“Surface Matter”: Alanus University represented in travelling exhibition with art academies from Germany, Japan and Sweden

Students of Alanus University are participating with their work “The Sketchbook Collective.”

Under the title “Surface Matter,” an international travelling exhibition demonstrates that painting techniques are far more than craftsmanship: the materiality of the surface itself becomes a carrier of meaning. Canvas, paper and other media are consciously reflected upon here, with their qualities and potential becoming part of the artistic statement. Students of Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences at the Mannheim Study Center are also part of the exhibition with their work “The Sketchbook Collective.” The exhibition opens on 16 January 2026 at the gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg.

In “The Sketchbook Collective,” the participating students transform sketchbooks into process-based laboratories of seeing: not finished artworks, but ongoing experiments that combine drawing, performance and multimedia elements. In this way, the creative process itself becomes visible – dynamic, open and diverse.

Alanus professor and project initiator Bettina Scholz explains the background: “In our workshops, sketchbooks are more than records – they are tools for research, learning and collaborative development. Artistic work here is not an exclusive space for a few individuals, but a learning movement that remains open to new ideas and perspectives.” The students’ installation interweaves sketchbooks with multimedia elements and performance art.

In addition to materiality, the exhibition explores questions of sustainability, the relationship of AI and digitality to traditional media, as well as gender-specific aspects in contemporary painting practice. The first stop of the travelling exhibition is the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg from 16 January to 1 February 2026; further stops will take it to Japan and Sweden.

Participating institutions, alongside Alanus University, include the Academies of Fine Arts in Nuremberg, Munich and Stuttgart, the Offenbach University of Art and Design, the universities of fine arts in Braunschweig and Dresden, the University of the Arts Bremen, as well as partners in Japan and Sweden.

Participating students are Sami-Mohammed Ayed, Paul Höfer, Valentin Kittel, Michaela Sattler, Paulin Schlageter and Kayra Sirin.

Photo: Sören Fritzsch

Press contact:
+49 (0)2222 9321-1944
presse@alanus.edu

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