Activity, relaxation, and artistic impulses: a 75-minute yoga class for all interested participants with Gabriele Kroll (certified yoga instructor) at the Hans Otte. Klanghaus. The session concludes with a shared moment of relaxation and refreshments in the Library. Before and after the class, participants are welcome to explore the exhibition and the museum.

Please bring comfortable clothing and a yoga mat. If you do not have your own mat, please indicate this when registering.

Fig.: Yoga at the Hans Otte. Klanghaus, photo: Gabriele Kroll

Far more often than we realize, our lives are shaped and constrained by “invisible” normative ideas. This applies both to what is considered the “right way to live” (heteronormativity) and to what is considered the “right way to write.”

The four open sessions of Queer Writing – Against the Norm! (29 March, 7 June, 23 August, and 25 October, 1–5 pm) invite participants to question and challenge these norms and conventions through writing, discovering writing as a form of self-empowerment and resistance. Participants may contribute to a collective queer alphabet (Queer A–Z) or pursue other ideas and impulses through writing, including their own. Alongside and after the writing sessions, there will be opportunities for exchange, readings, questions, and mutual support. Participants are also encouraged to draw inspiration from the Weserburg itself, including works from the collection exhibition So as We Are, ranging from Murat Önen’s Moving Pile under the Blue Sky (2022) to Zoe Leonard’s queer-political manifesto I Want a President (1992).

The four open workshop sessions are led by Bremen-based queer author Jutta Reichelt (www.juttareichelt.com) and are open to all queer people, regardless of background or writing experience. Anyone interested in writing and exchanging ideas in a group setting is warmly welcome. Participation in one or multiple sessions is possible without prior registration.

About the participant:

Jutta Reichelt (*1967) lives in Bremen, where she works as a writer and facilitator of storytelling. She writes novels, short stories, and literary essays, publishes the blog Über das Schreiben von Geschichten (On Writing Stories), and leads writing workshops. Her work has received numerous awards. In 2001, she was awarded the Würth Prize of the Tübingen Poetics Lectureship, for which Herta Müller delivered the laudatory speech. Her novel Wiederholte Verdächtigungen was published by Klöpfer & Meyer (Tübingen) in 2015, followed by the literary portrait volume Blaumeier oder der Möglichkeitssinn (Bremen) in 2020. In 2020, she received the Bremen Senator for Culture’s Literary Project Grant for her work on Mein Leben war nicht, wie es war, which was published by Kröner Verlag in 2024.

A cooperation between Literaturhaus Bremen, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Queeraspora e.V., Stadtbibliothek Bremen, and Rat&Tat – Zentrum für queeres Leben.

Fig.: Jutta Reichelt, photo: Dorothea Salzmann-Schimkus

The documentary The Tree of Authenticity (2025) by Congolese filmmaker, photographer, and video artist Sammy Baloji explores the relationship between colonialism and the climate crisis through the perspective of the Tree of Authenticity. Starting from the remains of a former tropical agriculture research center in Yangambi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Baloji investigates the connections between colonial exploitation, scientific research, and today’s climate crisis.

Belgium, DR Congo, 2025 – Director: Sammy Baloji – Original languages: French, Dutch – English subtitles – 89 min.

As part of the exhibition Mirrorball by artist Anys Reimann, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst presents ARCHIPELAGO (2026), a work from her ongoing series Black Gardens, which the artist has been developing since 2019 in various forms, both indoors and in outdoor garden settings. ARCHIPELAGO refers to the movement of goods, plants, and people, intertwined with the complex history of coloniality.

Drawing on Édouard Glissant’s concept of the archipelago, the islands do not appear as isolated entities but as bodies in exchange, as networks of relationships. In this sense, the work also invites viewers to develop new connections and narratives.

The Tree of Authenticity encourages reflection on the enduring entanglements of colonialism, the environment, and global responsibility.

Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst in cooperation with the research training group Contradiction Studies at the University of Bremen, flux – Café. Bar. Begegnungen, Afrikanetzwerk Bremen, KlimaWerkStadt Bremen, and Lucie Garten.

Fig.: View of the exhibition Anys Reimann. Mirrorball. In the foreground: ARCHIPELAGO, 2026, courtesy the artist & VAN HORN, Düsseldorf, photo: Tobias Hübel

Introductory talk: Sabine Hänsgen, curator of the exhibition, with publisher Wolfgang Mohrhenn. Followed by a performance of the composition Über-Schneidungen (Mattia Bonafini): sound samples from the Edition S Press archive.

