What happens to us when the places where we live—or that are especially important to us—change?
What happens to us when the places where we live—or that are especially important to us—change? When forests disappear, coastlines erode, or familiar landscapes suddenly seem foreign? There’s a term for this feeling: solastalgia. It describes the grief, longing, and emotional pain we may feel in response to changes in our environment.
We are in a region that is particularly affected by the consequences of climate change and will be even more severely affected in the future. The artworks invite us to explore the question of how we deal with loss, change, and uncertainty.
The exhibition “SOLASTALGIA. Forest Bathing with a Plastic Dolphin” explores this complex emotion from various perspectives. Rather than succumbing to helplessness, it draws on the power of imagination: on inventing new images and worlds, on looking closely and reflecting—and, not least, on a dash of humor. On view are works by Sophia Süßmilch, Jenny Schäfer, and Jessica Arseneau. An audio station in the entrance area and an event as part of the supporting program expand the exhibition to include contributions by author Jürgen Nendza. The exhibition was curated by Lorenza Kaib, a 2026 curatorial fellow at Künstlerhaus Lukas.
How we feel, think, and react to change has been a subject of art for centuries. New additions to this discourse are climate change and the ecological crises associated with it. How do these affect our lives and experiences? What traces do they leave on our thinking, our relationships, and our vision of the future? The exhibition focuses on various strategies for coping with the stresses of a changing world: on withdrawal and care, on imagination and adaptation, on new forms of coexistence and perception. “SOLASTALGIE. Forest Bathing with a Plastic Dolphin” explores these questions and possible answers.
