Unfolding Futures. The Art of Growing Up 2024/25

From 9 May to 12 June 2025, we presented our exhibition at the Temporary Bauhaus-Archiv. We use our artworks to explore the theme of growing up – a period of transformation, when we learn so many new things and begin to look back on our own past for the first time.

When do we actually become an adult – and does the process ever really end? What do we leave behind, and what do we gain along the way? Who determines our future? What are growing pains really – and when we grow out of something, what do we grow into?

We want to share our personal stories of growing up and growing out as well as critically reflect on the struggles and obstacles we have faced along the way. We also we take a look at utopian futures – at a world that might finally become a grown-up, too. It’s about chewing gum machines and grey hairs, about putting down roots and developing visions, about hiding from the world and revealing ourselves to it.

Growing up is something we all have in common. The young students in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin also began a new chapter of their lives when they entered the Bauhaus – in a period of social uncertainty. As a school, the Bauhaus was a place of learning, but always also a space for self-discovery. We havve found inspiration in their courage to experiment and their desire for freedom.