The prestigious decennial Skulptur Projekte Münster has named the first five artists for its next edition, which opens June 2027. Hew Locke and Oscar Murillo are among the cohort chosen to present new works next summer.
The announcement was made today by curatorial collective What, How & for Whom (WHW), made up of Zagreb-based curators Ivet Ćurlin, Nataša Ilić, and Sabina Sabolović, who are the artistic directors of next year’s exhibition. Speaking at a press conference, the trio emphasized the grimmer global context in which the decennial will be taking place since its last edition in 2017. At a time when “political debates are no longer seen as a negotiation but as a zero sum battle,” the curators hope to reassert the power of art to facilitate useful, and sometimes surprising, dialogues, they said.
WHW were partially inspired by the 2009 novel The City & the City by British author China Miéville, in which two populations co-exist while experiencing their urban environment in starkly different ways. The book became a lens through which to consider how urban spaces create and maintain social orders. These divisions are compounded by growing wealth disparity, the rise of the far-right, and threats to free speech, the collective said.
In order to initiate a re-evaluation of “who is invited when art enters public space, and how we can broaden that invitation,” the collective met with local historians and urban planners over several years. They will invite some 30 artists overall to respond to the city with site-specific projects, with more artists announced in the months leading up to the event.
Among the commissions is a huge installation by Locke at the Haus der Niederlande, a building constructed in the late 16th century as a meeting place for local merchants. The site carries obvious resonance for Locke, a Guyanese-British sculptor whose work consistently examines how nationhood sits within broader networks of power, often embellishing historically symbolic objects with trinkets or colorful costumes.
Taking over the former Hörster Friedhof, Bosnian artist Selma Selman will reimagine the former cemetery as a place to reckon with family history. Her use of scrap materials will also provide a wider comment on is considered valuable in the relentless churn of global markets.
The agricultural systems that support urban life are also a preoccupation of Polish artist Iza Tarasewicz. She is planning an installation informed by nature and seasonal cycles for Gut Kinderhaus, a former farm that is now a working community for people with disabilities.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian artist Róza El-Hassan is planning projects relating to migration and displacement for two locations in Münster. One of these is the city’s botanical garden and the other is Berg Fidel, a 20th-century housing development that is populated by demographically diverse communities.
Founded in 1977, Skulptur Projekte Münster is considered one of the oldest, most important exhibitions of contemporary art in the public space. Its once-a-decade rhythm has made an invitation something of a career landmark for artists, who are given significant latitude and resources to develop ambitious, site-specific works. The exhibition’s 2017 edition drew its largest-ever artist list, including Pierre Huyghe, Cosima von Bonin, and Nicole Eisenman, while 2007 saw Bruce Nauman‘s “Square Depression” finally realized—a proposal originally rejected in the inaugural edition, which itself featured a stacked roster including Joseph Beuys, Donald Judd, and Claes Oldenburg.
Skulptur Projekte Münster will take place across Münster from June 13 through October 3, 2027.