Munich's museums invite visitors to encounter the Old Masters and new young things. Almost all genres and epochs are represented. It is amazing what art can do: it brings colour to our lives, amuses us, irritates and rebels, relaxes and is sometimes simply beautiful. Here are some current exhibitions that you'll definitely want to catch:
- Art of antiquity
- The Old Masters
- From the 18th century to classical modernism
- Strong women, strong art
- Art in dialogue
- Architecture, design and handicraft
- Munich – a mecca for contemporary art
- Photo and video exhibitions
- Graphics and drawings
- Exhibitions at the Jewish Museum
- Science and Natural History exhibitions
- Exhibitions in the Munich environs
Myth & Modernity. Fritz Koenig and Antiquity, Glyptothek, 20 November 2024 to 30 March 2025
The exhibition “Myth & Modernity. Fritz Koenig and Antiquity“ at the Munich Glyptothek presents a selection of his sculptures, drawings and paper cuts to mark the 100th birthday of the sculptor Fritz Koenig. The works enter into a dialogue with the antique sculptures in the permanent exhibition and show Koenig's inspiration from classical antiquity in an impressive way.
Combo. An exhibition by the Munich Secession at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Staatliche Antikensammlungen, 29 January to 27 April 2025
This time, the Staatliche Antikensammlungen are not showing any antique exhibits as part of a special exhibition, but are working together with the Munich Secession and the Deutscher Künstlerbund to commemorate the period between 1898 and 1916, when the museum served as an exhibition centre for both artist communities. In addition to the historical perspective, current works by contemporary artists from both groups are also presented.
Corinthium Aes, Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, from 18 March 2025
The alloy is named “Corinthian ore“ after the city of Corinth, one of the centres of production in antiquity. In Ancient Egypt, however, the material was already known as ‘black copper’ from the second millennium BC. There it was used exclusively for the production of precious cult objects and figurines of gods. Knowledge of the manufacturing process for this special metal alloy was long considered lost. It was not until Matthias Lehr, a goldsmith from Nuremberg, successfully reconstructed the precious material and, in collaboration with archaeologist Alessandra Giumlia-Mair, deciphered the manufacturing process. In the exhibition, modern and ancient Egyptian objects now reveal the fascinating secrets of this marvellous material.
NAGA. The buried royal city, Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, from 18 March 2025
The exhibition takes visitors on a multimedia journey to the World Heritage Site of Naga in Sudan. The immersive special exhibition brings to light the remains of a once magnificent temple city of the ancient empire of Meroë (350 BC to 350 AD) and takes visitors on an excavation in the Sudanese desert. Walk-through photo panoramas and soundscapes provide insights into the archaeological work and emphasise the protection of cultural heritage and the current humanitarian crisis.
Family exhibition “Childhood in Ancient Egypt“, Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, from 28 October 2025
The exhibition “Childhood in Ancient Egypt“ at the State Museum of Egyptian Art provides fascinating insights into the life and upbringing of children in ancient Egypt. Original objects, interactive stations and a varied accompanying programme shed light on topics such as family, upbringing, religion and leisure time in comparison to today's childhood. A catalogue, a children's booklet as well as guided tours, lectures and workshops complement the exhibition and invite visitors of all ages to join in.
Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750). Nature into Art, Alte Pinakothek, 26 November 2024 to 16 March 2025
Her magnificent, deceptively realistic floral still lifes with exotic plants and fruit, butterflies and insects already became sought-after and expensive collector's items during her lifetime. Demand was so great that the Amsterdam painter could afford to produce merely a few works a year. In general, she led an unusual life for a woman of her time. She was the daughter of the renowned professor of anatomy and botany, Frederik Ruysch, the first female member of the Confrérie Pictura guild of painters in The Hague, a court painter in Düsseldorf, lottery game winner and raised her eleven children at the same time. From November 2024 on the Alte Pinakothek will present the world's first major monographic exhibition of her work.
How Pictures Tell Stories. From Albrecht Altdorfer to Peter Paul Rubens, Alte Pinakothek, 5. June 2025 to 5. July 2026
A re-encounter with old acquaintances such as rarely displayed discoveries in the Alte Pinakothek! The presentation of works from the collection of Early German, Early Netherlandish and Flemish paintings of the 16th and early 17th century promises a surprise or two. Different facets of a theme that is one of the core tasks of painting are examined: namely storytelling. How and by whom are stories told and what do they relate? What aims have artists and patrons pursued at different times, and what audiences do they address? And is this always obvious at all or are those looking at a work sometimes even deliberately misled? These and other questions are raised in this presentation in which often nothing appears to be as it seems at first glance.
