13/06/2026 – 13/09/2026,

Zauri Matikashvili. You may not want to be here

, Kunsthalle Münster

The Kunsthalle Münster is pleased to present the first institutional solo exhibition by Zauri Matikashvili, providing an insight into the work of the Georgian artist, who has lived in Germany since 2003. Both older works and a new production will be shown. Matikashvili's films are usually dedicated to individuals, groups of people or places. He usually encounters strangers in his films and allows them to share their lives with him for a while, sometimes only for a brief moment. He is fascinated by the unpredictable and surprising moments in his encounters with the people he meets, their thoughts, desires, wishes and opinions. And it is precisely these moments that he shares with us.

Against the backdrop of current social developments, a democracy under pressure, the confrontation with increasing populism and a general political shift to the right, increasing social inequalities as well as a shift away from social politics, Zauri Matikashvili's films seem to have a special urgency. He turns people who usually receive little attention into protagonists and focuses on minorities. He shares stories that take place beyond the majority society and that urgently need to be heard, addressing topics such as segregation, racism and increasing repression from different perspectives. With films, performances and sculptures, he asks how people's everyday lives are linked to power and resistance, how societies function in detail—or not.

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).

Curator: Merle Radtke