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THE NEW EXHIBITION CENTRE
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In Erfurt, a new exhibition hall is arising that is unique nationwide and in all of Europe. Dedicated to an innovative, addiction-prevention methodology combining art and science, it will provide a venue that promotes health and encounters, a place to explore and learn.

AFF Architekten Berlin Innenperspektive web

Health promotion is essential for a strong society. To reach as many people as possible, it requires new approaches, new methods, a new and supplemental way forward. One such endeavor is the Haus der Versuchungen – the “Hall of Temptations” – in Erfurt. Supported by the federal government and the State of Thuringia, the new build on Huttenplatz will be a place for health promotion, encounters, and prevention – a venue for exploration and learning, where art renders the invisible visible and scientific aspects are made comprehensible with references to real life.

The exhibition hall is an offshoot of the Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen (World of Temptations Foundation) that was officially founded on March 22, 2022. It will provide a setting where researchers in the fields of addiction, neuroscience, and health promotion and experts in addiction prevention can come together with artists to think things through together. This will create new opportunities for ramping up debates on dependency and the “good life” and for prompting thought on what strengthens and unites us as individuals.

The idea of exploring new paths in addiction prevention was first floated by the prevention center run by SiT – Suchthilfe in Thüringen. For many years now, the staff there have been dedicated to devising effective and attractive addiction-prevention services that enable us humans to achieve the inner strength and stability we need to resort to alternative behavioral patterns in critical life situations. Prompted and inspired by a visit to the Deutsches Auswandererhaus (German Emigration Center) in Bremerhaven, the idea arose of using a permanently opened building to draw people’s attention to risky consumption patterns, forms of behavior, and health, while also creating a forum for encounters and interaction. The vision back in 2017 was an exhibition hall that sheds light from a variety of perspectives on the temptations that we encounter on a daily basis – a hall of the “World of Temptations”. 

Reaching people, strengthening society
Based on this vision, the foundation developed the supplementary and innovative approach of bringing together practitioners and researchers from fields associated with addiction prevention and the arts – in a new exhibition hall. In this way, Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen seeks to reach out to as many people as possible, catching their attention through music, the fine arts, or powerful installations, and inviting them to discuss and think about things, all of which helps to counter cliches and foster an honest approach to the topic. The exhibition concept thus includes cultural education work addressing a variety of target groups. Irrespective of their age, visitors are invited to become proactive.

Plans include:

  • A main exhibition that centers on the human brain and our reward system. Together with our visitors we explore issues such as: What happens in our brains and bodies if we are intoxicated? When does that evening glass of wine, that eating habit, or surfing the Internet become pathological? Where is the inflection point where enjoyment and conscious consumption flips into a loss of control?
  • Special exhibitions on current topics relating to individual substances such as cannabis, or behavioral habits such as gambling or use of social media, and/or to overarching issues in which expectations and temptations play a central role (such as the question of what we look for and what we find when it comes to night life)
  • Educational offerings and projects (for examples, click Education)
  • Involvement in research and further training projects

A place for everyone
The “World of Temptations” focuses on old and new temptations and dependencies, from drugs to social media, and examines them from different angles. The exhibition hall therefore takes an innovative and supplementary approach to addiction prevention.

The task of addiction prevention is to assist people in mastering the everyday world and leading healthy and free lives – lives in which pleasure and reward do not become routines that are harmful to health.

The exhibition hall is a vibrant space based on an interdisciplinary approach. This involves collaboration between art creatives and experts from various fields in a manner that does not erase the lines between the disciplines but rather foregrounds the productive and fruitful moment in which they interact. As a result, new connections are made and new perspectives open up. Curiosity, relaxation, a sense of community, or the yearning for intensity and an expanded consciousness, for freedom, or the search for that special kick and the related compulsive behavior are examined and explored. The focus is on consumption and a loss of control, just as it is on mindfulness, health, and inner strength/resilience. These topics are viewed both historically and in a contemporary light, and discussed in exhibitions and programs in social, scholarly, and artistic terms. People of all ages and origins are invited to contemplate and take part in the discussions, enabling encounters across all groups of society.

We need to talk! Why we’re here …
Human life has always involved being lured, tempted, or seduced. It is human to be ambivalent, to now and again succumb to it. We’re all looking for well-being and a successful life, for those exceptional moments, feelings of happiness, and a shot of euphoria. We like to enjoy things and reward ourselves for what we have achieved. But at what point do my routines become pathological and/or lead to health risks? And what are the consequences for me and my loved ones?