A Meeting of Minds. Works from the Neue Pinakothek at the Sammlung Schack, Sammlung Schack, until 31 December 2025
The Neue Pinakothek owns famous paintings by Carl Spitzweg, Moritz von Schwind, Carl Rottmann, Arnold Böcklin and Anselm Feuerbach. During the refurbishment of the Neue Pinakothek, these works will join the extensive collection of works by the same painters acquired by Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack in the Schack Collection. Here, the originals now interact in an exciting way and illuminate an important facet of the (art) history of the 19th century.
From Turner to Van Gogh. Masterpieces from the Neue Pinakothek at the Alte Pinakothek, until 31 December 2026
While the Neue Pinakothek is being completely refurbished, selected major works of 19th century painting and sculpture are also on display in the Alte Pinakothek alongside the Schack Collection. The selection ranges from Classicism and Romanticism to the beginning of Modernism. On display are works by the Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich as well as the French Impressionists and the pioneers of modernism from Édouard Manet and Claude Monet to Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh. New additions include groups of works by the important realists Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and Adolph Menzel.
Velvet Terrorism. Pussy Riot's Russia, Haus der Kunst, 6 September 2024 to 9 April 2025
The exhibition, which will be shown in the LSK Gallery, the air-raid shelter of Haus der Kunst, is the largest presentation of the work of the Pussy Riot artistic collective to date. On display are the texts written by hand on the walls by Maria Alyokhina, which merge with videos, photos, humour, punk and noise in one room. Visitors can understand the increasingly hostile relationship between the feminist art collective and the Russian state authorities and confront the question of what resistance means in art.
Shu Lea Cheang. KI$$ KI$$, Haus der Kunst, 14 February to 3 August 2025
Shu Lea Cheang's first institutional survey exhibition updates her works and artefacts from the last three decades into new landscape formations. Each gallery space is a world of its own, where internet-based installations, software interactions and multiplayer performances invite visitors to play and explore. “KI$$ KI$$“ explores Cheang's practices of worldbuilding, the exhibition represents a transformative journey or “experience machine”.
Sandra Vásquez de la Horra. Soy Energía, Haus der Kunst, 14 November 2025 to 8 March 2026
The artist's first survey exhibition in Europe is dedicated to her experimental practice and focuses on her spatial, energetic and world-encompassing thinking. Based on the multi-perspectivity of Sandra Vásquez de la Horra's work, the exhibition shows drawings, paintings, films and performances that are rooted in her upbringing in Chile as well as in her many years of living in Germany.
The Blue Rider. A new language, Lenbachhaus, until Winter 2025/26
With a selection of around 250 works, including paintings, prints, reverse glass paintings, photographs and sculptures, the exhibition takes visitors from the turbulent period around the turn of the century to the middle of the 20th century. Numerous works have not been on display for a long time, such as the works of Paul Klee and the dynamic abstractions of Wassily Kandinsky from 1914, while recent acquisitions by the Lenbachhaus Förderverein are presented for the first time, including works by Franz Marc, Maria Franck-Marc and the artist Moissey Kogan, who was persecuted and murdered under National Socialism. The new presentation also includes a curated library and film section.
Glamour and History. 40 years of P1, Haus der Kunst, 21 June 2024 to 23 February 2025
To mark its 40th birthday, the Haus der Kunst is dedicating the exhibition “Glamour and History. 40 Years of P1“, which is based on archive material and offers an immersive experience. Visitors are invited to share their personal stories and memorabilia about P1 to enrich the exhibition.
P1 is one of the few clubs, if not the only nightclub, that shares a roof with an art exhibition centre in inspiring coexistence. To this day, it is an integral part of international club culture and a place of longing for different generations. Since its reopening in 1984, P1 has been a permanent fixture on the German club scene and has hosted numerous legendary events. These include Whitney Houston's first concert in front of a European audience and a party for Tina Turner at which fake Deutschmark notes rained down from the ceiling.
But living here? No thanks. Surrealism + Anti-Fascism, Lenbachhaus, 15 October 2024 to 30 March 2025
Ever since they came together in the 1920s, surrealists denounced European colonial policy, later they organised themselves against fascists, fought in the Spanish Civil War, called on Wehrmacht soldiers to sabotage, were interned and persecuted, fled Europe and fell in the war. They wrote poetry, honed the deconstruction of a supposedly rational language, worked on paintings and collective drawings, took photographs and made collages. The exhibition aims to bring together attempts to answer the question ‘What is Surrealism?’. The aim is to make surrealism visible as the controversial, internationally networked and highly politicised movement that its representatives understood it to be.
