After the two previous years’ exhibitions, trust and understanding, this year’s theme here at the Helmhaus is connecting, which is also the title of our forthcoming exhibition. This new group show will connect works of art with each other and art forms such as visual art, music, theatre and film with grassroots activism. It will also connect art and audience by asking how connections are made and what are their preconditions. Far from being a naive appeal for ‘more connection’, the show will address the problems and dangers of connecting, the pain that it can occasion and its propensity to fail. After all, connecting can also inflict wounds, tearing tissue that then has to be reconnected.

The exhibition understands ‘connecting’ as an activity and hence as a process full of suspense and excitement. It makes the curatorial case for strong connections as a product not of populist egalitarianism but of a mindset that recognizes and respects inequalities and differences. At a time when…