Dependency is a topic that affects us all. It holds up a mirror to our society. If you think for a moment, you’re bound to know someone who regularly drinks too much, can’t kick their smoking habit, or is hooked on Insta, TikTok, etc. It isn’t easy to discuss this openly.

Addiction is an illness and can befall any of us. It isn’t restricted to a particular group of the population or social stratum, which is why we want to encourage people to talk about this openly and overcome the taboo. Addiction and dependencies cause a lot of suffering, pain, and shame among the people involved, their families, and their friends. At the same time, they have a high socio-economic cost. Prevention can help avoid this.

Our objective as a foundation and in the exhibition hall is to bring that shame-ridden and often unpleasant topic out from under the carpet and overcome the related stigma. We want to set an honest, transgenerational discourse in motion, with you, both here and nationwide.

What will the exhibition hall be like?
On December 6, 2024, “Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen” and the City of Erfurt announced the winning architectural practices for the first sustainable exhibition hall for addiction prevention to be funded with federal money. The outstanding proposal was the inviting and yet simple, elegant, and ecologically well-conceived design tabled by Berlin-based AFF Architekten together with POLA Landschaftsarchitekten.

A total of 18 entries were submitted to the closed realization competition for the architecture and outdoor space planning of the “Neubau Ausstellungshaus WELT DER VERSUCHUNGEN” in Erfurt.

The prizewinning proposal had to stand out for its form, materiality, and innovative and sustainable approach; it was to cover both the existing buildings on the northern entrance to Old Town Erfurt and the needs of an exhibition hall for addiction prevention. It would create inviting and participatory spaces for people of all generations, offering an innovative platform for Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen to pursue its focus on addiction prevention by realizing curated and thematic exhibitions with a broad appeal. In it, scientific insights into the overall topic of addiction will be translated into immersive installations, poetic images, and aesthetic experiences in a way that enables visitors to swiftly and tangibly grasp complex content.

Five architecture practices together with landscape architects succeeded most effectively in fulfilling this brief in their proposals.

First prize: AFF Architekten, Berlin, and POLA Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin

Second prize: Gerber Architekten GmbH, Dortmund, and Prof. Eckhard Gerber, Dortmund

Third prize: Behnisch Architekten München Partnerschaft mbH and its Atelier Weimar GbR together with LiLASP Lichtenstein Landschaftsarchitektur und Stadtplanung PartGmbH, Hamburg

Architekturentwuerfe 123

Special mention went to the practices Grüntuch Ernst Planungsgesellschaft mbH and Levin Monsigny Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH from Berlin as well as to the practices Hascher Jehle Berlin GmbH and Weidinger Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, likewise from Berlin.

  • Any questions? We’ll have the answers. We have collected the key questions asked by local inhabitants and interested citizens – and answered them. Click here for the FAQs on the new build on Huttenplatz (in German).

"Given its surroundings, with its characteristic wooden sections and a facing shell of glass shingles, the façade promises to make a striking impact, offering a pleasurable aesthetic counterbalance to the pragmatic neighboring buildings."
Jury of the architectural competition for the design by AFF Architekten, Berlin

AFF Architekten Berlin Außenperspektive web

Images (from top to bottom): 1st prize: design for the “World of Temptations” by AFF Architekten Berlin interior perspective © AFF Architekten Berlin; the first three prize winners in the surrounding model (f.l.: 1st prize AFF Architekten Berlin and POLA Landschaftsarchitekten; 2nd prize Gerber Architekten, Dortmund; 3rd prize Behnisch Architekten München/Weimar und LILASp Lichtenstein, Hamburg); 1st prize: design for the “World of Temptations” by AFF Architekten Berlin exterior perspective © AFF Architekten Berlin

A Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen exhibition on cannabis

Oct. 24, 2025, through Jan. 18, 2026
Venue: Defensionskaserne, Petersberg 15, Erfurt
Opening: Thurs., Oct. 23, 2025, 7 p.m.

Valentin Goppel Untitled

Find a sense of calm, escape everyday routines, free yourself from the pressure to perform, expand your horizons: The hunt for intoxication is a human constant. What are we looking for in intoxication, especially if it is drug-based, and why do we knowingly accept the dangers? What promise does intoxication through cannabis offer? The hemp plant contains more than 100 active substances, of which the most common are THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). How do these affect the brain and the body, and why is it worth knowing the key facts? What are the risks of consuming cannabis, especially in adolescence, and how can young people be protected? These are the questions Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen is spotlighting in its third exhibition ONLY GOOD VIBES?, using a mix of fact-based science and the scope afforded by art. The exhibition also highlights what can be relaxing over and beyond temptations as well as what makes you strong and possibly even happy.

