Image: Hanns Sohm, Concerto for TV Cello by Nam June Paik (1971), performed by Charlotte Moorman, 1974. Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Archiv Sohm
The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart will present “BÄNG! Radikale Künstlerinnen aus dem Archiv Sohm” (BÄNG! Radical Women Artists from the Archiv Sohm) from 10 October 2026 to 31 January 2027. The exhibition is being staged in THE GÄLLERY, the museum’s space dedicated to photography.
The show concentrates on five artists: Yoko Ono (born 1933), Yvonne Rainer (born 1934), VALIE EXPORT (1940–2026), Carolee Schneemann (1939–2019) and Charlotte Moorman (1933–1991). According to the museum, what unites them is the uncompromising way each approached the making of art.
More than 100 historical photographs record their unconventional actions, celebrated performances and choreographic works from the 1960s and 1970s. Drawn from the Archiv Sohm, the selection traces connections from the neo-avant-garde in the Rhineland to the art scenes of New York and Vienna.
The exhibition also sets out to examine a specific question raised by these works: in what way performance art, as a form of live action, is connected to the medium of photography.
The exhibition is curated by Elke Allgaier. It opens with an evening event on Friday 9 October, from 18:00 to midnight, with free admission. Doors open at 17:00, with entry through the gate of the Alte Staatsgalerie, and the museum’s director, Christiane Lange, and the curator will speak at 18:00. Visitors can then see the exhibition until midnight, with drinks and music in the museum’s Säulensaal.
The same evening, the museum is holding one of its “Weekend warm-up” events, titled “Move it – Alles in Bewegung!”, in its Stirling building from 20:00, with DJs, performances and dancing.
