Exhibitions are shaped by infrastructures, economies and relations of power that also condition how they engage with ecological questions. Exhibition Ecologies: Entanglements of Art, Institutions, and Politics in the Environmental Crisis, the new essay collection edited by former Cluster members Regine Ehleiter (Research Area 4: "Literary Currencies") and Friederike Schäfer (Research Area 2: "Travelling Matters"), approaches exhibitions as ecological media and examines how ecological narratives intersect with colonial legacies, extractivism and rhetorics of legitimation.

Bringing together art-historical essays and curatorial reflections, the volume links exhibition studies with environmental humanities. Case studies ranging from museum displays to contemporary biennials explore how exhibitions respond to the climate crisis and open debates on sustainability, decolonial justice and institutional responsibility. In doing so, the collection addresses both the risks of co-option and the transformative potential of exhibitions.

The open access publication arose from the Working Group "Exhibition Ecologies". It builds on questions central to Schäfer's EXC 2020 project "Earth(ly) Matters. How Exhibition Spaces Capture Natural Environments" and resonates with Ehleiter's current research on how concepts of planetarity are taken up and negotiated in contemporary art and exhibition-making.

Regine Ehleiter and Friederike Schäfer, eds. Exhibition Ecologies: Entanglements of Art, Institutions, and Politics in the Environmental Crisis. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2026. (Open Access)

Save the date: Book Launch
27 November 2026
7.30 p.m.
Pro qm bookstore
Almstadtstr. 48–50
10119 Berlin