So, wie du bist

Inclusion is the central theme for Arne and Ina Wallmann, for which they have published a children’s book. They work with both traditional and digital drawing and painting techniques. In the project So, wie du bist, they make life with disabilities aesthetically visible, open spaces for communication, and break down language barriers. An exhibition will be taking place in June 2026.

The exhibition deals with Down syndrome, not as a medical condition, but as part of life. It shows how encounters can change things and how much love, humor, and courage people with Down syndrome bring to a family and to the world. We are often asked: How do you manage it? The answer is simple: We live.

We live in nature, on an old farm, with soil under our fingers, with seasons that neither embellish nor accelerate anything. There we find strength, peace, and abundance. There our son grows up. There our art is created.

The exhibition consists of three groups of works:

1. “Hello, I'm Bente” – a children's book

A book for the youngest readers. A simple, honest encounter with a child with Down syndrome. No explanations, no unfamiliar words. A child who plays, laughs, and is curious, just like other children.

2. Painted and drawn portraits

We show people with Down syndrome and their family members as well as their environment in classical painting,

drawing, and digital illustration. The pictures show their gaze, dignity, and personality. They bring people out of invisibility.

3. What sustains us

Our paintings tell of feelings from our life with Bente: of joie de vivre, gratitude, connectedness, and courage. The colors and shapes come from the nature we call home: earth, light, water, the changing seasons in the local nature that surrounds us. They contain the source of strength from which we live.

Above all else is change

A child with trisomy 21 did not break our lives, but rather rearranged them.

Different than planned. Better than expected. The exhibition tells the story of this change, quietly and honestly.

Goals

• Closeness instead of alienation

• Making feelings visible

• Art as an invitation to dialogue

• Inclusion not as a concept, but as everyday life