MANNHEIM.- The city is an enormous, future-defining project. With URBAN NATURE, Kunsthalle Mannheim invites visitors to take part in an immersive spatial experience that spans the meeting point of art, theater and performance.

A large walk-through labyrinth in which visitors move from scene to scene through the exhibition spaces of the Kunsthalle Mannheim– this is Rimini Protokoll’s new project URBAN NATURE, which makes it possible to experience people in different economic parallel worlds. The artists’ collective develops seven scenes, in each of which one person shares their special perspective on urban space with the visitors. In the process, URBAN NATURE creates an unforgettable experience in which the boundaries between exhibition and staging, between reality and fiction, become blurred.

Experts of everyday life




The joint project of the Kunsthalle Mannheim and the Nationaltheater Mannheim offers a unique experience in the exhibition rooms on the first floor of the Hector Building, which allows each visitor an individual experience. At the individual stations, they virtually meet the seven experts and slip into their role for about eight minutes before they are forwarded to the next station via screens. In this way, they immerse themselves in the reality of life of an investment consultant with a luxurious office and a tennis court on the roof, as well as in the world of a homeless person looking for a place to sleep or in that of a former graphic designer who grows marijuana in order to have more time and money for her child. URBAN NATURE constantly encourages visitors to change their perspective, to question their own realities, and thus enables completely unexpected and unique insights and experiences.

Rimini Protokoll

The author-director team Rimini Protokoll, founded in 2000 by Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi and Daniel Wetzel, is internationally renowned for its interactive productions in the theatre world and has been operating globally in various constellations for over 20 years. With the URBAN NATURE project, Rimini Protokoll continues its long-standing collaboration with scenographer Dominic Huber. In their projects, Rimini Protokoll leaves the limited space of the theatre stage to explore urban space as a theme and venue for their productions. URBAN NATURE was previously shown in Barcelona and will be adapted for the spaces of the Kunsthalle Mannheim. Rimini Protokoll is thus also following up on its successful collaboration with the Nationaltheater Mannheim, with which the artists’ collective already cooperated in 2005 on the documentary production “Wallenstein”.

Accompanying Program—the “Stadtzimmer” or “City Room”

With an innovative supporting programme, the Kunsthalle is creating a public space of interaction and reflection that is accessible free of charge. The team of the Kunsthalle Mannheim wants to start a discussion on the questions of the URBAN NATURE project with regional actors who are themselves affected and can contribute their own perspectives. Experts, institutional partners, civil society actors, initiatives, associations, intercultural communities and research projects were invited to submit proposals for events, like talks, music, workshops and participatory activities. Topics such as urban development, gentrification, new forms of work, alternative models of living together, micro-economies, neglected minorities and other urban issues of the city of Mannheim and the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region are in the focus. The events will take place in September and October 2022