climate, whose key figures are increasingly making anti-democratic statements.

A giant classicizing bust sinks into the sea, while a female figure on an ice floe calmly observes the scene. Ran Yous’s painting, created in 2025, criticizes the inertia of the middle-class capitalist lifestyle, which evades active participation in climate protection despite personal security.

Tom Albrecht’s “We Want Solar” (2026) shows spikes with small sun posters sprouting from the bottom of a fruit crate covered with plastic chips. In this way, Albrecht symbolizes fossil fuel consumption, its resulting and extremely dangerous reaction with nature, and the call for a shift toward regenerative energy generation options.

Carina Pesch sets drastic actions regarding the climate emergency and powerlessness to sound in the 2023 sound work “Lost Generation!? A Fever Dream by Carina Pesch and Four Hunger Strikers.” The 50-minute audio play deals with the 2021 federal election, in which seven young people push themselves to their physical limits.

The large-format triptych “Reignforest” by Chuu Wai from 2021 uses the destruction of Myanmar’s rainforests to show how authoritarian power accelerates ecological destruction. The prioritization of resource extraction is accompanied by the suppression of democratic debates, public resistance is silenced, and disinformation spreads.

In contrast, the participatory work “UNITED STAR OF EUROPE” by TrashmaidBerlin demonstrates civic engagement: In 2024, with the help of participants from 27 EU states, the artist combined collected yellow plastic waste into a yellow European star.

And “Kool im Kiez” is a three-part series of drawings by Felicitas Butt from 2024, depicting democratic participation and the implementation of the catalog of measures for climate adaptation in the local neighborhood. In his 2025 video work “Beton Sakti,” Alfred Banze shows an Indonesian group that organizes itself to protect local nature and culture, yet remains dependent on global players.