HNTRLND – On Idylls and Their Contradictions

With Anna Baranowski, Cana Bilir-Meier, Chana Boekle, Jonas Fahrenberger, Jonas Höschl, Sebastian Jung, Leon Kahane, Jens Klein, Jody Korbach, Laura Leppert, Kalas Liebfried, Eric Meier, Henrike Naumann, Erik Niedling, Fabian Reetz, Jonas Maria Ried and Silvia Troian

Opening on Sunday, November 29, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.

The group exhibition HNTRLND explores the 'hinterland' as a multi-layered social, political and cultural construct. The starting point is the observation that rural and peripheral areas are often imagined as the opposite of urban centers. They are considered to be places of stability and manageability and are seen as authentic. However, they are simultaneously considered to be areas of structural disadvantage, social disengagement and political radicalization.

This exhibition critically examines these attributions while exploring the real conditions and ideological transformations of such spaces. In this context, "hinterland" is not understood solely in geographical terms, but also as a metaphorical space. It describes what is perceived as remote, overlooked, or beneath the threshold of societal attention. Here, historical narratives are taken into account as well as current political developments and media representations.

The concept of landscape and nature plays a special role. Rural areas are often associated with images of vastness, tranquility, and a restorative closeness to nature. However, landscapes are not untouched spaces that contrast with the city. Rather, they are spaces that have been shaped by history, have been cultivated and connected by infrastructure, and in which economic, ecological and social developments are embedded. Thus, nature appears simultaneously as the basis of life, a resource and a place of refuge, as well as a screen onto which the concepts of homeland, tradition and belonging are projected.

In HNTRLND, a simple dichotomy between city and countryside is avoided. Social conflicts, political polarization and extremist tendencies are not confined exclusively to rural areas, just as openness, diversity and social change are not limited solely to urban centers. Instead, the exhibition explores the interdependencies, exchanges and projections between the center and the periphery.

Artistic perspectives from a range of contexts address these questions and explore how structural change, migration, digitization, and memory register in specific places, landscapes, and images. Here, local experiences intersect with historical developments and global dynamics.

The exhibition title points to the persistence of certain images and narratives of the "hinterland"  which have proven surprisingly resistant to changed realities, and continue to shape our perception of places today.

Initiated by Jonas Höschl, curated by Jonas Höschl, Leonie Rösler and Marlene Sichelschmidt

The exhibition is supported by the BBK Bayern as part of the Verbindungslinien programme, funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.