In addition to works by artists and themes featured in its own exceptional collection, the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr also presents thematic exhibitions of emerging art from Germany and abroad. The generous spaces in the upper floor of the museum are especially suited for installations and artistic experiments. Within the framework of the exhibition CHINA 8, the museum is thus presenting works of art with an experimental and interactive character – Models of Irritation. The exhibition demonstrates to what extent contemporary artists have liberated themselves from national dogmas. Over the past twenty years, intellectuals have increasingly turned their backs on both national and Western authorities.

Nevertheless, their own cultural traditions as well as Western influences remain important impetuses. As social seismographs, the artists exhibited here gather current experiences of life and art, all the while retaining their own independent ways of thinking. The artists’ own positioning and their own individual formal alphabets are the focus of their works. The six positions presented in the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr address everyday events and pose the question of who is actually responsible for the depiction and interpretation of reality. Is it the politicians? The scientists? The journalists? Or the artists?