Given or Chosen?
Fri, 1 May – Sat, 2 May 2026
| Special price: Exhibitions 9 EUR |
| Many events are free of charge. Please note that registration or an exhibition ticket is required for some events. |
| Foyer, Saal 1-3, 2. OG |
| Belongs to: Family Matters |
We all live in relation. This reality inspires a two-day festival at the Humboldt Forum that deals with biological or chosen family, kinship, ancestry and other intimate relationship constellations in which most of us are involved. You can look forward to a festival of togetherness and participation with concerts, dynamic dance performances, friendly chatbots, readings, games and curatorial insights in the special exhibitions on Family Matters.
With: Kim de l’Horizon, Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, Black Dads Germany, Suli Puschban, Li Binyuan, Ernest and Theo Thiesmeier, Raymond Liew Jin Pin and many more.
On May 1, we explore the feeling of “oneness,” including through a performance by the artist duo Mwangi Hutter. Oneness celebrates people who have found connection despite their very different backgrounds.
In The Mitochondrial Eve, Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen reflects on the shifting, multifaceted role of motherhood.
How do we build intimacy? In Raymond Liew Jin Pin’s When Two Flowers Meet, dancing ribbons form brief and delicate connections.
Curious visitors can “befriend” a chatbot in the interactive installation be mAI friend.
Kristy Nataraja’s animated dance Transpersonal leads into the Africa and Oceania collections of the Ethnological Museum.
In the foyer, Li Binyuan’s performance Plaza invites everyone to recognize a familiar person using nothing but their voice.
Theo and Ernest Thiesmeier present their new film Familie sein. The premiere is accompanied by a conversation with Theo Thiesmeier’s entire patchwork family.
German Book Prize winner Kim de l’Horizon delivers a lecture-performance on terrestrial kinship – drawing on their Blutbuch (2022). My Migrant Mama invite you to tea, intergenerational conversation and nail polish.
Preparing food for someone is a form of communication – join the conversation in the Cooking Box by the duo groundtable.
Curators guide visitors through their exhibitions: Nothing as Our Ground, Making Kin, and Family Matters.
On May 1, there will be a concert featuring the witty musician Suli Puschban.
In the Living Room, new books by Black Dads Germany from the recent Book-A-Thon in the Humboldt Forum will be read.
Everyone is invited to take part in the interactive, multigenerational guided tour of the exhibition Family Matters to discover what family means to them.
With African Street Games, the Humboldt Forum transforms into a lively playground.
The programme is complemented by Korean-German Story Theatre.
Curation: Solvej Helweg Ovesen (SHF), Minh Duc Pham and Hai Nam Nguyen. Collaboration: Paul Timo Kaemmerer