Bloom Up!, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden — Works

Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano with 19th century "Bauernschränke"

Willem de Rooij

Jonas Mekas with 18th century Pietra Dura with the image of the Anunciation

Ketuta Alexi Meskhishvili with early 16th century Pietà "Mother of Sorrows"

Allora & Calzadilla with 13th century Gothic architectural ellements

Sissel Tolaas with 15th century stained glass windows

Belia Zanna Geetha Brückner with "The Pilgrim in the garden" by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris

Taryn Simon with late 17th century silk blanket

Taryn Simon with Ottoman Axe and Flask

Bloom up! Die Sprache der Blumen

Exhibition architecture and scenography by Diogo Passarinho Studio for Bloom up! Die Sprache der Blumen, a major special exhibition at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden. The exhibition traces 2,500 years of the cultural history of the flower, from the lotus of ancient Egypt through the roses of Art Nouveau to digital floral fantasies of the present day. Across this span, flowers emerge as universal symbols, carrying meanings as beauty, love, memory, power, protest, and transience, and continually taking on new significance as emblems of political movements, expressions of longing and resistance, or vessels for personal memory.

The exhibition is conceived as two museums presenting one exhibition, bringing together historical artifacts from the collection of the Badisches Landesmuseum with newly commissioned and existing works by eight contemporary artists: Ketuta Alexi Meskhishvili, Allora & Calzadilla, Belia Zanna Geetha Brückner, Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano, Jonas Mekas, Willem de Rooij, Taryn Simon, and Sissel Tolaas.

The scenography unfolds across the Kunsthalle's sequence of historic, skylit rooms, treating each as its own chapter rather than a continuous flow. Oversized floral forms are suspended overhead at monumental scale, set in direct dialogue with historical objects from the Landesmuseum's collection, so the contemporary and the historic share the same breath of space. Color and light are used architecturally from room to room, marking shifts in mood and period, while moments of scent, sound, and projection extend the exhibition beyond the purely visual. Throughout, the design lets the historical furniture, the contemporary artworks, and the architecture of the Kunsthalle itself remain in conversation, building an immersive experience that connects seeing, smelling, and spatial perception.

Curated by Christina Lehnert and Christiaan Veldman, with curatorial assistance from Emely Steiner. Presented by the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden in collaboration with the Badisches Landesmuseum, and supported by the Baden Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Arts.

2026, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, DE

Exhibition Architecture: Diogo Passarinho Studio
Team: Diogo Passarinho, Gonçalo Reynolds
Artists: Ketuta Alexi Meskhishvili, Allora & Calzadilla, Belia Zanna Geetha Brückner, Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano, Jonas Mekas, Willem de Rooij, Taryn Simon, and Sissel Tolaas

June 13, 2026 to January 10, 2027