Curated by Simon Faithfull, the group exhibition "An Intimacy with Strangers" at the KINDL Berlin explores the relationships and interdependencies between human and non-human life, and how our existence depends on all other living beings on this planet: those whose air we breathe, and who provide us with food and essential materials. Photographic works, videos, and objects investigate moments of contact, care, and desire between different inhabitants of the Earth, or 'planetmates,' as the biologist Lynn Margulis calls them.
Giuseppe Penone’s "Toccare il tempo" (To Touch the Time) testifies to an attempt at connection and offers a perspective on the differing timeframes of humans and nature. In 1968, Penone cast his hand in bronze around the trunk of a young tree. Decades later – in the photographs on display at the KINDL – he documents the development of that lasting bond.
The exhibition shows works by Peggy Atherton, David Claerbout, Marcus Coates, Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson, Tacita Dean, Folke Köbberling, Giuseppe Penone, Pope.L, Nika Radić, Jessica Segall, Uýra Sodoma, and Zheng Bo.
Photography: Fabian Brennecke, 2026
© Archivio Penone / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2026
