Featured Events in Munich in May, 2025 (May Updated)

After four decades of museum and exhibition operations, the Neue Pinakothek is undergoing fundamental refurbishment. The museum is therefore closed for several years. During this time, selected major works of 19th century painting and sculpture are exhibited in the Alte Pinakothek and in the Sammlung Schack. The selection ranges from classicism and Romanticism to the beginning of modernism. Under the title ‘From Turner to van Gogh’, the 19th century is now being relaunched in a different form. The works of the Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich, the French Impressionists and the pioneers of modernism from Édouard Manet and Claude Monet to Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh will continue to be on display. Newly exhibited are groups of works by the important Realists Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and Adolph Menzel, which could not be shown in previous years. One cabinet brings together intimate interior depictions from the Symbolist and fin de siècle eras.

The sun at the beach, the scanner at the supermarket checkout or the signal in a fibre optic cable: when light encounters matter – or matter encounters light – exciting things happen!

The first institutional survey exhibition of Shu Lea Cheang (b. 1954, Tainan, Taiwan) takes the taiwanese-american artist’s first feature film Fresh Kill (1994) as a starting point, presenting the artist and filmmaker’s world-building practices and updating works from the past three decades. Cheang moved to New York City in the 1980s, where she joined the vibrant scene of independent cinema and started experimenting with video, live TV, and network technologies. Since the 1990s, her work has challenged and furthered our understanding of digital culture. Cheang anticipated the advance of alternative currencies, investigated gamified societies, and probed biotechnologies. Her works often develop over several years through different stages and media, including video, installation, performance, and various forms of cinema. The exhibition updates works and artefacts into new landscape formations extending through four gallery spaces. Trash appears as a primary theme that leads Cheang’s investigation into the entanglement of biosphere and technosphere. Each gallery is its own world in which internet-based installation and software interaction invite the audience to explore and play.

The exhibition "Colors of Japan – Woodcuts from the Collection of the Bavarian State Library" presents masterpieces of Japanese color woodblock prints from three centuries: from the beginnings of multi-color printing in the mid-18th century to shin-hanga, the so-called "New Prints" of the 20th century. In Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868), these "pictures of the floating world" (ukiyo-e), as these prints are also called, were an integral part of urban life and entertainment culture. Popular motifs included beauties, stage stars, and landscapes. What distinguishes Japanese color woodblock prints is the combination of artistic excellence and craftsmanship. The special stylistic characteristics and diverse cultural and historical references of this art form are evident in works by artists such as Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Yoshitoshi, and Hasui. Originating as a commercial art form and produced in large numbers, many prints are now considered works of art of the highest rank.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Robert Rauschenberg, an important contemporary American artist. The Artists Foundation will present a series of exhibitions, the most special of which is the "Five Friends". The "Five Friends" exhibition focuses for the first time on Rauschenberg and his four friends and collaborators - John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns and Cy Twombly, who are artists who have had a decisive influence in the fields of music, dance, painting, sculpture and drawing after the war. Their creations transcend media, connecting and influencing each other. The exhibition will display more than 150 paintings, scores, stage props, costumes, photographs and documents, and will also host a series of dance performances and concerts to reproduce the dialogue between the works of the five artists.

For the first time, the exhibition “Five Friends” focuses on a circle of artists who had a decisive influence on post-war art in the fields of music, dance, painting, sculpture and drawing. John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly created a special connection between the artistic genres and media through their intimate exchange.

Philippe Parreno revolutionised the experience of exhibitions. The French artist transforms galleries into choreographed spaces that follow a script, where all artworks are interconnected while a series of unexpected and interdependent events unfold. Dancers control the exhibition and guide the visitors. A moving wall dances slowly. A tower antenna relays the soundscape of the exhibition and broadcasts stories from a remote land. Its heat is transmitted from blind lamps, its everyday life is screened. Two films fade in and out between flickering circular lights. Mechanical elements rise and fall, generating soundscapes from environmental data, processed and redistributed by the Brain – a customised super-computer. The hard symmetry of the building dissolves, forming a choreography of data, breaths and voices.

Vocatium München 2025, a premier career and education fair, is set to take place at the renowned MTC world of fashion in Bavaria, Germany, from May 13 to May 14, 2025. This distinguished event serves as a pivotal platform for students, graduates, and professionals seeking to explore diverse career paths and educational opportunities. With a focus on personalized interactions, Vocatium München 2025 facilitates meaningful dialogues between attendees and representatives from various industries, universities, and vocational institutions. The event promises an array of workshops, seminars, and one-on-one consultations, designed to provide invaluable insights into the evolving job market. By fostering connections and offering tailored advice, Vocatium München 2025 aims to empower participants to make informed decisions about their future endeavors. The serene and stylish setting of the MTC world of fashion adds a touch of elegance to this enlightening experience, making it an unmissable event for those aspiring to shape their professional journeys.