Pigeon Paradox

Artists: Caroline Böttcher, Özcan Ertek, Anne Linke, Anne Hölck, Gerhard und Maja Marx, Lale Willan, Ticia Tanne, and more

curated by Lale Willan and Anne Hölck

Öffnungszeiten / opening hours

Hardly any other animals polarize public opinion as strongly as pigeons.

As white doves, they symbolize peace and are associated with purity and hope; yet gray urban pigeons are often linked with dirt, disturbance, and disease.

The exhibition “Pigeon Paradox” takes this ambivalent relationship between city dwellers and pigeons as its point of departure. Through artistic works, it explores a central question: which human and non-human interests shape ways of being in shared urban space? City pigeons descend from escaped domestic pigeons, which explains their enduring affinity for human environments. Paradoxically, the protection of biodiversity in the future may be tried out precisely in cities, where the majority of both humans and pigeons live. Through installation-based, media, sculptural, and conceptual artworks by Caroline Böttcher, Özcan Ertek, Anne Linke, Anne Hölck, Gerhard & Maja Marx, Lale Willan and Ticia Tanne, the exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the cultural meanings that shape our attitudes toward pigeons and to discover their remarkable and inspiring abilities.

The installation work “Flock”, designed by Lale Willan, incorporates slide projections of additional artistic works about pigeons by Amber Skye Alcock, Bror Ida Lennartsson, Viviane Feitner, Abrie Fourie, Ella Ziegler, with pigeons from Berlin, Marburg, Hamburg, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Poznań and many more.

The accompanying program—featuring guided pigeon flock walks, guest speakers and workshop—centers on exchanging on pigeon perspectives.