10/18/2026 | Press Release

Between Upheaval and New Beginnings – New Exhibition at the SDG+ Lab

The exhibition “Between Upheaval and New Beginnings” playfully explores possibilities for coexistence in times of social upheaval at the SDG+ Lab. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the Games class at the Kassel Art Academy and will open on October 28.

How do we want to live together when our society changes or when the familiar begins to falter? What possibilities arise when we view change not as a crisis but as an opportunity? The new exhibition “Between Upheaval and New Beginnings: Transformations in Culture and Coexistence” seeks to address these fundamental questions in a playful and artistic way. In collaboration with the Games class at the Kassel Art Academy (led by Prof. Jeremy Couillard), video games become spaces for experience and possibility: They invite us to adopt different perspectives, try out new realities, and explore what social change might feel like. Underlying this is the realization that social change cannot be navigated alone.

“We need spaces where we can meet one another, shape culture together, and develop new ideas for our coexistence. We are transforming the SDG+ Lab on Wilhelmsstraße into just such a space,” says Marie-Sophie Kammler, who developed the exhibition concept and is curating the exhibition. In a tense global situation marked by multiple crises—such as climate change, wars, migration, and the rise of populist forces—social cohesion is under pressure. The exhibition offers a solution: caught between resignation and hope, upheaval and a new beginning, it invites visitors to discover new possibilities through play—and to look toward a shared future with a fresh, thoroughly optimistic perspective.

Opening

The exhibition will be opened on Wednesday, October 28, at 6:00 p.m., by Prof. Dr. Rita Borromeo Ferri (Vice President of the University of Kassel), Katharina Leinius (Project Director), and Marie-Sophie Kammler (Program Director and Curator) (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; RSVP requested at www.sdgpluslab.de/eroeffnung).

Through their dance performance, the dance duo Paula Loll and Soukaina El Adak (SoLa) explore the dynamics of communication and relationships: What happens when we misunderstand each other? What changes when we begin to listen? From the dialogue between the two dancers emerges a resonant space of togetherness. Their relationship becomes a microcosm of a community, revealing just how closely we are connected and how much strength lies in listening to one another, resolving conflicts, and growing together.

Background

With the SDG+ Lab, UniKasselTransfer operates a laboratory for sustainability issues as a platform for exchange between academia, politics, business, and civil society. Practical solutions and innovations for the North Hesse region are developed in alignment with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In Theme Year 4, “Transformations in Culture and Coexistence,” the focus is on the cultural dimensions of transformation and coexistence in Kassel and North Hesse. Artistic and creative approaches are being tested to explore questions of belonging, anxiety about the future, and social resilience. The SDG+ Lab project is funded by the federal-state initiative “Innovative University” from 2023 to 2027.

Information and opening hours:

SDG+ Lab at UNI:Lokal, Wilhelmsstraße 21, 34117 Kassel, October 29 through January 22, 2027. Tuesday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Guided tours every Wednesday at 5 p.m. (free of charge, no registration required).

Contact:
Katharina Leinius
, Co-Project Director,
SDG+ Lab | UniKasselTransfer

0561 804 2818
sdgpluslab[at]uni-kassel[dot]de