Uncertain Maps
Franz Ackermann, Jens Bleckmann, DAG, Olafur ElIasson, Esther Ernst, Julius Hartauer, Michael Golz, Christian Pilz, Isabell Schulte
Exhibition: February 27 – September 6, 2026
Accompanying program and public guided tours
Curators: Ludwig Seyfarth & Klaus-Peter Kirchner
Rarely are cartographic maps crystal clear records of given things. Even when they suggest rationality and objectivity, they operate in a zone that is never free of subjectivity between depictions and signs, between image and language – ultimately, between reality and fiction – also because they work on scales that define how much detail can be shown with precision. On printed world maps you are unlikely to find the location of KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION. Only digital maps allow you to zoom in as close as you wish. But some countries and places can only be found on fictional maps, such as Morrowland in Michael Ende’s famous Jim Button novels. Cartographically inspired fiction is not only the stuff of children’s books but also features in the work of many artists. Here we encounter creative recordings and encryptions of travel experiences alongside detailed sketches of freely invented places and countries. Ostensibly cartographic structures, whether steeped in sign language or profusely ornamental, can evolve into entirely unique worlds. Much of what can be seen in Uncertain Maps retains an intriguing ambiguity: is it a representation or evocation of an exterior reality, of landscapes and cities? Even images created for practical and scientific purposes can be “read” differently from their original cartographic intention, as for instance the satellite photographs compiled by the Icelandic National Land Survey. When artists sound out a particular terrain, be it reality or a figment of their imagination, their mappings typically become Uncertain Maps that will take us down paths not found in any ordinary atlas.
Exhibition booklet
Background information on the exhibition and all the artists can be found here.
Accompanying program
Thursday, 26 February 2026, 7 pm
Uncertain Maps: Opening
Saturday, 18 April 2026, 7 pm – Sunday, 19 April 2026, 1 am
Düsseldorf NIGHT OF THE ARTS 2026
Maps, Borders and Movements
The group exhibition Uncertain Maps is based on the fascination which maps and city plans hold for artists. It takes us to real countries and cities, but also into complex imaginary worlds. In addition to guided tours through the exhibition, there will be a large-scale projection of Borders and Movements by Shpresa Faqi. In her travel projects – which she will also discuss herself in KAI 10 – the artist explores refugee movements and other forms of motion, cultural encounters, and internal and external boundaries, reflecting on these themes from various perspectives and always without prejudice. The projection is a collage of drawings, photographs and films created in Germany, England, South-Eastern Europe and South America.
Screening: Borders and Movements by Shpresa Faqi
8.30 pm & 10.30 pm
Guided tour through the exhibition
10 pm & 11 pm
Curator Ludwig Seyfarth introduces the exhibition Uncertain Maps and presents selected works.
Tickets for all participating venues are available in advance online, at KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION and at the box office for €17.00 (€12.00 concessionary).
Public guided tours
Public guided tours | 3 pm: 01.03. | 15.03. | 29.03. | 12.04. | 26.04. | 10.05. | 31.05. | 14.06. | 28.06. | 12.07. | 26.07. | 09.08. | 23.08. | 06.09.2026