About the exhibition:

From 1970 to 2005, Edition S Press was a publishing house specializing in experimental literature, Concrete Poetry, Beat Poetry, and poetry performance. Using reel-to-reel tapes, audio cassettes, video cassettes, and media packages, it developed new forms of publishing acoustic art. Over 80 editions bring together works by artists from Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Many of these artworks were created during the Cold War and demonstrate how poetry and sound art became forms of expression for resistance and artistic freedom.

More information on the exhibition here.

Exhibition period: 12 September 2026 – 29 August 2027

Fig.: S PRESS Tape No. 70, Michael Brownstein – Monkey Blues, 1979, S PRESS TONBANDVERLAG, photo: Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst

Koffi is possessed. At least, that is what his family believes, which is why they call him Zabolo, a sign of the devil. After being ostracized for years, he returns to his birthplace in Congo for the first time in many years. Koffi hopes to receive his family’s blessing for his marriage to Alice, with whom he lives in Belgium. But old hostilities are still palpable, and only his sister Tshala takes a critical view of the collective superstition. Koffi wants to understand the reasons why he was cast out and, in doing so, uncovers a family secret. And then there is Paco, a boy from a street gang whose fate seems to be connected to Koffi’s life …

In his feature film debut, musician, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist Baloji explores in a compelling way how profoundly belief shapes the fate of his four main characters. OMEN is a visually powerful film incorporating elements of surrealism and magical realism—an impressive testament to the creative energy of contemporary African cinema.

About the artist:
Baloji was born in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1978 and is now based in Belgium. He is an award-winning musician, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist who also works as an art director and costume designer for fashion and other forms of visual art.

Original version (English/French/Lingala/Swahili) with German subtitles
Belgium/Germany/France/Netherlands/South Africa/Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2023
92 minutes, rated 12 and older, directed and written by Baloji

As part of the exhibition Anys Reimann. Mirrorball.
In cooperation with the Research Training Group “Contradiction Studies” at the University of Bremen and CITY 46.

Fig.: OMEN (2023), film still © Grandfilm, Wrong Men

This workshop is for anyone who would like to try both writing and drawing. Everyone who enjoys experimenting and creating together is warmly invited to join. No previous experience is required!

Participants can also draw inspiration from the Weserburg itself—including works in the collection exhibition So wie wir sind: from Murat Önen’s Moving Pile under the Blue Sky (2022) to Zoe Leonard’s queer political manifesto I want a president (1992).

About:

Lee Doubleu draws, paints, and writes in Bremen. As a volunteer, Lee co-organizes a monthly drawing meetup. Lee’s own artistic practice currently focuses on sketches, illustrations, and watercolors. Most recently, the short story Der Hobby-Friedhof was published in an anthology by the Austrian publishing house ohneohren.

Jutta Reichelt lives and works in Bremen as a writer and initiator of stories. She writes novels, short stories, and literary essays, blogs about writing stories, and leads writing workshops. Her writing has received several awards.

A cooperation between Literaturhaus Bremen and Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst.

Fig: Jutta Reichelt © Dorothea Salzmann-Schimkus and Lee Doubleu © Lee Doubleu

Program:

4–8 pm: Afrofuturist Zines & Collage with Jeff Hollweg and DJ set by Bremen-based DJ .Umi.

Together with comic artist and social educator Jeff Hollweg, participants will use pens, scissors, and paper in the Project space to create fantastic characters, new worlds, and stories. Image fragments and archives will be reassembled and reimagined from a perspective that critically engages with discrimination. A reading corner featuring a selection of children’s books and graphic novels invites visitors to discover bold visions of the future and question familiar ideas about society. Accompanied by DJ sets from DJ .Umi:.

4:15–4:45 pm: Reading with Fikri Anıl Altıntaş about James Baldwin from 30 Real Boys – mutig, gefühlvoll und ganz sie selbst

In the Library, Fikri Anıl Altıntaş reads from his newly published children’s nonfiction book 30 Real Boys – mutig, gefühlvoll und ganz sie selbst (Hanser, 2026) for visitors of all ages. The book encourages boys to show their feelings and stand up for others. Real Boys portrays thirty empathetic men who support others, take on care work as a matter of course, support women and queer people, or advocate for the rights of groups affected by discrimination.

5–5:30 pm: German-French guided tour of the exhibition Anys Reimann. Mirrorball

About Community Art Night:
Once a month, the Project space at the Weserburg becomes an open workshop for creating, exchanging ideas, and experimenting together. On Thursdays from 4 to 8 pm, it becomes a space for people to meet and connect. No previous experience is required. Between 4 and 6 pm, visitors can also explore the current exhibitions. Short tours and conversations with people from Bremen’s urban community and the museum offer different perspectives on selected works and the themes of the exhibitions.

Fig.: Zines & Collage at Community Art Night, photo: Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst