In the exhibition works by established artists will be shown together with works by up-and-coming artists and art students from the University of Wuppertal. The unifying element between all the exhibits is the theme of the exhibition: worries, fears and coping strategies for all the unpleasant feelings that arise from current world events are reflected in the artists’ installations, paintings, photographs and video works on display.

Svenja Biedenbach, Pink Büchsenschütz, Tudor Ciurescu, Francisco de Goya, Luna De Luca, Frankfurter Hauptschule, Selma Gültoprak, Jonas Habrich, Ivo Kiefer, Jody Korbach, Christiane Möbus, Ben Joy Muin, Daniel Richter, Tim Sandow, Toni Schmale, Nasan Tur, Samira Turan and Rachel Youn will occupy the rooms of the Kunsthalle and the Geschwister-Scholl-Platz in front of the Haus der Jugend.

With their works, the selected positions show their sometimes hopeful and sometimes dystopian views on current political developments, climate change, the fear of one’s own transience or the supernatural.
DO WORRY BE HAPPY aims to explore the fact that shared worries can potentially be half worries and that individual and supra-individual fears can become a connecting element between visitors in a series of workshops and discussion panels that go beyond the exhibits.

The Kunsthalle Barmen in the Haus der Jugend, which will reopen in 2024, is sponsored by the Bergische Universität Wuppertal and funded by the LVR and the City of Wuppertal and will host three exhibitions a year by the Faculty of Design and Art, which aim to create exciting encounters between art and science.

Images: Nasan Tur, Hunted, 2023, verschiedene Materialien, verschiedene Maße, VG Bild-Kunst 2025, Photo: Nasan Tur