"Fears are partly responsible for many of the changes that are currently threatening the values of democratic societies. They lead to simplified explanatory models, cause some to aggressively exclude and isolate themselves, and leave others melancholy or helpless," explains Prof Katja Pfeiffer, Director of the Kunsthalle Barmen and Professor of Art at the university of Wuppertal."It therefore makes sense to take a closer look at them, think about their origins and effects and enter into dialogue with one another. Works of art can act as a catalyst for such discourse, and we want our exhibition and its supporting programme in Wuppertal and beyond to provide the appropriate topics for discussion."

Artists also shape everyday urban life

As with the inaugural exhibition of the Kunsthalle Barmen, which will reopen in 2024, the artists will not only be exhibiting in the Kunsthalle, but also in the lively Geschwister Scholl Platz in front of the Haus der Jugend and the urban space between Barmen and Elberfeld. The exhibiting artists include Svenja Biedenbach, Pink Büchsenschütz, Tudor Ciurescu, Francisco de Goya, Luna de Luca, Frankfurter Hauptschule, Selma Gültoprak, Jonas Habrich, Ivo Kiefer, Jody Korbach, Tim Lukas and Daniel Deimel, Christiane Möbus, Ben Joy Muin, Daniel Richter, Tim Sandow, Toni Schmale, Nasan Tur, Samira Turan and Rachel Youn. The selected positions deal with the phenomenon of fear in various media such as painting, graphics, sculpture, photography and video installation and open up numerous perspectives on the question of how we want to face our fears.

Enquiring and encountering visions of the future

Momo Trommer, initiator of the exhibition: "Worrying is a deeply human, emotionally-orientated characteristic of anticipatory thinking. Perceiving visual stimuli and linking them to abstract impending or actual disasters is a complex, culturally characterised ability that often occurs unconsciously and almost instinctively. We want to use this area of tension in the exhibition to allow diffuse fears and options for action to enter into dialogue with one another."

The exhibited works allow visitors to participate in partly hopeful and poetic, partly pessimistic or melancholic views of current political developments, climate change, the fear of one's own transience or the supernatural. Despite the gloomy themes, the curatorial team led by Prof Katja Pfeiffer wants the exhibition to be understood not only as a "Wunderkammer of dystopias", but also to open up comforting perspectives. Individual and societal fears can also become a unifying element between visitors when publicly discussed in this way. DO WORRY BE HAPPY would like to explore this potential beyond the exhibits in a series of workshops and discussion panels.

Kunsthalle Barmen: A place of diversity and encounters

The Kunsthalle Barmen in the Haus der Jugend, which will reopen in 2024, will be used for three exhibitions a year for three years under the auspices of the university of Wuppertal - funded by the LVR and the city of Wuppertal. "For the teaching staff and students of our school of art and design, these exhibitions are enriching, but also involve additional work. This makes the commitment to the city and the university all the more valuable," explains Prof Dr Birgitta Wolff, Rector of the University of Wuppertal. She is looking forward to this worthwhile experiment in understanding and empathising with the emergence of fears and possibly paving the way for their resolution.

The current vernissage was preceded by the exhibitions "Shared Spaces" and "Fruitful Structures", which were launched in October last year. Like the forthcoming exhibition, each of them aimed to create exciting encounters between art, teaching and science, and above all active encounters with the neighbourhood and urban society. The "Biennale HIER: 2025", organised by the Kunst- und Museumsverein Wuppertal (Wuppertal Art and Museum Association), completed the now continuous contemporary exhibition programme in the imposing historic building.