Expanded Field II The Tree: Plant and Seed at Kunstraum MITTE37

[Lars Schumacher]

A growing constellation of artistic voices converges in Burgdorf this autumn as Expanded Field II – The Tree: Plant & Seed opens at Kunstraum MITTE37. Emerging from an open call that invited global participation until 31 July, the exhibition presents an extraordinary international panorama: contributions from more than thirty nations respond to the tree as a conceptual, poetic, and ecological figure. What began as a simple invitation has evolved into a vibrant, transnational network of artists and writers whose works now transform MITTE37 into a dynamic laboratory of contemporary art.

A Global Response to a Singular Motif

The submissions reveal how profoundly the tree resonates across cultures. In painting, drawing, photography, digital art, text, and hybrid formats, artists explore the tree as memory, myth, and future. The curatorial framework emphasizes a 2:3 vertical format, creating a calm, concentrated visual field in which each work stands as a distinct “thinking figure.” This formal clarity allows the diversity of international perspectives to emerge with precision and intensity.

The exhibition’s conceptual core unfolds along three intertwined lines:

• Trees as Memory — the tree as an archive of familial, historical, and literary narratives.

• Trees as Myth — symbolic and metaphysical imagery where the tree mediates between human and world.

• Trees as Future — speculative ecologies, digital experiments, and visionary approaches to environmental transformation.

Together, these strands form an expanded field in which art, ecology, and archival thinking interact and generate new modes of perception.

Fluxus Gestures: Planting as Artistic Action

As a Fluxus‑inspired project, Expanded Field II embraces process, participation, and interconnectedness. Many contributors extended their artistic gesture beyond the submitted work by planting a seed or sapling. This simple act introduces a second, living layer to the exhibition: a performative ecology in which image and action, archive and growth, art and future intertwine. Sustainability becomes not a theme but a practice—quiet, communal, and ongoing.

Encountering the Tree as Cultural Figure

Visitors are invited to engage with the tree not merely as motif but as cultural presence. The exhibition encourages reflection on how memory, myth, and futurity shape our relationship to nature and to one another. Those who missed the open call can now experience its results—and perhaps join the next iteration. Expanded Field II demonstrates how powerful it can be when people across continents respond to a shared artistic impulse and create something uniquely their own.

Kunstraum MITTE37: A Space for Thinking, Making, and Exchange

Located in Mittelstraße 37, Kunstraum MITTE37 has quickly become a vital site for contemporary art in Burgdorf. The space combines the intimacy of a working studio with the openness of a public forum. Rooted in the building’s history as a place of labor, encounter, and experimentation, MITTE37 cultivates an atmosphere that is flexible, curious, and accessible.

MITTE37’s mission is to present positions in painting, collage, mixed media, installation, and photography, bringing together regional artists and international guests. Future exhibitions will continue to explore themes of transformation, movement, identity, and encounter, reinforcing MITTE37 as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue. It is a space that does not merely show art—it enables it, reinventing itself with each exhibition while carrying forward its role as a creative center in the city.

neighborhood, and Burgdorf hosts a Sunday shopping event from 13:00. Art, civic engagement, and city life resonate together, creating a lively cultural atmosphere.

Participating Artists

The exhibition features contributions from: Péter Abajkovics (Hungary), José Luis Alcalde Soberanes (Spain), Meral Ağar (Turkey), MH//Antipode (Germany), Derya Avci (Turkey), Angel Bortot (Venezuela), Walter Bachmann (Germany), Ceren Baykan (Türkiye), Francesca Bella (Italy), Melanie Bäreis (Germany), Hans Braumüller (Germany), Anna Flávia Schmitt Wyse Baranski (Brazil), Adriana Horsmann (Argentina), Maria do Carmo Both (Brazil), Hanh Chau (China), Suely Castro Mello (Brazil), Binod Dawadi (Nepal), Michel Della Vedova (France), Vilma Dobilaitė (Spain), Floki Gauvry (Argentina), Rosalie Gancie (USA), Susan Gold (Canada), Eva Grabenhofer (Austria), Nihal Gures (Turkey), Carlo Maria Giudici (Italy), Leon Hainzl (Austria), Ed Hanssen (The Netherlands), Ingeborg Henrichs (Germany), Ulrich Rainald Hoffmann (Germany), Eleni Ioannou (Greece), Suzlee Ibrahim (Malaysia), Alexandru Jakabházi (Romania), Jeeja Jeeja Navghare (India), Gloria Keh (Singapore), Gabrielė Kuizinaitė (Lithuania), Varju Krisztián (Hungary), William Lee (Austria), Claudia Liekam (Germany), Alexander Limarev (Russia), Petra Lorenz (Germany), Adriana Lucaciu (Romania), Katerina Mandarik (France), Rebeca Martell (Mexico), Manuela Merl (Germany), Patty Milligan (Canada), Sibylle Möndel (Germany), Asma Ounine (Morocco), Zorica Obradović (Serbia), Wayne Owen (United Kingdom), Ovidiu Petca (Romania), Linda Pelati (Italy), Maria Grazia Piazza (Italy), Hugo Pontes (Brazil), Radoslav Rochallyi (Slovakia), Rado Rochallyi (Slovakia), Dale Roberts (Canada), Serena Rossi (Italy), Renate Helene Schweizer (Germany), Friedrich Schumacher (Germany), Susanne Schumacher (Germany), Rosana Schmitt (Brazil), Beate Senf-Hentsch (Germany), Carmela Sarcina (Italy), Agnieszka Sawicka (Poland), Fidels Daughter (Germany), Snappy (Canada), Dirk Strauch (Germany), Paulo Teles (Portugal), Stephen Tomasko (USA), Horst Tress (Germany), Mikel Untzilla (Argentina), Marta Valiani (Italy), Stella Maris Velasco (Argentina), Daniele Virgilio (Italy), Rainer Wieczorek (Germany), Jina Wallwork (United Kingdom), Zhang Xuran (China), Xuran Zhang (China), _guroga (Venezuela).

Contact

Kunstraum MITTE37 Mittelstraße 37 31303 Burgdorf / Hannover, Germany info[at]mitte37.de www.mitte37.de Susanne Schumacher — Tel. [phone]