New alliances between living and artificial systems

28 MARCH – 06 SEPTEMBER 2026 / MGGU - GIERSCH MUSEUM OF THE GOETHE UNIVERSITY, FRANKFURT A.M.

How can a technologized society build on care and participation instead of competition?

As part of the World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026, the Multispecies Members Club is developing a forward-looking model of coexistence: an inclusive alliance in which humans, animals, plants and machines act as equal members. The focus is on care, cooperation and participation.

The exhibition sees itself as a living experiment: it shows how technology can enable communication between different species and how democratic participation can be rethought - beyond a purely human-centered view of the world. At the same time, it remains critical: technology is not neutral. It consumes resources, can reinforce power relations and reaches its limits where natural systems cannot be reproduced in their complexity.

The central component is Andreas Greiner's new installation created for the exhibition Garden Protocol - a self-regulating ecosystem that connects plants, people and technological systems via water as a common resource. The work presents itself as a living testing ground for new forms of interaction between nature and technology. Andreas Greiner (*1979) acts both as artist and curator of the exhibition, together with Ina Neddermeyer and Susanne Wartenberg.

Other artists open up multi-layered perspectives on artificial intelligence, ecology and social responsibility. Scientists from Goethe University Frankfurt complement the program with perspectives from AI research, bioinformatics, art education, anthropology as well as educational, cultural and literary studies.

The exhibition combines art, technology and sustainability and asks how algorithmic processes can be made critically understandable and socially negotiated. With an inclusive club night, a film program and various workshops, e.g. for young data detectives, the Multispecies Members Club offers a varied educational program. Art and science are brought into conversation through performative formats such as cyborgs and chimeras.