Short Summary

The cultural and artistic scene – full of works, creative minds, and designers — is a vast and dazzling landscape. We offer tips and recommendations that inspire travel, reading, and discovery.

FOR CHILDREN. ART STORIES SINCE 1968. Why do artists around the world create artworks for children? Is childhood temporary or a lifelong state of being? What does childhood look like today? At the Haus der Kunst in Munich, over 20 international artists provide individual answers in multifaceted presentations for viewing and creating. They touch on themes such as humanity, society, the environment, and the future (until 1 February 2026).

MAGICAL WORLDS between two book covers, “Digital by Nature” is both a book and an immersive exhibition at the Kunsthalle Munich (from 12 September), featuring Miguel Chevalier. As a pioneer of virtual art, Chevalier is the creative mind behind computer-generated forms of expression. His dazzling, breathtaking videos and large-scale installations—using cutting-edge technology and AI—are also dialogues with art and cultural history.

SHADOWS IN CONTEMPORARY ART. For the first time, this theme is being explored in a German museum: the Kunstmuseum Bonn gives this ambiguous motif a face through around 40 international positions (until 2 November). From the eerie and uncanny to the psychological dimensions of shadow in painting, this constant human companion became a significant element with the invention of photography and film in the 19th century.

CIRCUS OF SHADOWS. This gently told children’s book by Lidia Branković, beautifully illustrated, continues the theme in a child-friendly way (from age 4). In this poetic, empathetic story about the magical world of shadows—understood as a journey into one’s own emotional world—children (and not only children) learn that even difficult emotions have their place and how they can be understood. Because: where there is darkness, there is also light.

ATLAS OF ART CRIMES. This gripping, richly illustrated book by art crime historian Laura Evans explores spectacular thefts, vandalism, robberies, and forgeries. With 75 stories full of secrets, scandals, and intrigue, the author takes readers to the dark side of the art world. Evans found these well-researched stories of art crimes—from antiquity to the present—all over the world.