ONLY GOOD VIBES? views the topic of cannabis from multiple perspectives more than a year after the use of cannabis was partially legalized in Germany – and encourages discussion. The exhibition offers a compact and readily comprehensible overview of the neuroscientific mechanisms through which cannabis impacts on the brain and body, explores the myths and reality of the hemp plant, and sheds light on themes, rituals, and risks. In the process, it shows why primarily young people under the age of 25 need to be supported and well informed, and why protecting adolescents is so important. It likewise uses the opportunity to examine our social use of the substances that are legal in Germany (nicotine, alcohol, cannabis) together with younger and older members of society.

In ONLY GOOD VIBES?, as in its past exhibitions Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen combines up-to-date scientific insights with art and interactive installations.
It creates a value-neutral and non-prejudicial space to strengthen individuals and to promote cross-generational social dialog on uncomfortable topics, too – in an honest, surprising way between equals.

Ill.: Valentin Goppel, Untitled, from the series Between the Years, 2021 © Valentin Goppel
 
With the support of 
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on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health
 

REAL ME – REAL TEE
2025

In “REAL ME – REAL TEE,” our current school student (SuS) project for addiction prevention and personal resilience, we looked first at legal substance consumption (cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco), and second at the cultural significance of symbols on clothing. Our main focus here is on cannabis one year after its partial legalization and the iconic cannabis leaf.

We talked with the students of the IGS Erfurt and the TGS Sömmerda about substance consumption, the influence of ads, the media, and social networks, and about being “cool”. In the workshop, the students reflected on the social presence of the cannabis leaf and the gradual normalization this creates. Together we explored questions like whether smoking the substance is now harmless, collect possible reasons for consuming it, and also uncovered the myths and explained the impact on the brain and body. We looked at why it is good to protect young brains – which continue to develop until the age of 25.

The students came up with alternative word/image logos that address the fundamental question: What strengthens me and what strengthens us as a group without consumption of cannabis, tobacco, or alcohol?

With the personally devised “Design-Shirt,” each student becomes an ambassador for a free, good, and self-determined life. The school project combined the transfer of knowledge relating to cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol with creativity and fashion, and with art and crafts. The group set about discussing, thinking, and identifying issues, but also painting, printing, spray-painting, cutting out, and sewing. The old was deconstructed, the new created.

The results will form part of the next exhibition at Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen ONLY GOOD VIBES? and will be presented in a fashion show. The designs voted the best by the groups will also go on sale during the exhibition.

REALMEREALTEE web

Take part with your school class! The handout provided soon here for teaching staff contains exercises and methods for the school project.

Download for teachers (only in German):


HOW ARE YOU – THE SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOU
2024

... was the question that the World of Temptations Foundation asked school students at the IGS Erfurt and the TGS Albert Einstein schools in Sömmerda, accompanied by workshops and a handout for the teaching staff. It asked the young people to give on answer each in the form of an image and a short text. The exhibition BE.LIKE.ME. Social Media and Me featured over 30 Smartphones with single-image stories, often accompanied by lyrical texts. They encouraged visitors to swipe the screens and gave an idea of the lifeworlds relating to social media usage by the 14 to 17-year-olds.
The results were astonishing. They attested to impressive creative power and locked into the liberating scope art offers. Some of the young people used the texts and images to demonstrate how through the platforms they give greater depth to the their analog interests; others showed how they are well aware of the excessive time they spend on-screen, the pull of Instagram, TikTok et al., the news that initially seem real and then prove to be fake news and leave on perplexed.

One thing often expressed in the workshops was: “I can’t stop myself using the social networks simply because everyone else does”; “I grab my mobile because I don’t want to think of something unpleasant”; or “at dinner, even my parents’ mobiles lie on the table next to them”.

This series was meant to prompt visitors to explore the topic, discuss it with families and friends, and negotiate some Golden Rule: How shall we handle Smartphones when at table? How to deal with them when meeting friends? Where are social-media-free zone?

BELIKEME WIEGEHTESDIR


Take part with your school class! The handout provided here for teaching staff was compiled together with the SiT’s Prevention Center and contains exercises and methods for a critical discussion of the social media.

