EDINBURGH.- This October, The Scottish Gallery presents a landmark double exhibition: 50 Years of Naboland and The Behrens Family. Together, these parallel shows celebrate one of the most original artistic journeys of our time, while also revealing the extraordinary breadth of creativity across three generations of the Behrens family.

For half a century, Reinhard Behrens has constructed and voyaged through his mythical land of Naboland. With its submarine expeditions, dreamlike seascapes, and imaginative cartographies, Naboland has become both a place and an odyssey. It is an astonishing body of work that defies convention and redefines storytelling through art.

This immersive exhibition will transform two floors of The Scottish Gallery into Naboland itself, offering audiences the chance to step inside Behrens’ unique universe. The exhibition will also be accompanied by a new publication from The Scottish Gallery which will provide further insights into the mythology, imagery and enduring significance of Behren’s extraordinary creation.

50 Years of Naboland will position Reinhard Behrens rightly as one of the most original and visionary artists of his generation.

Alongside Naboland, The Scottish Gallery is delighted to present The Behrens Family, a showcase of creativity that spans painting, sculpture, music, film, automata and more.

This family exhibition includes works by:

Reinhard Behrens

With its submarines, strange coastlines, and dreamlike cartography, Reinhard’s work invites us to consider travel, place, and the persistence of wonder.

Margaret Behrens Smyth

Margaret Smyth, painter, brings a quiet lyricism to her work. Her paintings, often rooted in nature and memory, offer a meditative counterpoint to the narrative drama of Naboland. Together, Reinhard and Margaret’s artistic lives have formed a deeply generative partnership that has nurtured creativity across generations.

Kirstie Behrens

Kirstie Behrens is an accomplished printmaker specialising in etching and drawing. A graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee, her practice is grounded in careful observation and process, with a particular sensitivity to mark-making and material. Her work reflects her mother’s quietude and her father’s precision, offering a contemplative and refined perspective on the world.

David Behrens

David Behrens is a trained musician blending music, sculpture, and movement in his kinetic automata and mobiles. He channels a playful intelligence into his artistic practice, with each mobile or automata animated by a sense of narrative and mechanical poetry. While David’s art shares his father’s sense of invention, his speaks with a distinct voice shaped by sound, rhythm, and cinematic vision.

Together, these four voices offer a kaleidoscopic view of artistic inheritance, innovation and collaboration, demonstrating how creativity can flourish within and across generations.

Christina Jansen, Director of The Scottish Gallery, says: “It is time that Reinhard Behrens is recognised for his astonishing art odyssey. 50 Years of Naboland is not just a retrospective, it is a journey into imagination itself. Alongside the wider Behrens family, this exhibition affirms their collective brilliance and unique contribution to contemporary art.”