Hier wo wir sind (WAVA 2)

Those were the days when people of all ages walked through streets and parks staring intently at their smartphones, fearlessly climbing over barriers and hedges, only to finally exclaim: There it is! Even back then, the search for Pokémon showed how our cities are increasingly overlaid with digital layers and how naturally we move between these worlds.

Since then, the possibilities for virtual art production have developed exponentially. Not using new technologies for their own sake, but seeking to engage with the aura of the past in terms of content: “Here, where we are” explores new ways of designing and creatively and artistically activating public spaces in the digital age, thereby testing innovative forms of social and cultural participation.

With the help of augmented reality, site-specific installations and interventions are created that can only be experienced there and virtually. By connecting physical and virtual space, familiar places take on new perspectives, historical references are made visible, and completely new narratives are found.

The locations in public space—well-known places in the city that were sought out and found in collaboration with the seven municipalities and the Kulturfonds — are enhanced by eight virtual works of art that can be explored on a tablet or smartphone. They illuminate contextual references and open up completely new perspectives on familiar public spaces.

One of the pioneers of this site-specific digital art is WAVA, an exhibition platform that makes new art forms accessible via an app. In the Main-Taunus district, WAVA has developed virtual interventions in collaboration with international artists Tamara Grčič, Mohsen Hazrati, Lucas LaRochelle, Tomás Maglione, Thuy Thien Nguyen, Wanwen Zhang, Claudia Pense; Lena Müller, François Pisapia, and Alona Rodeh.

For the first time, the Cultural Fund is working on a larger project with augmented reality.

A project by WAVA, initiated by the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Cultural Fund as part of World Design Capital 2026 with the Main-Taunus district and the municipalities of Bad Soden, Eppstein, Flörsheim, Hattersheim, Hochheim, Hofheim and Kelkheim.

WAVA: Ben Livne Weizman, Dalwin Kryeziu, Florian Adolph, David Bachmann

Artists: Tamara Grčič, Mohsen Hazrati, Lucas LaRochelle, Tomás Maglione, Thuy Thien Nguyen, Wanwen Zhang, Claudia Pense & Lena Müller, François Pisapia and Alona Rodeh