Download:

handout for teachers (in German)

handout Maria Mavropoulou (in German)

handout Volker März (in German)

handout Jeppe Hein "Breathe with Me" (in German)

Exhibition Rallye (in German)


ERFURT CALLING

A project for participation, empowerment, and addiction prevention among young people
2023

ErfurtCalling Abbildung

The Foundation Welt der Versuchungen invited two school classes in the state of Thuringia to redesign two old telephone booths. The goal: little islands of wellbeing. The designers: students from the ninth grade of the Albert Einstein Staatliche Gemeinschaftsschule in Sömmerda and the IGS Erfurt.

In workshops and in collaboration with two artistic mentors – Julia Heinemann from the Bauhaus University in Weimar and Michael Künstler from Erfurt – the students developed design concepts for the conversion. Ideas were discussed. There was some thinking, talking, negotiating, measuring, calculating (limited purchasing budget), sketching, and building. And it quicky became clear that music would play a key role – as part of this generation’s lifeworld, their own identity, and an expression of creativity.

Grade 9b from IGS Erfurt redesigned their telephone booth as a club toilet that from the outside looks like a “confessional” (Beichtstuhl) – both places where gossip and dark secrets are exchanged, where frustrations and joys are shared. TGS Albert Einstein in Sömmerda used graffiti, books, and photos for their “dance party” (Tanzi) and created a feel-good place to hang out, listen to music, read, dance, and reflect.

With an open-air presentation, the finished booths were exhibited for a week (July 6–12, 2023) in downtown Erfurt and made available to the public – as a social mini-space, as a temporary private capsule, and as a place of music and exchange to span the generations. Visitors were able to connect their smartphones to the built-in Bluetooth speakers and listen to their own playlists or those of the students. The old, recycled telephone booth in the public space was thus given a new, cultural use in the public space by the cellphone generation.

“What does ERFURT CALLING have to do with addiction prevention? Various things: three days of thinking, sketching, exchanging ideas, and negotiating, all done in an entirely analog way, to find out what constitutes a feel-good place within just 1 x 1 x 2.20 square meters. The key question: What is good for me? The answer: most of all music, as well as dancing, community, and unleashing your own creative resources. Making music and art oneself is soothing and empowering in all situations in life. Then there’s the attention from the public when the work is exhibited. Being seen, being praised. This brings happiness and joy. All this is empowering and helps prevent addiction,” says Susanne Rockweiler, curator and first chairperson of the Foundation Welt der Versuchungen.

The booths were on display again in the ON A NIGHT TRIP exhibition from October 20 to December 10, 2023, in the Defensionskaserne barracks on the Petersberg.

 
  • ERFURT CALLING by Martin Fleckner 1
  • ERFURT CALLING by Martin Fleckner 10
  • ERFURT CALLING by Martin Fleckner 11
  • ERFURT CALLING by Martin Fleckner 14
 
Pictures: Martin Fleckner
 
ERFURT CALLING is a project for participation, empowerment, and addiction prevention among young people. Partners:
 

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OUR MISSION

Our work centers on people and the many temptations we face in managing our everyday lives and searching for a sense of belonging, for distraction, or for euphoria – from drugs to social media. We show what goes on inside us when we cannot stop doing something, what role our brain plays in the process, and what we ourselves can influence in a healthy manner. In light of developments in society, we consider tipping points in consumerist behavior and in other behavioral patterns and try to identify the point at which enjoyment or reward becomes a habit, and a habit becomes a problem.

This we do in a surprising and contemporary manner: Our work is based on the importance of science and art for the future viability of our society. We present artworks that render the invisible visible and create free scope, and we convey scientific insights in a way that is understandable and relates to life today. Current art that wows the viewer and new insights from research (on addiction) are combined with eye-openers, enabling us to create unconventional exhibitions and education programs that address everyone and resonate strongly.

Addiction is something that affects us all: Some search for intoxication in night life or can no longer sleep without tablets. Others reward themselves for having got through the working day by sipping a glass of wine, or flee reality into the media worlds of gaming or social media. We talk about all this. Our exhibitions, events, and education programs create a space to experience it through cross-generational interaction – a venue for lifelong learning and, in the truest sense of the word, for grasping new things. Here, we prompt people to reflect, to think about themselves, and to interact with others, and in this way we help address taboo topics, reflect on critical consumerist and behavioral patterns, and deconstruct the stigma around dependency.

