Ausstellungseröffnung: Ndayé Kouagou "Dogs will be Dogs"

DOGS WILL BE DOGS
Ndayé Kouagou 

Exhibition Opening
Thursday, September 3, starting at 6 p.m. 
 

We cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition“Dogs Will Be Dogs.” 

“Is it better to be hated by one person or by three?” What at first glance sounds like a catchy social media hook turns out, in Ndayé Kouagou’s new work *Heaven’s Truth*, to be an unvarnished analysis of a present in which ethical and moral responsibility are sacrificed in the struggle for social capital. 
At the Heidelberger Kunstverein, the artist brings to life a fable centered on four characters stylized as dogs—Pudding, Pimpim, Puhda, and Pochi—whose volatile web of relationships serves as an illustration of subtle mechanisms of exclusion and the logic of resentment. Can one deny empathy to a character whose act of revenge is directed against a community that has excluded her her entire life? 
 

Program for the exhibition opening on September 3, 2026
6:30 p.m.: Opening with a champagne reception and introductory remarks by curator Søren Grammel
7:00–10:00 p.m.: Bar Blau (drinks & DJ set)
8:00 p.m.: Guided tour of the exhibition with co-curator Fabienne Finkbeiner

Exhibition Dates: September 4 – December 15, 2026
Curator: Søren Grammel
Co-Curator: Fabienne Finkbeiner 


About the Artist & Institutional Collaboration 

Ndayé Kouagou (born in 1992 in Paris, where he lives and works) is one of the most influential and talked-about voices in ultra-contemporary art today. 
Kouagou’s works have been presented worldwide at renowned institutions and biennials, including the Frac Île-de-France (Paris), the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin), WIELS (Brussels), the Liverpool Biennial, Manifesta 14 (Prishtina), and the Athens, Sharjah, and Sonsbeek Biennials. 
The Heidelberger Kunstverein is exceptionally proud to present *Dogs Will Be Dogs*, the artist’s second institutional solo exhibition in Germany. The production of the new works on display was supported by the Collezione Maramotti (Reggio Emilia) in collaboration with the Heidelberger Kunstverein. Following its premiere in Heidelberg, the co-produced work will be on view this fall at the renowned Lyon Biennale.