Rosemarie Trockel/Thea Djordjadze. limitation of life, Lenbachhaus, 12 November 2024 to 27 April 2025
The Lenbachhaus presents a joint exhibition by Rosemarie Trockel (b. Schwerte, Germany, 1952) and Thea Djordjadze (b. Tbilisi, 1971). The two artists forged a close creative relationship between 1998 and 2001, when Djordjadze was Trockel's student at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts, and have realized joint projects before. Their oeuvres explore themes that are relevant to contemporary art and its production, scrutinizing, for example, the creative process and interrogating its premises, traditions, freedoms, and constraints. Meanwhile, they play with the conventions of art and the exhibition space.
Liesl Karlstadt and Karl Valentin. Through night and fog, Isartor Innenhof, 12 December 2024 to 29 April 2025
The courtyard exhibition shows the star duo of the Munich folk singer scene surrounded by their many admirers in 1920s Munich. During this time, their performances developed from an insider tip to a must-see programme, inspiring more and more people. People went to see Valentin and Karlstadt because they discovered something completely new and unprecedented. Lion Feuchtwanger and Bertolt Brecht were also among the admirers. Feuchtwanger's novel ‘Success’ provides impressive descriptions of their performances. Brecht brought the duo to the Münchner Kammerspiele as young dramaturges – and so they went from the stage to the theatre.
Rotunda Project 2025. Rupert Huber. Music of Entcounters, Pinakothek der Moderne, 6 June 2025 to 9 November 2025
The Austrian composer Rupert Huber (*1967) has composed a piece of music especially for the Rotunda in the Pinakothek der Moderne. It will be ‘performed’ by visitors to the museum: their movements will trigger melodic sequences from the composition and create a polyphonic ‘music of encounters’.
‘Social music’ is based on being able to incorporate unforeseeable events into a composition – in line with the principle of interaction: a person moves, a sensor detects their movement and triggers a melodic tonal sequence. In this way, several people create a symphony-like sound: their encounters are not only orchestrated but form the basis of the music installation as well – a symphony of individuals’ coming together. The sounds are adapted to the architectural situation, the proportions of the space determine the harmonisation of the parts.
Jugendstil. Made in Munich, Kunsthalle München, 25 October 2024 to 23 March 2025
Around 1900, young visionary artists in Munich set out to revolutionize art and to reform life. Facing a time of rapid scientific as well as technical innovation and social upheaval, they joined the quest for a fairer and more sustainable way of life. Artists such as Richard Riemerschmid, Hermann Obrist, and Margarethe von Brauchitsch turned their backs on historical styles to create a new art that permeated life down to the smallest detail. Their ideas formed the foundation for modern art and design. With examples from painting, graphic art, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and fashion, the exhibition sheds light on Munich’s role as the cradle of Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) in Germany and demonstrates how topical the issues of life discussed back then still are today.
Art and stage. Venues of Munich Art Nouveau, Deutsches Theatermuseum, 17 October 2024 to 23 March 2025
The turn of the century marked an upheaval in theatre aesthetics: across the artistic disciplines, calls for a reform of stage art grew louder. The rapid changes around 1900 altered viewing habits and the experience of space. The demand for an exact reproduction of reality on stage no longer corresponded to the spirit of the times.
Under the influence of the Art Nouveau movement, Munich developed into a centre of theatre reform. Artists such as Richard Riemerschmid, Fritz Erler and Thomas Theodor Heine fuelled the discourse of the stage innovators. The Munich Artists' Theatre on Theresienhöhe, a unique relief stage opened in 1908 and the result of a collaboration between a young generation of artists and the experienced architect Max Littmann, proved to be style-defining for the dawn of modernism. Curtain up!
Kitchen Culture. From the first fitted kitchen to the individually configured kitchen, Pinakothek der Moderne, new permanent exhibition from 26 November 2024
The new permanent exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne sheds light on the kitchen culture of the past 100 years, from the first fitted kitchen to the customised kitchen. During this time, designers and architects developed new solutions and reacted to technical and social changes. The spectrum ranges from the simple cooking cell to the kitchen as the communicative centre of the living area.
This insight is complemented by a selection of household appliances that characterise everyday life in the kitchen. In addition, a wall installation of around 300 trays from the Ludmila and Rolf Podlasly collection shows popular design from GDR production. With works by renowned female artists such as Rosemarie Trockel, Laurie Simmons and Mona Hatoum, the works on loan from the Goetz Munich Collection expand on aspects of kitchen work and the traditional role of women.
