Die Höhle festival 2026_ Distance
Die Höhle festival will come back on May the 23rd and 24th 2026 for the third time at Expedition Metropolis Theater. Again a large inhabitable camera obscura will be set up in the theater, and visitors will enjoy creative and educational contents while also being involved in an immersive and archeological experience of photography. Distance is the caption of this edition of the festival: every photo a person sees broadens the horizons of their experience, without them having to take a single step towards the subject of the photo; photography is entangled in a necessary yet ambiguous relationship with distance, simultaneously eliminating and producing it. With an installation, two performances, one workshop and one talk, Die Hohle festival 2026 proposes to fantasize within this grey area.
May, 23rd, 5 pm
Workshop with Olek Brodowicz and Claudio Di Paola about the camera obscura
Both the paradoxes of ancient philosophical thought and the findings of contemporary scientific research suggest that space is an infinitely divisible dimension. These are minimal and progressive differences in position that our brain is able to make sense of logically, yet which are effectively imperceptible to our bodies. Perhaps a camera lens is the only tool available to everyone that allows for a tangible insight into this infinite divisibility. Focus is a line along which minute variations—which we cannot perceive with our senses—reveal themselves by having a significant impact on the shape of the framed object. The workshop will take place inside a walk-in darkroom and, following a basic introduction to how it works, photographic experiments on focal length will be conducted, including the instant development of the photographs taken.
No admission charged, but please get in contact before: tickets@expedition-metropolis.de
May, 23rd, 8:30 pm
SPECULUM by Carmen Lafran
SPECULUM is a performance engaging with narratives of power, exposing how bodies are framed, named, and stabilized. It questions the eye that dissects and categorizes, forcing into representation what cannot be contained within existing frameworks of objectification. From within the body, another story begins to unfold, revealing the inherent instability of the category itself. What emerges is a shifting terrain where meaning slips, expands, and reconfigures beyond the limits imposed upon it.
Entrence: €15, €10 reduced
May, 24th, 3 pm
Away From Matter
Installation with Olek Brodowicz
In what ways and how far does a photograph distance itself from its subject-matter? The question models itself on the ancient problem of form and matter posed by ancient Greek thinkers, namely the relation between the immaterial form, the formless matter and the composite particular – a thing in the world we can point to – resulting from their interaction. In photography the form is the subject of the photograph, the matter is the two-dimensional sensitive surface, the composite is the picture. The ways in which the relation can be established is the whole spectrum of photographic possibility – the wall of Plato’s Cave.
“Away from Matter” is a tactile research into this topic, in the form of an installation presenting a number of attempts at creating pictures that play with the ‘distance’ between a single object and various ways in which it can be approached via photography.
No admission charged, but please get in contact before: tickets@expedition-metropolis.de
May, 24th, 7:30 pm
Off-Center by Megumi Eda, Music by Reiko Yamada (performance)
The moment I fell out of the center of love, my body began to move to return.
This work traces a body shaped by the persistent desire to be seen and recognized.
Entrence: €15, €10 reduced
Die Kleine KunstHalle, der Aufführungsraum, ist über eine Rampe zugänglich. Bitte kontaktieren Sie uns, falls Ihrem Besuch Barrieren im Wege stehen über veranstaltung@expedition-metropolis.de oder unter 030 47 98 01 52. Wir werden unser Bestes geben, Ihnen einen Besuch zu ermöglichen. ++++ The Kleine KunstHalle, the theater, where the event takes place, can be accessed via an outdoor ramp. Should you encounter any barriers to your visit, please do not hesitate to contact us at veranstaltung@expedition-metropolis.de or by phone at +49 30 47 98 01 52. We will do our best to make your visit possible.