MARS!platz in Karlsruhe: Experience Art, Research, and the Future Live
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When the Karlsruhe Marketplace Becomes Mars
On October 15, 2026, the ZKM | Hertzlab opens the MARS!platz in the heart of Karlsruhe. The public ongoing performance transforms the marketplace into an interstellar test lab and invites reflection on communal future designs, sustainable coexistence, and the social conditions of a possible Mars mission.
Artistic Research as an Analog Space Experiment
At the center is not a classic exhibition but a large-scale performative research project. Together with artists, experts, and citizen scientists from the open artist group Red Dust Society, ZKM has developed concepts for living spaces, mental health, nutrition, governance, and resource management over the past six months.
These ideas are now being practically tested in an analog simulation. The white dome of Red Dust City marks a new outpost on the Red Planet in the Karlsruhe marketplace. The combination of installation, performance, social sculpture, and artistic research creates an unusual experiential space where the future is not only observed but collaboratively tested.
Opening with ZKM Astronauts
The opening begins at 4:00 PM with a welcome from Tina Lorenz, Head of Artistic Research and Development at ZKM. Greetings will be delivered by Dr. Frank Mentrup, Mayor of Karlsruhe, Alistair Hudson, Scientific and Artistic Director of ZKM, and Susanne Wolf from the Karlsruhe Tourist Information. Afterwards, Tina Lorenz will present the project.
At 4:30 PM, there will be a public press conference with the ZKM astronauts. The symbolic entry into the habitat begins at 5:00 PM and marks the impressive transition from the opening to the ongoing performance.
Aesthetic Experience between City Square and Science Fiction
The exhibition atmosphere arises in the tension between familiar urban space and futuristic space station. The white dome, the clear geometry of the habitat, and the visible presence of the performers create a strong spatial effect. The Karlsruhe marketplace becomes a stage, a laboratory, and a social thinking space at the same time.
The exploration of the works expands to include immediate participation: Visitors encounter prototypes, future scenarios, and questions that extend far beyond space travel. How does a society organize itself under extreme conditions? What resources are indispensable? How can care be organized in isolation? The artistic intervention connects media art, cultural education, and social reflection.
From Mars Back to Earth
The MARS! project of ZKM | Hertzlab uses the Red Planet as a thought model for the present. The developed solutions are not solely aimed at a possible colonization of Mars but address the challenges of a climate-changed Earth. Sustainability, resilience, democratic participation, and communal responsibility become concrete topics of the aesthetic experience in the performance.
The opening also marks the beginning of an ongoing performance running until October 27, 2026. Three ZKM astronauts will test the jointly developed concepts in Red Dust City and make their experiences publicly accessible.
Conclusion: Experience Future Art Live
The opening of MARS!platz promises an unusual art experience between performance, installation, urban research, and social experiment. Those who want to experience how art opens new perspectives on space travel, climate change, and communal living should not miss the entry into the habitat at the Karlsruhe marketplace. Admission is free.
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