Showing Me Home / Zeig mir Deine Heimat - Mail Art Project

[Lars Schumacher]

There is a quiet power to this project—gentle in tone, yet resonant in its reach. “Showing Me Home / Zeig mir Deine Heimat” is far more than an exhibition. It is an open social sculpture in the spirit of Joseph Beuys, one that invited people from around the world via social media to visually and poetically express what “home” means to them. What emerged is an emotionally charged, international mosaic of photographs, collages, and reflections—submitted by artists, musicians, and individuals deeply moved by the theme. Inspired by Beuys’ expanded definition of art—his assertion that “Everyone is an artist”—this participatory project aligns itself seamlessly with the tradition of the Soziale Plastik.

By inviting people from Buenos Aires, Yerevan, Timișoara, and Hanover to share their version of home, it becomes a space of co-creation where the private turns political and the personal becomes universal. Participation here does not stem from command, but from invitation. The simple yet profound questions—“What does home mean to you?” and “What does it feel like to be at home?”—cut through the noise of modern discourse with quiet clarity. They ignite self-reflection and open a stage for empathy to unfold—across generations, cultures, and languages. Each submission is not a solitary artwork but part of an evolving, organic body shaped by every response. The venues that have hosted this project—the Kunstpanzer in Hanover (2015), the Kunst & Musik Etage (2017), the Carlshöhe in Eckernförde, and the panoramic heights of the Bredero Hochhaus, Hannover high-rise—serve not merely as exhibition spaces, but as integral threads in its narrative. Art on the 16th floor, overlooking the rooftops of the city, quite literally offers a new perspective on what we call home. The collaborative photo-collage “Heimat Hannover”, developed there, transforms passersby into participants, strangers into co-authors.

Showing Me Home is not a static work—it is a continuous conversation. A living testament to the notion that art is not just for viewing, but for encountering. In a time when the concept of “home” becomes increasingly politicized, this project responds with quiet pluralism: with images instead of slogans, with closeness rather than borders. The result is deeply humanistic—a walkable atlas of memory, longing, and connection. Or, to echo Beuys: “The future we want must be invented—otherwise we will get one we don’t want.”

International Participants of “Showing Me Home”:
Amelia Secas I Andrea Patricia Pop I Andrea Roeff I Angela Behrendt I Anca Graterol I Anette Behlau I Bela Ruehmt I Burkhard Hußmann I Cathy Beck I Chris Link I Claudia van Bommel I Claudio Grandinetti I Cristina Denzler I Clemens Wiedel I Diana On I Dòrian Ribas Marinho I Franziska Greite-Schillert I Family Meyer I Guido Capuano I Guido Vermeulen I Hans-Georg “Schorsch” Wenke I Horst Tress I Ingeborg Rath I Iveta Vladovičová I Keiichi Nakamura I Kleanthi Liodi I Klaus Störch I Line Hübotter I Lene Lovich I Lilit Stepanyan I Lutz Beeke I Marina Hlubek I Maya Lopez Muro I Meral Ağar & Türkan Elçi I Mirta Navas I Monika Mori I Negin Pirouzmandi I Nika Baum I Otto D. Sherman I Pascal Coupechoux I Poul Poclage I Ralf Sommer I Renate Golde I Rosa Gravino I Ryosuke Cohen I Sarina Wert I Serse Luigetti I Siggi Weinert I Simone Foedrowitz I Stefan Balog I Stefan Heuer I Stefan Mahnke I Susanne Schumacher I Timm Kronenberg I Tzvetanka Koykova I Ute Rönnpag-Lohmeyer I Valentina Stefanescu I Victor Gingiu I Wolfgang Kraus aka Welfchen