Private yet public, personal but political – living spaces have many dimensions. Where and how do we live? How do we design our homes? How much space can we afford? These questions are of interest not only to architects, designers and interior decorators, but also to artists, who explore these themes in their own individual ways. The Museum Giersch of the Goethe University Frankfurt (MGGU) is housed in a building with a rich history. Built in 1910 as a private villa, it later served as the Spanish Chamber of Commerce before becoming a museum in 2000. The rooms, still reminiscent of a home, are the setting for the exhibition OUR HOUSE: Artistic Positions on Living, open until 16 February 2025.

The exhibition is conceived as a ‘communal living space’, with each artist’s work occupying a distinct space. Zilla Leutenegger’s site-specific works on the ground floor and staircase reflect on the villa’s history as a home. On the first and second floors, nine ‘shared rooms’ explore the theme of living from different perspectives. Matthias Weischer stages the house as a theatre, Susanne Kutter deconstructs it, Inge Werth’s photographs capture the bedrooms of people from different social classes, and Robert Haas’s images document the abandoned homes of Jewish refugees in Vienna in 1938. Francisca Gómez explores the precarious living conditions of refugees, while Karolina Horner and Elizabeth Ravn address the challenges of the COVID-19 blockade. Jana Sophia Nolle and Jakob Sturm focus specifically on the housing situation in Frankfurt. ‘Together…’ says curator Dr Katrin Kolk, ‘a concept of communal living emerges, perhaps the most political aspect of the exhibition, raising the question: How can we live together?‘ A series of educational programmes and a YouTube film provide further insight into the themes of the exhibition.

The exhibition is part of INTERIOR, a collaborative project between the Opelvillen Kunst- und Kulturstiftung Rüsselsheim, Museum Sinclair-Haus Bad Homburg, TU Darmstadt Art Forum, MGGU Frankfurt, Kunsthaus Wiesbaden and Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden. Each institution shares a common history of occupying buildings originally constructed for other purposes. Some of the building histories can be found here.