Thinking Hands
The violinist who finds the string without looking, the masseur who sees through feeling: these are forms of intelligence that cannot be translated into words, because they do not reside in the head. They are stored in the fingers, the wrist, the pressure of the palm and in the body.
Knowledge that is acquired only through repetition and touch. Now technology increasingly is thinking, deciding and acting on our behalf, the exhibition Thinking Hands asks what the body still knows. The exhibition brings together lens-based works and installations that approach that question from different directions. What remains of knowledge that cannot be digitised, that is not transferable via a screen, that only comes into being through the resistance between hand and material? What does the body know that your mind doesn’t?
Opening: 13 september 2026
Location: THEA, Niemeyer, Paterswoldeweg 43, Groningen
With and by: Frida Orupabo, Jan Robert Leegte, Jane Jin Kaisen, Kévin Bray, Kiki Mager, Kvam/Oldereid, Laure Prouvost, Lisa Oppenheim, Loïe Fuller, Mandy Franca, Martha Rosler, Martina Bacigalupo, Paul Kooiker, Rebekka Deubner, Robin de Puy / Strijbos & van Rijswijk, Vera van der Burg, WERC, Xhanti Zwelendaba & Ben Stanwix.
Curated by Musoke Nalwoga and Roosje Klap.
Made possible by Stimuleringsfonds, Mondriaanfonds and Beringer Hazewinkel.
Photography: Paul Kooiker / Design: Loes Claessens
More information about the opening, opening hours, and programme will follow at a later date.