We view ourselves as a place of learning beyond schools, taking an approach that is new in Europe. Our education programs strengthen young people – and with them, society. In this way, we make a lasting impact and contribute to prevention.


OUR VALUES

Our values convey what we consider important in our internal and external relationships with one another. They guide us and accompany us through our daily lives, offer a point of orientation, and are at the same time a constant challenge.

Between equals
We work without preaching or disincentivizing. Our goal is to strengthen the human ability to examine motivations, and together to critically explore our own behavior and the social influences on it, looking inwards at the same time with a view to the decisions we take. We address people of all generations and origins. Our education formats and accompanying programs focus on sustainable, lifelong, and consensus-based learning as well as on – quite literally – grasping new things. In the process, we prioritize dialog, with guided tours and events being structured as open conversations so that we promote interaction and reflection. In this way, we make an important contribution to the transformation of education and to its sustainability, as per the objectives of the UNESCO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Sustainability
In the dual sense of the term: Our building is being constructed in an ecological and sustainable manner. Environmental awareness and long-term usability are playing an important role as regards materials, design, operations, and how the hall is embedded in the urban fabric. At the same time, it is important to us that you all feel good here. Moreover, our work is meant to resonate and have a tangible, medium- to long-term effect on you and thus on society as a whole.

Accessibility
We want to reach people regardless of their origins and status. We offer readily accessible events and guided tours for different target groups. Our building will be barrier-free, and our team is professional, open-minded, and multilingual. 

Cooperation
We want to create synergies and constantly review the way we think. For this reason, we work within a network of experts, putting our heads together with artists and scientists. When designing exhibitions and events, we consult experts from the field of addiction prevention and support. The members of our Scientific Advisory Council assist us with their wide range of research expertise, while countless partners and – not least – our visitors themselves round out our network of specialists.

Cosmopolitan
We are part of the “Open-Minded Thuringia” campaign. Each and every one of us has a right to well-being and health, to live in peace and be treated with respect. Tolerance and acceptance are therefore fundamental elements of how we see ourselves, and here all people with all their differences are equally welcome. We therefore oppose any form of discrimination. We champion upholding human rights and human dignity as per section 1 of the German Basic Law, and we stand up for a pluralist democracy. Hatred and agitation have no place here.

With a joy in experimentation
We’re inquisitive and like to try out new things. Current insights from the world of research inform our work, as do social trends and technological innovation. We have our finger on the pulse and enjoy moving forwards. That defines our zest for innovation.


OUR TEAM

Dr Susanne Rockweiler
First Board Member | Chief Curator
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 31
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Katharina Walter
Assistant to the Foundation Management
Tel.: +49 361 - 30 25 79 30
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Juliane Apel-Gäbler
Finance Officer
Tel.: +49 361 - 30 25 79 20
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Sara Stehr
Research Associate
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 34
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Saskia Hüger
Research Associate (Neurosciences)
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 34
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Andrea Radtke
PR and Marketing Officer
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 32
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Justus Borzym
Trainee PR and Marketing
Tel.: +49 361 - 30 25 79 32
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Julia Meyer
Social Media
Tel.: +49 361 - 30 25 79 32
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Marieluise Hörner
Research Assistant
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 35
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Johanna Herschel
Trainee Education Programmes
Tel.: +49 361 - 30 25 79 36
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Saly Dabaa
Administration | Assistance
Phone: +49 361 - 30 25 79 30
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Vera Jurickova
Administration | Assistance
Tel.: +49 361 - 30 25 79 30
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OUR ACADEMIC ADVISORY BOARD

Katja Naie (born 1974) is a neuroscientist and manager of the Schering Foundation. As co-initiator of the online magazine www.dasGehirn.info, of which she was editor until 2014, she participated in planning and setting up the first German online information portal on the subject of the brain.

Matthias Brand (born 1975) is a psychologist, neuroscientist, and researcher of addiction behavior. He is head of the Department of General Psychology: Cognition at the University of Duisburg-Essen and is currently studying online addictive behavior. In 2024, he won the Great Achievement Award from the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Addictions.

Gregor Burkhart (born 1964) holds a PhD in medicine and is co-founder and currently president of the European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR). He is the principal scientific analyst at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in Portugal.

Maximilian von Heyden is a social educationalist and health scientist. As founder and board member of the non-profit FINDER Academy, he is dedicated to professionalizing the promotion of well-being and prevention at the German and European levels.

