WAVA

Vergesst Pokémon Go – jetzt kommt virtuelle Kunst! 🔍✨ Das Projekt „Hier, wo wir sind – virtuelle Kunst um’s Eck“ macht den Main-Taunus-Kreis zum Kunstraum zwischen zwei Welten: Acht digitale Werke von elf internationalen Künstler:innen warten auf Eure Entdeckung. Einfach die kostenlose WAVA-App herunterladen, loslaufen und Eure Stadt ganz neu entdecken! / More than meets the eye. Discover 8 AR artworks in the Main-Taunus region via the WAVA app. Start your tour now! Fotos: Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, Tamara Grcic, Alona Rodeh, Thuy Thien Nguyen, Lena Müller & Claudia Pense, François Pisapia & Pauli Scharlach, Tomás Maglione, Mohsen Hazrati, Lucas LaRochelle #wdc2026 #gestaltemit

Claudia Pense & Lena Müller are visual artists based in Kelkheim, working across sculpture and digital media. In their artistic practice, the artists explore the intertwining of nature, science, and technology. For “Here, where we are”, Pense & Müller have placed a digital bench accessible through Augmented Reality, which reflects on new ways of urban living. Inspired by bionics — an interdisciplinary science in which nature serves as a model for technology — they created an utopian resting place that adapts to weather conditions and the urban environment. The design of their seating incorporates elements from the natural and animal worlds. By that, it emphasizes the need for natural environments in the city to enable people to gather and relax amid the otherwise hectic pace of urban life. At the same time, Müller and Pense blur the boundaries between art and design — in Kelkheim, a historic center of arts and crafts. Join us for the opening in Kelkheim! Part of “Hier, wo wir sind – Digitale Kunst um’s Eck” Friday, May 15th at 6 PM Fußgängerzone Kelkheim, Innenstadt Kelkehim Download the free WAVA app and discover the work on site. “Hier, wo wir sind – virtuelle Kunst um’s Eck” is an exhibition by WAVA, initiated by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain as part of the World Design Capital 2026.

Uplifting Instruction. Venice. 2026.

Thủy Tiên Nguyễn & Wanwen Zhang are visual artists based between Frankfurt am Main, Hanoi and Emeishan, working across sculpture, painting, sound, and digital media. Their practice brings together material experimentation, storytelling, and immersive environments that explore memory, perception, and hidden social structures. For their virtual installation in Bad Soden am Taunus, Tiên and Wanwen draw inspiration from the East Asian tales of Liaozhai Zhiyi — a manuscript of stories in which spirits disguise themselves as humans and love transcends social and supernatural boundaries. In the Kurpark, figure and structures materialise within the landscape, while the park’s springs and healing waters become portals to spaces of concealed truths and mysterious encounters. Tiên’s sculptural works often reconfigure everyday objects, examining the narratives embedded within them and questioning systems of hierarchy, class, and social codes. Her works have been presented internationally in numerous institutions, festivals, and off-spaces, including Stiftung BINZ39, Zurich (CH), Hanoi Creative Festival Weekend 2024, Hanoi (VN), RAY Triennale at Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main (DE), Nova Contemporary, Bangkok (TH), Delfina Foundation, London (GB), documenta fifteen at Stadtmuseum Kassel (DE), and Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden (DE). Wanwen’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, drawing, sculpture, calligraphy, animation, comics, film, and sound. Her research focuses on perception, femininity, domesticity, and playful forms of craft and private experience. She studied traditional Chinese painting in Beijing and subsequently Fine Arts and Painting with Monika Baer at the Städelschule. Join us for the opening in Bad Soden am Taunus! Part of “Hier, wo wir sind – Digitale Kunst um’s Eck” Sunday, May 10th at 11:00
Alter Kurpark
Bad Soden am Taunus Download the free WAVA app and discover the work on site. “Hier, wo wir sind – virtuelle Kunst um’s Eck” is an exhibition by WAVA, initiated by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain as part of the World Design Capital 2026.

