Artist-in-Residence
March–April 2026
German version here
LEW1 Studio House
Artist-in-Residence
Swaantje Güntzel
Exhibition April 18 – May 3, 2026
Since March 18, 2026, Hamburg-based artist Swaantje Güntzel has been in residence at the Neue Künstlerkolonie Darmstadt on the Rosenhöhe as an Artist-in-Residence for the Darmstadt Days of Photography (DTdF). As a conceptual artist who explores the relationship between humans and nature through performance, installation, photography, and video, she offers a sensory, non-discursive approach to the questions raised in an ongoing dialogue series at Kultur einer Digitalstadt e.V. titled “RNS – Renegotiating Space”
For the first topic, RNS#1: “The Necessity of Ecological Urban Democracy,” she presents her work—the result of several weeks of artistic engagement with the site and the theme.
During her residency, she collaborated with Darmstadt-based photographer Andreas Zierhut to realize the series “Re-Negotiating Space / Unicorn,” in which Darmstadt’s urban space is understood as a site of ongoing negotiation processes. Questions regarding humanity’s self-image in relation to nature intersect here with ecological imperatives, while simultaneously diverging visions within urban society regarding the use of public space stand in tension with the city’s urban planning and political interests. She responds to this with a performative intervention in the urban environment by staging herself in a unicorn costume at these locations.
The exhibition opening is on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 7 p.m. at the studio house of Kultur einer Digitalstadt e.V., Ludwig-Engel-Weg 1, 64287 Darmstadt.
The residency is a project of the Darmstadt Days of Photography as part of the World Design Council Frankfurt Rhine-Main – WDC 2026.
The exhibition is open from April 24 to May 3, 2026. Tue–Fri, 2–6 p.m., Sat–Sun 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Info at Culture of a Digital City
This residency is made possible by funding from WDC 2026.
