TOMÁS SARACENO IN MUNICH: ECO-SOCIAL WAYS OF COEXISTENCE ON EARTH
"When the flame drinks from the stars and the spider weaves cycles of life, where the sky touches the earth and time expands like salt...", this is how Tomás Saraceno describes the exhibition Ancestral Futures at Haus der Kunst.
This July 17, Haus der Kunst (Munich) opens Ancestral Futures, the largest exhibition held in Germany by the international, multidisciplinary artist Tomás Saraceno (San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, 1973). Curated by Sarah Johanna Theurer and Andrea Lissoni, the show brings together contributions from the natural sciences, architecture, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), integrating intergenerational practices and beliefs that foster a reciprocal relationship between human and more-than-human communities.
Drawing on the thought of Brazilian Indigenous philosopher Ailton Krenak—for whom the future is not something we must invent, but something already here, woven into the landscape like a river—the artist rethinks our connections with the environment through his work, engaging in dialogue with other forms of life and imagining eco-social modes of coexistence on Earth. Tracing the singular trajectory of Saraceno's multidisciplinary practice, the exhibition links large-scale immersive installations—born of his research and collaboration with human and more-than-human communities—with small-scale environments that display the vibrations of spiderwebs and dust particles, questioning our relationships with earth, water, air, and the cosmos.
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Tomás Saraceno. The Three Worlds of Pacha, 2026. © Photo: Studio Tomás Saraceno
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Tomás Saraceno. The Sanctuary of Water, 2026. Conceived by artist Tomás Saraceno with the 11 Indigenous communities of the Red Atacama network, Salinas Grandes, northern Argentina. With the generous support of Haus der Kunst München, The Aerocene Foundation, Studio Tomás Saraceno, and many others. Courtesy the artist, Red Atacama and The Aerocene Foundation, as well as the art galleries neugerriemschneider, Berlin, Tanya Bonakdar, Los Angeles, Pinksummer, Genova, Andersen’s, Copenhagen and Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires. © Photo: Studio Tomás Saraceno
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Tomás Saraceno. endless big, 2006. Courtesy the artist, neugerriemschneider, Berlin, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; Andersen's Contemporary, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires, and Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa. © Photo: Studio Tomás Saraceno
The show opens with the air-inflated sculpture Museo Aero Solar (2022), a transnational work and a broader community project developed collaboratively across six continents since 2007, which continues to grow as an open, process-oriented work. At the heart of the exhibition is the expansive environment Towards the Sanctuary of Water (2026), a reflection on the importance of water for life. The three adjoining rooms are dedicated to the cosmologies of Andean Indigenous communities and establish a connection between northern Argentina and Germany.
The exhibition also presents a landscape of intricate spiderwebs from the series Webs of Attent(s)ion (2026), along with the installations Algo-r(h)i(y)thms (2026) and Sounding the Air (2022–2026); the participatory project Fairclouds (2023 – ongoing) and the film Fly with Pacha, into Aerocene (2017–23), together with photographs taken by Saraceno at the Salinas Grandes since his first visit there in 2006.
The exhibition explores ways of maintaining balance within shared environments, promoting a view of water as a living entity deserving of respect and care.
Ancestral Futures extends beyond the walls of Haus der Kunst, opening out toward the Eisbach river with the newly created Community Garden Ostwiese and the sculpture Cloud Cities: Species of spaces (2023–2026) on the Terrasse Ost, offering seasonal habitat spaces for a range of species, including birds, insects, and spiders.
Throughout the exhibition, the landscape of the Englischer Garten will become an extended playground, with guided walks led by experts from the Max Planck Society. On-site workshops will also be held for the creation of a Museo Aero Solar, built from reused plastic bags. Finally, in autumn, an attempt will be made to launch the collaboratively created solar sculpture into the air.
The exhibition runs through February 7, 2027 at Haus der Kunst, Prinzregentenstraße 1, Munich, Germany.
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