The exhibition The Presence of Absence revolves around the theme of humankind’s endless confrontation with the idea of change and transience and their forms of representation in art. The title alludes to matter as a presence in which traces of the living are inscribed. This vital energy is powerful, yet fleeting.

Where do we come from? What is the origin of all matter on earth and in the infinity of the cosmos? What does it mean to recognise black holes in the centre of our galaxy, in which infinitely condensed matter creates a void and absence? What effects do natural events create that reshape the earth and change people’s lives with their power? And how do people deal with the existential need to face eternity in their finiteness? What myths and images do they create in order to connect with the spiritual? Is art a way of immortalising oneself in time?

With Heidi Bucher, Lawrence Malstaf, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Petra Noordkamp, Claudio Parmiggiani, Toni R. Toivonen and with exhibits from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Florentine Museum and Institute of Prehistory “Paolo Graziosi”, the Natural History Museum of Vienna, the LWL-Museum of Natural History in Münster, Associazione Gibellina Parco Culturale and with Prof Dr Luciano Rezzolla, Institute for Theoretical Physics at Goethe University Frankfurt

Curated by: Franziska Nori, with scientific support from Anita Lavorano and Laura Perrone