13/09/2026, 3:00 pm,

Coversation in the exhibition Zauri Matikashvili. You may not want to be here with Zauri Matikashvili and Silke Schönfeld

, Kunsthalle Münster

Visual artist and filmmaker Silke Schönfeld joins Zauri Matikashvili to explore the similarities and differences in their working methods. Both artists studied together at the Münster Academy of Fine Arts under Aernout Mik and have turned to documentary filmmaking, a field they continually challenge. Similarities and differences in their artistic practices form the basis for the conversation, which addresses not only the works on display but also filmmaking in general.

With You may not want to be here, the Kunsthalle Münster is presenting Zauri Matikashvili’s first institutional solo exhibition, thus offering insight into the work of the Georgian artist. Alongside his latest two-channel installation Passing the Glass (2026), which is premiering as part of the show, two of Matikashvili’s earlier films, In Katernberg (2022) and Made in Europe (2023), are also on view. The cinematic works are complemented by a sculptural series entitled You may not want to be here (since 2024), with works distributed over the entire exhibition space, entering in dialogue with his films.

Zauri Matikashvili’s films are dedicated to individuals, groups of people or places. Quite often, his focus is on people who otherwise receive little attention. He examines themes such as identity, traditional gender roles, segregation, belonging, inner conflict, racism and increasing repression from a variety of perspectives. Against a backdrop of democratic regression, the rise of authoritarian populism, a general shift to the political right and growing social inequalities, Matikashvili’s work takes on a notable sense of urgency.

The conversation will be held in german.

Zauri Matikashvili was born in the Georgian town of Qvareli. After studying Fine Arts in Münster and Düsseldorf, he now lives and works in Münster and Amsterdam. In his films, performances, installations, and sculptures, he questions the socio-cultural and political contexts of different societies and nations that shape the construction of identity in individual realities and families. He is particularly interested in how narratives and images create community. Matikashvili's works have been shown in numerous institutions, for example at BSMNT in Leipzig (2026), at Julia Stoschek Foundation in Düsseldorf (2025), at Kunst in Tunnel (KIT) in Düsseldorf (2025), at the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur in Münster (2025), at Het Documentaire Paviljoen in Amsterdam (2024), at Stadthausgalerie Münster (2023), at Antimatter Media Art in Victoria (2023), at By Art Matters in Hangzhou (2023), at Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam (2023), at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2022), at International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen (2022), at Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof in Hamburg (2021), at Filmfestival Münster (2021), at HMKV in Dortmund (2021), at Atelier No. 63 PACT Zollverein in Essen (2020) and at Philara Collection in cooperation with Filmwerkstatt in Düsseldorf (2020). He was artist in residence at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten Amsterdam (2022–2024), at Cité Internationale des Arts Paris (2022) and at PACT Zollverein in Essen (2021). He recently received scholarships from Stiftung Kunstfonds (2025) and Kunststiftung NRW (2026).

Silke Schönfeld (born 1988 in Idar-Oberstein) is a visual artist and filmmaker. She studied fine art at the art academies in Münster and Düsseldorf. Her film works have been presented in solo exhibi-tions at venues including the Hartwarte MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund (2024) and the Kunsthalle Bielefeld (2024). From 2020 to 2022, she was an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. Internationally, her work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions and at film festivals, including at the Goethe-Institut (Paris), the CAN Foundation (Seoul), Garage (Rotterdam) and the Building Bridges Art Exchange (Santa Monica). As part of Flurstücke 2024, she produced the film No More Butter Scenes (2024) in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Münster and the Filmwerkstatt Münster. Her works have received numerous awards, including the German Short Film Award (2023) and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Promotion Prize (2021). By interweaving personal stories with historical and social structures, she immerses herself in specific contexts and confronts her own prejudices. As a participant-observer, she focuses on people, whether individual protagonists or social groups. As she follows them, she documents memories, rituals, ideologies and processes of identity formation. She lives and works in Dortmund.