Ian Waelder

In the exhibition thereafter, Ian Waelder for the first time connects the façade, atrium, and arcaded hall of the Kestner Gesellschaft, thereby opening up a spatial dialogue between inside and outside – past and present. His works transform familial traces, biographical ruptures, and everyday remnants into carriers of history. Memory here is not understood as reconstruction but as a tentative movement along gaps, displacements, and deposits.

Together with curator Alexander Wilmschen, the artist will speak about his working process, the conception of his works, and his experiences. The conversation offers an opportunity for direct exchange with Waelder.

Ian Waelder is an artist and publisher. His practice engages with collective memory and personal history, spanning a wide range of media including photography, sculpture, sound, found objects, printmaking, and spatial installations. He currently lives and works between Mallorca, Frankfurt am Main, and Basel.

Alexander Wilmschen is a curator at the Kestner Gesellschaft. He studied art history and philosophy as well as Art History in Global Context in Düsseldorf and Berlin. At the Kestner Gesellschaft, he has curated numerous exhibitions, including projects with The Institute of Queer Ecology, Klára Hosnedlová, Rebecca Ackroyd, Anna K.E., Paloma Varga Weisz, and Jack O’Brien.