The Bicycle. Cult Object - Design Object, Pinakothek der Moderne, until 1 April 2025
For the first time, the exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne focuses on the subject of bicycle design. On display are 70 examples of some of the most unusual and exciting bicycles in the history of design.
The fact that bicycle design is not only the art of craftsmanship and frame building, not only the work of ingenious inventors, tinkerers, obsessives and enthusiasts, is proven by the numerous designs of aircraft and automobile engineers such as Paul Jaray, Hermann Klaue or Alex Moulton as well as industrial designers, including Luigi Colani, Richard Sapper, Michael Conrad, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Marc Newson, Christian Zanzotti or Ross Lovegrove.
Trees, Time, Architecture! Design in Constant Transformation, Pinakothek der Moderne, from 12 March 2025 to 14 September 2025
The exhibition ‘Trees, Time, Architecture!’ explores the complex relationship between trees, time and architecture in a constantly changing world. Trees, as long-lived and vital organisms, play a central role in climate change, but are themselves increasingly under threat. The exhibition uses global examples to show that sustainable building requires not only finished objects, but also dynamic processes in order to connect trees and architecture in a meaningful way.
Warwick Freeman. Hook Hand Heart Star, Pinakothek der Moderne, 15 March to 15 June 2025
Warwick Freeman, born in Nelson, Aotearoa/New Zealand in 1953, is regarded worldwide as one of the most influential jewellery artists of our time. Over five decades, the New Zealand artist has created a lexicon for the world of signs around us: from the cultural symbolism of the hook and the star to the heart crafted from the cinders of the volcanic island of Rangitoto, an island just off the coast of Auckland. Freeman's works sensitively tell of the culture and history of Aotearoa/New Zealand. His materials include the mother-of-pearl of the giant clam, the iridescent skin of the paua, a rainbow abalone, and the greenstone pounamu.
Kunstlabor 2, Kunstlabor 2 of the Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art (MUCA), from 26 October 2021 for five years
Situated in the Maxvorstadt district and located in a former health centre, Kunstlabor 2 spans some 10,000 square metres over six floors. The building was transformed into a new centre for art and culture as a temporary project by the Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art (MUCA). A particularly exciting point for lovers of street art and urban art to note is that two of the six floors have been – and continue to be – transformed into a walk-in work of art by more than 100 artists.
Those involved include household names such as Loomit and rapper Samy Deluxe, but also newcomers such as Pepe (alias Jose Luis Villanueva Contreras). In addition to the permanent room installations and changing exhibitions, the centre offers an extensive framework programme including guided tours, workshops, film days, concerts, readings, labs, performances and many other cultural highlights. The operators of Kunstlabor 2 offer the façade to artists to use as a design platform, legally and free of charge.
Shredded Banksy Original Girl Without Balloon, Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art, 14 February to 13 April 2025
Just in time for Valentine's Day, the Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art is presenting a highlight work: the world-famous shredded Banksy artwork Girl Without Balloon will be on display in the MUCA Bunker from 14 February. Hardly any other work has caused such a stir in the art world and beyond.
The work, then titled Girl With Balloon, was the final lot of Sotheby's prestigious London evening auction in October 2018 and sold for just over £1,000,000. However, shortly after the hammer fell on the final bid, a siren sounded amidst the hustle and bustle of the auction room and the painting spectacularly began to shred through the bottom of its frame. After more than half of the painting had been cut into strips, it was taken away by excited staff and a media frenzy began. The destruction of the artwork gave it even greater significance.
Fragment of an Infinite Discourse. Contemporary Art from the Lenbachhaus, the Jörg Johnen Donation and the KiCo Foundation, Lenbachhaus, from 28 June 2023
The exhibition shows works from the collection of contemporary art by Jörg Johnen, parts of which the Berlin collector and former gallery owner is donating to the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich. The collection consists of 64 works by 26 artists, including works by Maria Bartuszová, Katharina Fritsch, Prabhavathi Meppayil, Wiebke Siem, Mario García Torres and Jeff Wall.
“Fragment of an Infinite Discourse“ is the title of an artwork by Mexican conceptual artist Mario García Torres. Three glass rings interlock without touching. The work is the prelude to the exhibition and illustrates its programme. It shows how subtly and at the same time indissolubly things are connected to each other and stimulates different associations, sensations and interpretations. Quite vividly, the rings as geometric elements indicate the infinite circular form. The title of the exhibition is therefore intended to represent the abundance of conceptual positions and at the same time open up the multiple possibilities of interpretations and perspectives.
