Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno transforms Haus der Kunst in Munich into a speculative laboratory with "Ancestral Futures," an immersive exhibition running through February 2027. The show merges scientific inquiry with artistic vision, challenging visitors to reimagine human relationships with the natural world.
Saraceno grounds the exhibition in two established research projects. Aerocene explores humanity's connection to atmospheric systems through sculptures and installations that respond to wind patterns and air currents. Arachnophilia, his ongoing investigation into spider webs and biomimicry, reframes arachnids as collaborators rather than subjects of fear, revealing architectural intelligence embedded in nature.
The centerpiece includes a new land art commission developed directly with Indigenous communities in Northern Argentina. This collaboration reflects Saraceno's commitment to centering non-Western knowledge systems and ancestral ecological wisdom. By positioning Indigenous perspectives alongside contemporary art practice, the exhibition resists Western-centric narratives about environmental futures.
The title "Ancestral Futures" operates as deliberate paradox. Rather than treating the past and future as separate, Saraceno proposes that ancestral knowledge offers blueprints for sustainable coexistence. His installations function as invitations to kinship with non-human entities. Plants, animals, and atmospheric conditions become active participants in the artistic experience rather than passive subjects.
Saraceno's work aligns with broader shifts in contemporary art toward ecological consciousness and decolonial thinking. Museums increasingly platform artists who challenge the human-centered worldview embedded in Western institutional spaces. Haus der Kunst's commitment to this exhibition signals recognition that art institutions must engage seriously with planetary futures.
The exhibition operates across multiple registers. Visually, installations invite aesthetic contemplation. Intellectually, they demand reckoning with atmospheric politics and Indigenous sovereignty. Physically, visitors navigate environments