MUNICH.- Authoritarian politics, political violence, attacks on minorities, and the resurgence of fascist narratives increasingly shape the global and European present. ANTIFASCISM: NOW. 2026–2028 is a transnational art and research project that addresses these conditions through contemporary artistic practice, with a focus on Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe. Rather than historicizing antifascism, the project approaches it as an active, present-day democratic practice.

Bringing together more than 50 international artists, activists, curators, cultural practoners and theorists, the project connects artistic production, activism, and research in a multi-year, process-based format. Initiated and curated by Kalas Liebfried (Director, Municipal Exhibition Hall, Lothringer 13, Munich) in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, ANTIFASCISM: NOW. unfolds in 14 countries through 2028 and concludes at the Ludwig Forum Aachen, curated by Damian Lentini.

Opening ritual and symposium: January 30–February 1, 2026
Exhibition, symposium, performances, concerts, panels, talks

The exhibition at Lothringer 13 presents 18 interdisciplinary and cross-media works, including installations, video works, performances, concerts, participatory and research-based formats, artist residencies, and publishing initiatives. These include the print magazine 13 Reasons and the Assembly Space, a central architectural and discursive gathering space developed by Gülbin Ünlü and Benedikt Gahl in collaboration with ansa studio, Munich.

Participating artists and collectives include Nikita Kadan (Kyjiw), Bojan Stojčić (Sarajevo); Hussein al-Jerjawi (Gaza, invited by Reporting House); Forensic Architecture, presenting a recent work and introducing its new office in Athens; Igor Grubić (Zagreb) Lexi Fleurs, Stanislava Pinchuk (b.Charkiv, Melbourne, Sarajevo and Barcelona) among others.

Opening panel
Kalas Liebfried (Lothringer 13, Curator Antifascm: now.); Johannes Ebert (Secretary General, Goethe-Institut); Ana Miljanić (Center for Cultural Decontamination, Belgrade); David Süß (Munich City Council).

Symposium: “Antifascist Cultures of the Present”
January 30–February 1, 2026

The international symposium inaugurates the project and introduces antifascism as an investigative artistic practice. It brings together artistic, institutional, and technological perspectives to discuss strategies of resistance to contemporary fascist structures and the formation of new global democratic networks.

Moderators
Carina Bukuts (Kunsthalle, Vienna); Juliane Bischoff (Portikus, Frankfurt);
!Mediengruppe Bitnik; Gürsoy Doğtaş (Munich)

Keynote
Damian Lentini (Chief Curator, Ludwig Forum Aachen)

Introduction
Kalas Liebfried, (Curator Antifascim: Now.)

With contributions by
Nikita Kadan; Stefanos Levidis (Forensic Architecture);
Sebastian Cichocki; Maria Hlavajova;
Elma Hašimbegović, among others.