House of Banksy – An Unauthorized Exhibition. The largest exhibition of the artist's art to date, B-Tween (formerly Galeria Kaufhaus am Stachus, until April 27, 2025
Over 200 works by the anonymous artist Banksy will be shown on 2300 square meters in the basement of the former Galeria Kaufhaus am Stachus. As many of his works, which include graffiti and street art, have been destroyed in the original or cannot be authorized by the artist, the exhibition consists of reproductions of various sculptures, photographs and video installations. What is particularly exciting here is that the graffiti, which is sprayed live by renowned artists, can be experienced and the socio-political message of his work can be felt at first hand.
Alex Katz. Portraits and Landscape, Museum Brandhorst, 22 March 2024 to 16 February 2025
Alex Katz has donated two paintings to Museum Brandhorst. An early work from 1958, showing the painter and sculptor George Ortman, and a recent, very personal double portrait of his wife Ada and his son Vincent. To mark this generous donation, Museum Brandhorst is presenting the exhibition “Alex Katz: Portraits and Landscapes,” which, in addition to the two new acquisitions, also presents the rich inventory of work by the artist held by the Brandhorst Collection.
NoName: Sell la Vie, Amuseum of Contemporary Art, 5 October 2024 to 20 July 2025
In a multifaceted range of elaborate oil paintings, handmade collages and mixed-media works, NoName makes references to relevant events of our time, picks up on everyday themes and literally underscores them with well-known advertising slogans. In doing so, he not only specifically picks up on images from our everyday lives, he also consciously utilises viewing habits shaped by the media and advertising. With the sophistication of established marketing strategies, NoName transforms his works into a stage in whose spotlight the dark sides of a society characterised by neoliberalism are illuminated.
Eccentric. The aesthetics of freedom, Pinakothek der Moderne, 25 October 2024 to 27 April 2025
In common parlance, an eccentric attitude is considered to be extravagant and decadent. But eccentricity is much more. Because it refuses any ideology – for the freedom of democracy. This is the basic idea behind the first exhibition on the potential of eccentricity as an aesthetic of freedom. The focus is on art from 1980 onwards, but fashion, design, film and architecture are also included in an exemplary way. Eccentric celebrates the diversity and complexity of the great themes of nature, beauty, intimacy and humanism. The exhibition features paintings, sculptures, installations and video works by John Bock, Maurizio Cattelan, Marguerite Humeau, Jonathan Meese, Pipilotti Rist, Anna Uddenberg and many other international artists.
Philippe Parreno: Voices, Haus der Kunst, 13 December 2024 to 25 May 2025
The exhibition ‘Voices’ is the highlight of this year's theme of language at Haus der Kunst. The central element is the development of the new language ∂A, spoken by ARD Tagesschau speaker Susanne Daubner. ∂A was conceived by Philippe Parreno himself and is constantly evolving through machine learning. The language interweaves all the elements that the artist brings together in the exhibition spaces. The rooms are transformed into a constantly changing science fiction landscape in which visitors can sense the imminent arrival of something that is not yet present. Parreno sees his work as a living organism that takes shape through temperature fluctuations, light, moving images and language ∂A, thus becoming a medium of communication in our world.
Five Friends. John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Museum Brandhorst, 10 April to 17 August 2025
For the first time, Museum Brandhorst is focussing an exhibition on a group of artists who have had a decisive influence on art in many disciplines since 1945. John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly created a special connection between the artistic genres of music, dance, painting, sculpture, drawing and media through their friendly exchange. With over 150 works of art, scores, stage props, costumes, photographs and archive material, the exhibition shows the interplay between the five artist friends. The exhibition will be complemented by a varied accompanying programme of dance performances and concerts in Cy Twombly's Rose Hall, which will focus on the works of Merce Cunningham and John Cage.
For Children. Art Stories since 1968, Haus der Kunst, 18 July 2025 to 1 February 2026
The group exhibition is the result of transnational research and presents artists who have turned their attention to young people and have created artworks specifically for children and young people from 1968 to the present day. It deals with universal themes such as humanity, society, politics, economy and ecology, technology and the future, which we first encounter as children and which accompany us into adulthood.
Although the works are primarily aimed at children, the fundamental themes invite visitors of all ages to engage in an intergenerational dialogue. Artists include Koo Jeong A, Agus Nur Amal PMTOH, Ei Arakawa-Nash, Tarek Atoui, Yto Barrada, Antoine Catala, dis, Olafur Eliasson, Harun Farocki, Emily Floyd, Jan Peter Hammer, Eva Koťátková, Basim Magdy, Meredith Monk, Rivane Neuenschwander, Palle Nielsen, Lygia Pape, Rachel Rose, Afrah Shafiq and Tromarama.
