Garden

What happens when a place serves not just one purpose, but is continually reimagined, repurposed, and given new meaning? The exhibition Garden by Ramón Jeronimo Wirtz and Judith Schaefer explores the Naxoshalle as such an in-between space: a place where different artistic, social, and everyday activities take place simultaneously and overlap.

Drawing on philosopher Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, which describes “real places” that reflect, shift, and challenge existing social structures, the exhibition explores the Naxoshalle as a place between history, the present, and possible futures. At its heart is the idea of the garden: a space where different times, activities, and perspectives exist side by side and interact with one another.

Video footage from and about the various work areas of the Naxoshalle has been collected for the exhibition. Artistic productions, social projects, work processes, and everyday situations are not viewed in isolation, but as interconnected uses of a shared space. The exhibition reveals how these diverse activities continually transform the hall and how its history continues to unfold through its present-day use.

At the same time, Garden raises questions about access and participation: Who can use this space? Who is it open to? Which forms of work and community are made visible, and which remain unseen?

In addition to presenting the video footage, the exhibition is also conceived as a spatial exploration. The exhibition space itself becomes a garden, bringing together the collected observations, voices, and images. To develop this work, Schaefer and Wirtz collaborate closely with the staff of Produktionshaus NAXOS, documenting their everyday work and exploring the different ways in which the Naxoshalle is used and shaped by the people who inhabit it.