Alona Rodeh is a visual artist and scenographer working in the intersection of virtual and physical space. With a focus on public space, she works both inside and outside institutions, collaborating closely with state and municipal bodies. For her virtual installation in Hattersheim, Alona engages with the history of the former Phrix cellulose and paper factory, once owned by the Jewish Offenheimer family, who were forced into exile in 1938. Referencing military and media tactics of concealment – walls of fog and pixelization obscure what must not be seen – the artist’s digital intervention functions as a monument reflecting the limitations of memory and the representation of violence. Her works are frequently shown in institutional contexts, including Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen (2024), Gwangju Biennale (2023), La Casa Encendida Madrid (2021), Kunstpalais Erlangen (2019), Salzburger Kunstverein (2019), CCA Tel Aviv (2013), and others. She has installed several permanent public artworks in Germany and Israel. She regularly collaborates with theatre directors and choreographers. Alona’s works are represented in numerous public collections, including the LAS Art Foundation, the Tel Aviv Museum, and the Haaretz Collection. Join us for the opening in Hattersheim! Part of „Hier, wo wir sind – Digitale Kunst um’s Eck“ Friday, May 8th at 18:00 Former Phrix cellulose and paper factory Kirschgrabenstraße 9, 65795 Hattersheim am Main Download the free WAVA app and go find the work on site. “Hier, wo wir sind – virtuelle Kunst um’s Eck” is an exhibition by the WAVA initiated by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain as part of the World Design Capital 2026.

In her installations, Tamara Grčić engage with the logics of everyday life and the environments we inhabit. Working site-responsively and site-specifically, her gentle gestures expose hidden patterns and undercurrents, offering new choreographies of encounter. For her virtual installation at the Kreishaus Hofheim, Tamara challenges the building’s various administrative and symbolic capacities, suggesting new lines of flight that transgress these rigid structures both on the ground and up in the air. Since 2014, Tamara Grčić has been a professor in the sculpture class at the Mainz Academy of Fine Arts. From 1988 to 1993, she attended the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. Since 1992, she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Germany and abroad, including the Autostrada Biennale in Kosovo, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, the MMK Frankfurt, the Joanneum in Graz, the 53rd Venice Biennale, Fotohof Salzburg, FRAC Bordeaux, Kunsthalle Bern, Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, Manifesta 1 in Rotterdam, and Portikus, Frankfurt. Join us for the first opening of „Hier, wo wir sind – Digitale Kunst um’s Eck“ Wednesday, April 29th at 18:30 Landratsamt Am Kreishaus 1 - 5 65719 Hofheim Download the free WAVA app and go find the work on site! Link in bio. “Hier, wo wir sind – virtuelle Kunst um’s Eck” is an exhibition by the WAVA initiated by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain as part of the World Design Capital 2026. 1st image by Bernd Kammerer

Announcing “Here, where we are” — a WAVA exhibition initiated by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain with eight new virtual interventions sprawling across the public space of the Main-Taunus district. On the occasion of the World Design Capital 2026 in Frankfurt am Main and the surrounding region, eight site-specific AR installations by eleven international artists expand public space across several municipalities in the Main-Taunus-Kreis. “Hier, wo wir sind – virtuelle Kunst um’s Eck” examines public space in the hybrid age and explores how virtual interventions can change the ways we interact with and perceive our surroundings by bringing new perspectives, narratives, and historical references to light. Download the free WAVA app and go find the work on site! Curated by Ben Livne Weitzman and Dalwin Kryeziu Participating artists, municipalities, and opening dates 🗓️ Tamara Grčić at the Landratsamt Hofheim April 29, 2026, 6:30 PM Alona Rodeh at Ehemalige Phrix Cellulose- und Papierfabrik, Hattersheim am Main May 8, 2026, 6:00 PM Thủy Tiên Nguyễn & Wanwen Zhang at the Kurpark Bad Soden May 10, 2026, 11:00 AM Lena Müller & Claudia Pense in Kelkheim May 15, 2026, 6:00 PM François Pisapia & Pauli Scharlach at the Wasserschloss Hofheim May 21, 2026, 6:00 PM Tomás Maglione at the Stadtbahnhof Eppstein May 30, 2026, 6:00 PM Mohsen Hazrati at the Hochheimer Markt June 14, 2026, 4:00 PM Lucas Larochelle under the Opelbrücke Flörsheim July 10, 2026, 6:00 PM “Hier, wo wir sind – virtuelle Kunst um’s Eck” is an exhibition by WAVA, initiated by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain as part of the World Design Capital 2026.

Ming Smith New York City, NY; Giza, Egypt; Gorée, Dakar; Avenida Pulista, São Paulo; Miami Beach, Florida Can a photograph be audible? Are there properties in photographic images that can produce sound waves? Does every photograph have a soundtrack? If we think about the work of photographer Ming Smith, there’s no doubt that it’s possible and, moreover, advisable. Smith’s long career of street photography, mainly in black and white, makes her one of the most special examples of why the act of picking up a camera in search of capturing the things of the world, the sounds of the world, is accompanied by a feeling of immeasurability and, in this sense, also of justice. Text by André Pitol Download the WAVA app and go find the work on site! Link in bio. Part of Apparitions, the 36th Bienal de São Paulo with WAVA