Long Story Short. An Art History from the Brandhorst Collection from the 1960s to the Present, Museum Brandhorst, 23 October 2025 to 31 January 2027
From autumn 2025, “Long Story Short“ will tell a story of contemporary art from the 1960s to the present from the holdings of the Brandhorst Collection. Each room will be an exhibition in its own right from Arte Povera to monographic presentations, from formal aesthetic discourses to socio-political themes. Works that have never been shown before and new acquisitions will enter into dialogue with the museum's icons dialogue with the museum's icons and open up new perspectives on the collection, which now comprises over 1600 works.
Gregory Crewdson: Picture Window, Espace Louis Vuitton, 11 October 2024 to 22 February 2025
The exhibition at the Espace Louis Vuitton shows two series - Dream House (2002) and Cathedral of the Pines (2014) – by US photographer Gregory Crewdson. Crewdson, who was born in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1962, is one of the most renowned contemporary photographers. For three decades, he has been drawing a meditative portrait of the middle class in the USA, staging his photographs as if they were films. He uses actors, backdrops, props, storyboards and make-up artists. With these means, he explores the dark side of the American dream as well as his own psychological themes.
Lee Miller Photography, Amerikahaus, 1 February to 31 July 2025
With her photographs, Lee Miller created one of the most important documents of the so-called “zero hour” in Munich. Her war photographs show the American view of the end of the war in Europe. The photographer accompanied American soldiers from the landing in Normandy to the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp; she fearlessly shows the suffering and destruction of war. It was only through her tenacity that she went frontline and was able to assert herself in the male-dominated environment of the military and accompany the armed forces through war-torn Germany.
The works by Lee Miller exhibited in the Amerikahaus are not limited to war photography. She began her career in front of the camera as a model in New York. Shortly thereafter, she worked as a photographer, herself, in Paris, New York and, for a time, in Egypt. She worked for many years for British and American Vogue.
Civilization. The Way We Live Now, Kunsthalle München, 11 April to 24 August 2025
Never have more people lived on Earth, never has our impact on the planet been greater, never have we been more closely interconnected—our society is changing ever more rapidly. The exhibition Civilization tracks humanity's visual threads across the globe, through the eyes of 150 of the most internationally accomplished photographers. The thematic tour presents diverse imagery from cultures on all continents, exploring a variety of aspects, from the great achievements of mankind to our collective failings. In the year of its 40th anniversary, the Kunsthalle München is dedicating this exhibition to the question of how we live today and sheds light on our civilization’s diversity and contradictions.
On View. Encounters with the photographic, Pinakothek der Moderne, 4 July to 12 October 2025
The Ann and Jürgen Wilde Foundation and the Collection of Photography and Time-Based Media are presenting a joint overview of their holdings in one exhibition for the first time. Milestones of artistic photography from the 20th and 21st centuries will be on display – including renowned key works and recent acquisitions. Taking New Objectivity and documentary photography as starting points, themes such as the body, identity, objecthood, time and narrative will be explored, juxtaposing works spanning different eras. The exhibition ”On View. Encounters with the Photographic” unites some 250 works by more than 50 artists in one exhibition space covering 1200 square metres.
Paula Scher. Type is Image, Pinakothek der Moderne, 23 June 2023 to 21 September 2025
Paula Scher (born 1948) is the internationally most influential and most successful graphic designer of her day. Her ideas have inspired generations of designers and have become icons of graphic design. The artist puts type, in other words typography, at the center of her works. With “Paula Scher: Type is Image” Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum is presenting the artist’s first solo exhibition in Germany.
From her early award-winning album covers of the 1970s through her many years of work for the New York Public Theater and corporate identity commissions such as the one for Microsoft Windows 8 and on to her most recent works on hand-painted maps the entire spectrum of her work will be on show in the form of outstanding designs.
Signs, gestures, words. Between writing and image, Pinakothek der Moderne, 11 December 2025 to 12 April 2026,
The Written Art Collection is dedicated to artistic positions since 1945 that link language, writing and image in three different cultural regions. The fascination with the phenomenon of writing in images is borne by the urge to reveal intercultural correlations between writing, drawing and painting. Expressive, abstract and spiritual elements in visual languages of the modern age – in Western Europe and the USA, in the Near and Middle East as well as in East Asia – are at the focus of attention.
