Verstrickung & Verschlüsselung

Panel discussion with Sabrina Asche (artist, Leipzig), Bérénice Gaça Courtin (artist, Paris & Geneva), and Michael Arzt (artistic director & curator)

In our current exhibition “Botenstoffe,” artists Sabrina Asche and Bérénice Gaça Courtin each present a wide range of textile artworks, photographs, videos, and drawings. Under the overarching title “Global Threads,” Asche traces the movements of materials, labor, and capital, demonstrating how these are inscribed in textiles, infrastructures, and social developments. Under the title “Webs of Power,” Courtin explores parallels between her grandfather Kazimierz Gaca’s (1920–1997) resistance to the Nazi occupation during World War II and the protest against the rising authoritarianism of the present day.

To conclude the exhibition, the artists will join curator Michael Arzt in a discussion about how textile art can be used to reveal historical, social, and economic connections or to convey secret messages. Among other topics, the discussion will explore parallels between the Jacquard loom and the Enigma cipher machine, as well as the Pareto principle, according to which we spend 80% of our time wearing just 20% of our clothes.

This artist talk, together with the preceding performance “Webs of Power: Songs for a Secret Forest,” marks the conclusion of our international group exhibition “Botenstoffe” (through August 8, 2026).