Camille Turner / Dream Space Port of Luanda, Angola; Mercado de Escravos, Lagos; Portugal Mercado Modelo, Salvador de Bahia Meditation is not limited to introspection, but suggests a perceptual shift: a channel that expands presence and transforms relationships with time and space. The act of dreaming, understood here as matter, alters what seemed stable and modifies the very breathing of the world. The installation operates like a portal, guiding participants through an experience in which the boundaries between past, present, and future are continually resized. It says to us: “Remember the future.” The guiding voice and a sound take the listener on a journey that is no less abstract than the creation of Blackness. Fabulation here is not just narrative, but vibration and displacement. Listening becomes a flexible affair, a force field where memories are created, the body is reorganized, and time folds into itself. Text by Ariana Nuala Download the WAVA app and go find the work on site! Link in bio. Part of Apparitions, the 36th Bienal de São Paulo with WAVA

Maxwell Alexandre / sem título [untitled] | Novo Poder Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro; Ibirapuera, São Paulo Maxwell Alexandre’s practice often subverts the traditional limits of Western painting, evident in his choice of brown paper – often considered rudimentary – as his main working medium, “ennobled” by his gesture. This choice engages politically with the polysemy of the concept of brown in Brazil. His pictorial compositions emphasize images of Black characters, both real and imaginary, notable for the signs of power and pride they bear, seen in their body posture and the way they dress – without overlooking the fact that these same bodies are subject to state persecution and police violence. With the series Novo poder [New Power], the artist rehearsed a majority-Black occupation of the white cube of museums and galleries, from which they have historically been excluded. He also draws on the influence of national rap poetry by artists such as Djonga, Baco Exu do Blues, and BK, who are part of his repertoire Text by Raquel Barreto Download the WAVA app and go find the work on site! Link in bio. Part of Apparitions, the 36th Bienal de São Paulo with WAVA

Should art in public spaces require permission? WAVA’s projects occupy public space without asking for it, no permits, no plaques, no QR codes. You open the app, point your phone, and the work appears, ephemeral yet anchored to a specific site. Founded by a collective of artists and curators, WAVA (@wava__ar ) frees art from physical and bureaucratic limits. Artist Ahmet Öğüt (@ahmet__ogut ) created digital monuments for whistleblowers, including Li Wenliang, placing them in spaces where any physical marker would be removed. “Technology lets us reclaim visibility,” says @benlw . WAVA’s infrastructure powered AR works at the recent São Paulo Biennale (@bienalsaopaulo ), allowing installations to appear around the world, far beyond the walls of the exhibition itself. Recent collaborators include Salwa Aleryani, Ahmet Öğüt, Andrew Roberts, and Ming Smith, each using digital interventions to question how art occupies place, memory, and power. 🔗 Read the full feature via the link in bio #augmentedrealityart #publicart #digitalmonuments #artandtechnology #wavaar artinpublicspace

🤳 Imagine dar de cara com obras da 36ª Bienal no meio de ruas, parques e avenidas? Com tecnologias de realidade aumentada, o projeto 'Aparições' te permite acessar fragmentos das obras da Bienal no centro de São Paulo, no Rio de Janeiro e em outras cidades do mundo como Auckland, Kinshasa ou Pequim. Disponível para além do término da 36ª Bienal, até o final de 2026, as 'Aparições' podem ser acessadas baixando o aplicativo da WAVA por meio do QR code disponível no mapa da exposição ou no site oficial da mostra. [𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛] Can you imagine finding works from the 36th Bienal in the middle of streets, parks, and avenues? Using augmented reality technology, fragments of the works from the Bienal manifest from downtown São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and other cities around the world such as Auckland, Kinshasa, and Beijing. Available beyond the 36th Bienal, until the end of 2026, the 'Apparitions' can acceced by downloading the WAVA app using the QR code available on the exhibition map or on the official exhibition website. Artistas participantes / Participating artists: Adama Delphine Fawundu, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Andrew Roberts, Camille Turner, Cevdet Erek, Cici Wu with Yuan Yuan, Juliana dos Santos, Maxwell Alexandre, Michele Ciacciofera, Ming Smith, Ruth Ige, Theo Eshetu e Vilanismo. Agradecemos ao nosso parceiro estratégico / We acknowledge our strategic partner @itau , @itaucultural , e aos nossos patrocinadores master / and our master sponsors @bloomberg , @bradesco , @petrobras , @valenobrasil , @citibrasil , @vivo . #PetrobrasCultural #culturagovbr Este projeto é apoiado por / This project is supported by Aventis Foundation e Creapo Foundation. @benlw @florian_adolph @davidbachmann_