ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Rirkrit Tiravanija's Decentralized Exhibition at Haus der Kunst

exhibition · 2026-04-24

Rirkrit Tiravanija's exhibition at Haus der Kunst in Munich (5–29 May) blurs boundaries between performance and participation through a transparent stage set for Toshio Hosokawa's opera Hanjo (2004), adapted from Yukio Mishima's 1955 Noh play. The set, on wheels and featuring a ghostly white bonsai tree, doubles as a platform for tea ceremonies by Japanese artist Mai Ueda. Seven films from 1995 to 2017 screen upstairs, including a shot-for-shot remake of Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), originally filmed at Gavin Brown's Enterprise in New York. A replica of the film's bar, staffed by actor Florian Tröbinger, offers free drinks to visitors. Table-tennis tables stenciled with 'morgen ist die frage' riff on Július Koller's 1970 participatory work. Visitors can screen-print slogans from the Hanjo libretto onto T-shirts. Banners outside display phrases like 'My body is filled with waiting.' A video at the entrance animates slogans on freedom and repression in multiple languages. The exhibition atomizes components throughout the museum, creating a decentralized experience that echoes the opera's themes of repetition and blurred realities.

Key facts

  • Exhibition at Haus der Kunst, Munich, 5–29 May
  • Transparent stage set for Toshio Hosokawa's opera Hanjo (2004)
  • Hanjo adapted from Yukio Mishima's 1955 Noh play
  • Tea ceremonies by Mai Ueda
  • Seven films from 1995 to 2017, including remake of Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
  • Remake filmed at Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York
  • Bar replica with actor Florian Tröbinger offering free drinks
  • Table-tennis tables riffing on Július Koller's 1970 work

Entities

Artists

  • Rirkrit Tiravanija
  • Toshio Hosokawa
  • Yukio Mishima
  • Mai Ueda
  • Philippe Parreno
  • Liam Gillick
  • Carsten Höller
  • Douglas Gordon
  • Pierre Huyghe
  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder
  • Karl Holmqvist
  • Florian Tröbinger
  • Július Koller

Institutions

  • Bayerischer Staatsoper
  • Haus der Kunst
  • Gavin Brown's Enterprise

Locations

  • Munich
  • Germany
  • New York
  • United States

Sources