The World Through AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly pervasive part of everyday life. AI technologies are fundamentally transforming the ways in which images are created, edited, distributed, described and perceived. From 11 June to 20 September 2026, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt presents its major summer exhibition The World Through AI, exploring the profound impact of artificial intelligence on visual culture and contemporary artistic practice. The exhibition brings together artworks that examine the cognitive, psychological, political and ecological dimensions of AI.
The World Through AI is organised by the Jeu de Paume in Paris in collaboration with Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and is curated by Antonio Somaini and Katharina Dohm.
A Walk Through the Exhibition
Featuring around 40 works by international artists, the exhibition examines the social and cultural impact of artificial intelligence. Topics include machine vision, facial recognition, resource consumption, memory, future imaginaries and AI-generated propaganda. The exhibition is divided into 17 thematic sections. Historical “time capsules” provide insights into the contexts of data storage, image processing and the history of the former Dondorf printing works, which now serves as the exhibition venue.
Between Machine Vision and AI Slop
The exhibition begins in Hall 1 with the technological foundations of artificial intelligence, highlighting the material and ecological conditions of digital infrastructures, machine vision and the often invisible human labour behind AI systems. Works such as Mechanical Kurds by Hito Steyerl and xhairymutantx by Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst explore different forms of AI production and collective practices.
Hall 2 focuses on the social and political implications of AI, particularly questions surrounding colonial image archives, AI-generated propaganda and shifting visual cultures. The installation Holy Slop! A Generative Atlas of Slopaganda in Palestine by Occitane Lacurie and Barnabé Sauvage, alongside works by Nouf Aljowaysir and Nora Al-Badri, investigates how AI can perpetuate colonial narratives and which perspectives remain excluded from view.