With works by Etel Adnan, Maliheh Afnan, Siah Armajani, Mohammed Ehsai, Susan Hefuna, Rebecca Horn, Adam Pendleton, Morita Shiryū, Kazuo Shiraga, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mark Tobey, Qiu Zhijie, Lawrence Weiner, Inoue Yūichi, Charles Hossein Zenderoudi and others.
Picture Stories. Portraits of Munich Jews, Jüdisches Museum, 15 Mai 2024 to 2 March 2025
A boy in a sailor suit, a lady in a beret and with huge puffed sleeves, a rabbi with an open prayer book. In its exhibition entitled “Picture Stories. Portraits of Munich Jews,” the Jewish Museum Munich shows well-known and forgotten faces and asks: Who had their portrait painted by whom?
How did they want to be seen? What kind of person did they want to represent? The works from the 19th and early 20th centuries tell of the self-image of Jewish families in Munich and their contribution to urban society up until their persecution by the Nazis, and reveal the diversity of Jewish identities. Many of the portraits in Munich and the stories behind them have long since been forgotten.
The Third Generation. The Holocaust in Family Memory, Jüdisches Museum, 9 April 2025 to 1 March 2026
More than eighty years after the Shoah, we are now witnessing the death of the last contemporary witnesses. Their story, but also their trauma, was passed down to the generations of children and grandchildren. While the second generation grew up with the psychological and physical injuries of their parents, the third generation looks at the family history from a greater temporal distance. Because of the awareness that their lives are based solely on the survival of others, memory and silence, family myths and secrets, overwhelming or missing family legacies are ubiquitous.
Starting from an approach to what it can mean to belong to the third generation and the dimension of trauma in family memory, the exhibition explores various strategies for coping and dealing with the legacy of the Holocaust. Using artistic works in particular, it tells of archiving and no longer wanting to remain silent, of appropriation and demarcation, of consciously remembering and wanting to forget, of the omnipresence of the Shoah and the large gaps in family histories, and the attempts to fill them. The artistic positions, but also the objects and archives on display, show how trauma is transmitted from generation to generation. At the same time, they convey how the global rise of right-wing radicalism, terror, and war can lead to retraumatization, on the one hand, but also to increased commitment to peace and human rights, on the other.
From nuclear physics to robotics: the diverse permanent exhibitions on the Museum Island, Deutsches Museum
Experience knowledge: There are 19 permanent exhibitions to discover on around 20,000 square metres on Munich's Museum Island. The thematic diversity ranges from nuclear physics to agriculture and nutrition, from chemistry to bridges and hydraulic engineering, from aerospace to health and robotics. Some of the greatest masterpieces are on display, such as the first diesel engine, the Siemens studio for electronic music, the Helios space probe or the infamous Enigma cipher machine. You can gain an insight into the departments here.
The focus is not only on the past, but also on current and future-oriented inventions and developments, such as the pioneering Sycamore quantum processor or the first authorised anti-corona vaccines. Many interactive demonstrations, walk-through exhibits, experience spaces for virtual reality or augmented reality and numerous media stations bring technology and science to life and make them tangible in the truest sense of the word.
Light and Matter, Deutsches Museum, until 26 October 2025
The special exhibition “Light and Matter“ at the Deutsches Museum shows quantum optical phenomena and makes them understandable through interactive stations and artefacts. It demonstrates how the interaction between light and matter has developed over the last hundred years and provides insights into current research and future applications.
As a part of the Munich Centre for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), the exhibition includes historical experiments such as the double slit experiment and technologies such as lasers and quantum computers. Visitors can experience quantum physics procedures through hands-on stations and scenarios. In addition, important scientific findings and their social, economic and political impact are also presented.
The exhibition is divided into five sections and will become part of the new permanent exhibition Physics after its run until the end of 2025.
Future of the Alps. Global warming, Alpines Museum, 25 October 2024 to 30 August 2026
Global warming is changing our world dramatically. This is particularly evident in the Alps. The change in temperature and precipitation has an immense impact on biodiversity, flora, fauna and the shape of the landscape. Together with scientists, experts from nature conservation organisations, members and representatives of Alpine associations and students, the exhibition shows the effects of this development and looks for ways to respond to the challenges of global warming.
Thin Ice, Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum, until 9 November 2025
“Thin Ice“ takes visitors on a climate expedition in Hall I of the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum and is particularly aimed at children and school classes. They can immerse themselves in the world of Arctic expeditions and climate research and slip into the role of researchers. The first stop is on the POLARSTERN research vessel. Here you can find out about life on board and, for example, try out for yourself how complicated it is to screw together measuring instruments while wearing thick polar gloves.
