Themes and Narratives that shape our time

Two people are experiencing virtual reality together. One person is wearing a VR headset and gesturing enthusiastically, while the other stands beside them with raised hands, sharing their impressions. Both appear fascinated and engaged.

Our thematic focus areas address the central questions of our time. From cultural participation and community engagement to environmental responsibility and digital transformation. Through artistic and educational approaches we open up new ways of engaging with complex themes, think across disciplines and continuously develop our content in dialogue with society, science and practice.

Arts & Culture

Art makes complexity tangible.

For us, art is more than expression. It is a form of insight and a central tool for social and intercultural understanding. As a unifying element in our work, it creates emotional access, opens new perspectives, and makes complex topics sensually perceptible.

Through the use of artistic means – both analog and digital, interactive and immersive – we create spaces where education is not only conveyed but experienced. In this way, art becomes the foundation of our projects. It carries content, deepens experience and strengthens the impact of our work across all thematic areas. At the same time, it becomes a method of social reflection, especially in times of profound change.

Expression and Insight

Tangible Complexity

Three black, monolith-like panels with white illustrations and texts depict the movement of blue whales underwater. Dotted patterns and lines resembling constellations cover the surfaces, visualizing the whale’s slow, steady descent into the depths.

For the IMF, art is also a tool of cross-media storytelling. We work with film, music, theatre, virtual reality, games and installations to bring topics into social discourse through aesthetic experience:

BAUHAUS SPIRIT translates the legacy of the Bauhaus into the digital age.

Not Just Celsius links climate change and human rights with the power of cultural narrative.

Willi and the Wonder Toad conveys biodiversity and species protection in a child-friendly, cinematic form.

Inside Tumucumaque turns the Amazon into an artistic space of experience through VR.

And Tinkertank shows how cultural self-empowerment begins on a small scale, enabling children and young people to become makers themselves.

A futuristic figure dances in a dark space. Metallic rings orbit around the body, creating the impression of a mechanical choreography.
The image shows two young women standing at an interactive station. One of them is pointing to a box labeled “HOW MUCH CO₂ HAS YOUR COUNTRY EMITTED?” and appears to be explaining something. The box invites people to use a QR code to access the “Scale Tool” and explore information about countries’ CO₂ emissions. Both women appear focused and engaged in conversation.
The image shows the opening of an exhibition in a large, modern museum space. Several visitors are gathered in small groups or moving around the room. Circular green areas on the floor mark stations where people are wearing virtual reality headsets and experiencing content. Large projection screens hanging from the ceiling display nature imagery. Exhibition texts are visible on the walls, while additional people stand on a gallery level in the background.
Close-up of a workshop scene: a young person’s hands are assembling a creative construction using colorful materials, wood, plastic parts, and wires. More crafting materials and people can be seen in the background.
The image shows a woman with long curly hair wearing a white VR headset labeled “MYRIAD.” She sits in a dimly lit room, looking intently forward. In the background, another person with a similar headset is visible out of focus. The image conveys the impression of an immersive virtual reality experience in an exhibition or installation.
A futuristic figure dances in a dark space. Metallic rings orbit around the body, creating the impression of a mechanical choreography.
The image shows two young women standing at an interactive station. One of them is pointing to a box labeled “HOW MUCH CO₂ HAS YOUR COUNTRY EMITTED?” and appears to be explaining something. The box invites people to use a QR code to access the “Scale Tool” and explore information about countries’ CO₂ emissions. Both women appear focused and engaged in conversation.
The image shows the opening of an exhibition in a large, modern museum space. Several visitors are gathered in small groups or moving around the room. Circular green areas on the floor mark stations where people are wearing virtual reality headsets and experiencing content. Large projection screens hanging from the ceiling display nature imagery. Exhibition texts are visible on the walls, while additional people stand on a gallery level in the background.
Close-up of a workshop scene: a young person’s hands are assembling a creative construction using colorful materials, wood, plastic parts, and wires. More crafting materials and people can be seen in the background.
The image shows a woman with long curly hair wearing a white VR headset labeled “MYRIAD.” She sits in a dimly lit room, looking intently forward. In the background, another person with a similar headset is visible out of focus. The image conveys the impression of an immersive virtual reality experience in an exhibition or installation.

Bauhaus in the digital age

Climate questions as cultural narrative

Immersive experience at ZKM Karlsruhe

Creative self-empowerment

Poetry and immersion in the Earth system

Bauhaus in the digital age

Climate questions as cultural narrative

Immersive experience at ZKM Karlsruhe

Creative self-empowerment

Poetry and immersion in the Earth system

I’ve always been fascinated by the power of art. It has the potential to bring people together and spark conversations that might never have happened otherwise. With our projects, we try to achieve exactly that.

Michael Grotenhoff, IMF's Creative Lead