Haus der Kunst, Munich’s global centre for contemporary art, will be transformed with For Children. Art Stories since 1968.
This ambitious exhibition, researching art made for children by artists from all over the world from 1968 to the present day, is part of Haus der Kunst’s ongoing re-examination of art histories, curated by a team led by the Artistic Director, Andrea Lissoni.
Bringing together over twenty artists from more than twenty countries, the exhibition is the first show of this scale that aims to understand how and why artists have addressed young audiences in the past decades. It inhabits not only different galleries within the building, but also reaches outinto the surrounding exterior spaces, exploring how children appear at the centre of the artistic process, and how they can actively participate in world affairs and help shape the reality in which they will live as adults.
For Children takes the year of 1968 as its starting point, a historical moment of global political confrontation and social re-evaluation in which criticism of the traditional structures of art institutions intensified and the way in which artists addressed children changed. The introduction of the environment, followed by the creation of participative performances, installations and happenings, began to actively engage and involve young audiences. In 1968, the activities of artists and collectives, such as KEKS in Munich, marked a radical turning point in the development of performative actions and happenings in which children became active protagonists.
Artists include:
Koo Jeong A (b. 1967, South Korea), Agus Nur Amal PMTOH (b. 1969, Indonesia), Ei Arakawa-Nash (b.1977, Japan), Tarek Atoui (b.1980, Lebanon), Yto Barrada (b. 1971, France), Antoine Catala (b. 1975, France), Neha Choksi (b.1973, USA), dis (since 2010. USA), Olafur Eliasson (b.1967, Denmark), Harun Farocki (1944 – 2014, Germany), Emily Floyd (b. 1972, Australia), Jan Peter Hammer (b. 1970, Germany), KEKS (1968 – 1972, Germany), Eva Ko?átková (b. 1982, Czech Republic), Basim Magdy (b. 1977, Egypt), Ana Mendieta (1948 – 1985, Cuba), Meredith Monk (b. 1942, USA), Lygia Pape (1927 – 2004, Brazil), Bruce Nauman (b. 1941, USA), Ernesto Neto (b. 1964, Brazil), Rivane Neuenschwander (b. 1967, Brazil), Rachel Rose (b. 1986, USA), Afrah Shafiq (b. 1989, India) and Tromarama (since 2006, Indonesia).
Highlights from the exhibition include:
Koo Jeong A’s skateable sculpture, located on the outdoor east terrace of Haus der Kunst, extends the exhibition outside of the building connecting it with the Eisbach River and the English Garden.
Ei Arakawa-Nash, inspired by the legacy of the Japanese avant-garde group Gutai, invites visitors to draw on the museum floor in his participative installation Mega Please Draw Freely (2021–25). This major commission will take over the entire Mittelhalle of Haus der Kunst, furthering the vision of opening this space to a broad public for engagement, following the collaborations with Christine Sun Kim (2023) and Martino Gamper (2024).
A new commission by Agus Nur Amal PMTOH, an artist renowned for his storytelling performances using household objects, presents theinteractive installation Goodness and Disaster (2025) which explores the importance of learning from childhood how to deal with the disastrous outcomes of global warming.
Tarek Atoui introduces participants to the concepts of vibration, underwater sound and rotation in an exploratory and playful way in the sound installation Whispering Playground (2021–25), the result of a series of workshops with children from Kindergarten in Paris.
Antoine Catala’s immersiveinstallation Le Jardin synthétique à l’isolement (2015/2016), consists of artificial plants and rocks, video and audio content creating an environment dedicated to the challenges of non-verbal children and of communication in general. Visitors experience the hopes and limitations that lie within the support of technology.
Olafur Eliasson’s The cubic structural evolution project (2004/2025) welcomes visitors to build their vision of a future city using quintals of white Lego bricks, to be modified and elaborated by subsequent visitors throughout the course of the exhibition.
Harun Farocki’s short films called Bedtime Stories, directed between 1973 and 1977, reflect on everyday observations of the world, featuring his own daughters as actors and narrators to conjure up the magic of reality of daily life.
Eva Kó átková’s Blankets, Monsters, Anna and the World (2022–25), made of multiple textile elements surrounded by walls covered with newspapers, explores how we communicate the realities of the world to a child, and in turn what we can learn from their viewpoint.
Meredith Monk’s song There are three Heavens and Hells,performed in concert at the Merking Concert Hall in 1993, brings to life the ‘perfect spirit of playful quirkiness’ of a poem by Tennessee Reed, who was aged 11 when she wrote it in 1988.
Bruce Nauman’s audio installation For Children (2010) inspired the title of the show and welcomes visitors when entering Haus der Kunst. Interested in piano pieces written specifically for children learning the piano, Nauman highlights the performative and bodily aspects of repetition as traditional learning method.
Rivane Neuenschwander worked with children from across the world to gather a collection of fears, ranging from ‘heights’ and ‘bees’, to ‘strangers’, ‘nightmares’ and ‘silence’, to create The Name of Fear (2015–2025), a collection of vibrant capes created in collaboration with a designer based on the designs by children to protect them from their fears.
At the heart of the exhibition, Ernesto Neto invites viewers to step in and lie down in hisenvironment Uni Verso Bebé II Lab (2007/2025). Consisting of soft elasticated fabric forms hung in an organic tent-like structure, the work creates a multi-sensory experience that engages visitors both visually and tactilely, while providing a sense of security and safety, similar to being in the womb.
Andrea Lissoni, Artistic Director, Haus der Kunst, said:
“With this group show, we are continuing to develop new ways of exhibition-making from display to engagement in order to question traditional narratives and look beyond linear art-historical stereotypes. Over the last three years, we have gradually started to take a more holistic view of programming, allowing each project to flow into the next, developing previously unrecognised links with art history and exploring the influence of newly developed art forms, We are also delighted to expand our collaborations internationally including most recently the presentation of our exhibition ‘Inside Other Spaces: Environments by Women Artists 1956-76’, on display at M+ in Hong Kong from September.”
As part of its commitment to increasing audience participation and inclusion in the exhibition For Children, Haus der Kunst established a Youth Council at the start of the academic year in 2024 to offer exclusive behind-the-scenes access along with the opportunity to meet the institution’s team and participating artists. The Council members were encouraged to contribute their own ideas and put them into practice, the results of which contributed to the planning of For Children and its accompanying programme.
A comprehensive catalogue will accompany For Children. Art Stories since 1968, published by Distanz andavailable from mid-September (400 pages, German and English edition). Edited by Andrea Lissoni, Emma Enderby, Lydia Korndörfer, its contributing authors include the editors, Ana Maria Maia Atunes, Alfredo Aracil, Gabriela Burkhalter, Ian Cheng, Lars Bang Larsen, Kabelo Malatsie, and Kefiloe Siwisa.
On 5th and 6th December 2025, Haus der Kunst will host international Study Days in conjunction with the exhibition, exploring how the growing focus on engaging young audiences has influenced artistic practices as well as the work and self-conception of art institutions worldwide. Taking as a starting point the question of what it means to create art for children today, the Study Days will examine the evolving roles of artists and art institutions in shaping new spaces and communities.
The exhibition is curated by Andrea Lissoni, Emma Enderby, Lydia Korndörfer, Xue Tan with Lydia Antoniou, Laila Wu, as well as Sabine Brantl (Archive), Pia Linden and Camille Latreille (Learning and Engagement).
For Children. Art Stories since 1968 18th July 2025 – 1st February 2026 Haus der Kunst München