Several research stations on the ice then demonstrate the technical effort and manpower required to collect data. Here you can learn which alarming theories about the climate and the impending climate catastrophe can be substantiated by the data. Knowledge, creativity and attention are required here if you want to support science with your data! The diaries can be analysed at the end of the exhibition.
Prehistoric Forms - Understanding Ice Age Art, Archäologische Staatssammlung, 22 November 2024 to 21 April 2025
Our ancestors were already artistically active in the Ice Age. This is shown in the exhibition “Urformen – Eiszeitkunst begreifen“, at the Archäologische Staatssammlung in Munich. This exhibition has already been shown in Ulm – for Munich, the Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart is contributing the inclusive part of the exhibition. On display are finds from the caves of the Swabian Alb, supplemented by 23 carved Ice Age works of art found at various locations throughout Europe. Visitors can gain an insight into the everyday life of people in the Palaeolithic Age at interactive stations.
Skeletons. Choreographers of movement, Museum Mensch und Natur, 22 March 2024 to 27 April 2025
The Museum Mensch und Natur is showing a special exhibition dedicated to the skeleton and the bones from which it is made on over 400 square metres. From the shrew to the hippopotamus and from the parrotfish to the owl, a wide variety of skeletal specimens are presented and X-ray films show how dynamically the seemingly rigid skeletal structures operate. In addition, a large part of the exhibition is dedicated to the topic of “bones“. Among other things, the internal structure of bones is shown, the constant processes of formation and degradation are explained and bone diseases are analysed.
Maria Theresia 23: Biography of a Munich villa, Monacensia, from 27 October 2024
The new permanent exhibition at the Monacensia sheds light on the history of the Hildebrand House from its construction as an artists‘ villa in the time of the Prince Regent to its current use. Built by the sculptor Adolf von Hildebrand, the villa later became a place of tragic fates. A special focus is placed on previously little-known events and people who shaped the house and its surroundings.
During the Nazi era, the Hildebrand House became the scene of persecution, disenfranchisement and contradictions, as both victims and representatives of the regime lived in close proximity to one another. The exhibition presents numerous historical documents, photographs and letters from archives and private collections. Today, the Hildebrandhaus, home of the Monacensia, is open to anyone who wants to discover and experience literary Munich.
Colonialism in things, Museum Fünf Kontinente, 8 November 2024 to 18 May 2025
“When is a work of art colonial?“ The special exhibition ‘Colonialism in things’ is dedicated to this question and takes a critical look at the colonial past of the Museum Fünf Kontinente. On display are unique historical artefacts that came to Munich during the colonial era and are now often regarded as masterpieces. Alongside key works of the post-colonial debate, such as the Bele Bele ship's beak from Cameroon or Benin bronzes from Nigeria, there are art and cultural artefacts from Tanzania, Namibia, India and Pakistan, China, New Guinea, the Philippines and Samoa.
The selection includes everyday objects as well as works of great spiritual, political or artistic significance. The exhibition documents how these objects were looted, bought, exchanged or accepted as gifts in European-ruled colonial territories. The violence, racism and attempts to suppress the cultures of the colonised become clearly visible.
Exhibitions of the MuSeenLandschaft Expressionismus, Museums in the Upper Bavarian Alpine foothills
The extraordinarily attractive landscape of the Upper Bavarian Alpine foothills stretches between Munich and the Alps. In the early 20th century, the young Expressionists from Munich came here to capture nature in powerful colours and forms. Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner were here before they became members of the Dresden artists' community “Brücke“. The artists of the Blauer Reiter (Blue Rider) Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, Franz Marc, Alexej von Jawlensky and Heinrich Campendonk had particularly close ties with the region.
In the “MuSeenLandschaft Expressionismus“, experiencing nature and enjoying art enter into a unique combination: The Buchheim Museum of Fantasy attracts people to Starnberger See (lake) with its world-famous Expressionists; in Kochel am See, the Franz Marc Museum offers exquisite art experiences around its namesake; at Staffelsee, the Murnau Castle Museum attracts visitors with the “Blue Rider“ and Gabriele Münter; near the Osterseen, the Penzberg Museum draws attention with Campendonk, and in Munich, the world's largest collection of works by the “Blue Rider“ can be seen in the Lenbachhaus. Under the theme of the year: “Strong women – artists, muses, makers“, the participating museums invite you to experience and/or rediscover the museums and the surrounding landscape in 2024.