Sven Speerforck (born 1984) is a specialist doctor for psychiatry and psychotherapy as well as senior physician and deputy clinic director of the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Leipzig University Teaching Hospital. His research focuses on the stigmatization of people with (addictive) disorders.

Rainer Spanagel (born 1961) is a pharmacologist and researcher on addiction. He is scientific director at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim and teaches neuropharmacology at the University of Heidelberg. He is the spokesperson for the Academic Advisory Council.

For more information on the members of the Academic Advisory Council, simply click Download (.pdf; only in German).

BE.LIKE.ME. Social Media and Me

Venue: Anger 28/29, entrance on Lachsgasse
Duration: August 16 thru’ November 15, 2024
Press Q&A: August 15, 2024, 1 p.m.
Vernissage: August 15, 2024, 7 p.m.

Keyvisual BE LIKE ME

It is now 20 years since Facebook went online as the first social media channel. Since then, the functionalities and breadth of the social media have mushroomed. Today, the social networks are a firm part of society and Facebook has to vie with many other Apps for users’ attention. In its second exhibition, BE.LIKE.ME. Social media and me, Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen (the World of Temptations Foundation) is highlighting an everyday phenomenon that has long since come to define our lives, our health, and how we interrelate – and can most definitely be addictive. The largely interactive exhibition opens on Thursday, August 15, at 7 p.m. at Anger 28/29 (entrance on Lachsgasse) and will run thru’ November 15.

Since the Noughties, Apps such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), Insta and BeReal, Youtube, Snapchat and TikTok have been booming – almost each and every one of us has a profile somewhere, posts items, images, and videos, and frequently comments on those of the others. In the Smartphone age, these media permeate our personal, political and social lives, our professional and private lives. Irrespective of where, it is always: Now! We use social media to keep in contact and for information, social participation, to search for partners, to consume, to distract ourselves, for stimulation, and not least in order not to miss anything, and to reinforce our self-esteem in the chase for likes.

The one side to all this is that these changed living habits on the one hand offer us opportunities while, on the other, demanding a lot of us mentally, physically and in terms of defending our privacy. The flip side is that they can promote addictive behavior. The exhibition will discuss these aspects from the users’ perspective with all interested parties and with a special focus on young people and families.

Among the wealth of possible topics, the exhibitions will specifically spotlight these issues by drawing on current positions in science and art: What human needs do the social networks address? What are the benefits and the risks? How is my behavior as a user influenced by algorithms? Why do we need likes and why can they put us under pressure? How do they generate FOMO (the Fear of Missing Out) and a fear of rejection? How does the use of social networks impact on our system of rewards: passively as children, and actively as teenagers and adults? Where is point when user behavior tips and becomes addiction? How can I defend myself against this or break with habits? 

Image: Key Visual, BE.LIKE.ME. Social media and me – a project by Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen. Created with Midjourney by Naroska, 2024.

With the support of:

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Partners:

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Media partner:

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ON A NIGHT TRIP.
Between a High and a Crash?

October 20 to December 10, 2023
Opening: October 19, 2023
Defensionskaserne Petersberg, Erfurt
 
Rodeh In Dreams Maya Louzon web“We’ve made a first mark.”
Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen exhibition closes, and the overall assessment is positive.

3,400 visitors, of whom one third were school students. 40 objects by up-and-coming and internationally renowned artists and from the world of science. No deterrents, no finger raised in moral admonishment: With its “ON A NIGHT TRIP. Between a feeling of happiness and crashing to the earth?“ exhibition at the Defension Barracks on Erfurt’s Petersburg, in fall 2023 Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen embarked on a new direction in addiction prevention. The overall assessment of the show is favorable, both retrospectively and looking forwards.

“Visitors exceeded our expectations in two respects,” comments Susanne Rockweiler, Chief Curator of Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen. “On the one hand, as regards the number of school classes, families, and individual visitors who took part in our guided tours or interacted with our education staff. On the other, in terms of their openness and the quality of the discussions that evolved.” The interaction with visitors took place during guided tours, in the exhibition, and in the framework of the countless events organized as part of the accompanying program. In the Foundation’s slightly unconventional Counter-Top Conversations, among others internationally famed musician Tabea Zimmermann and renowned researcher into addiction Prof. Rainer Spanagel discussed “Addiction, Music, Happiness, and the Neurosciences”; scientists Gregor Burkhart and Maximilian von Heyden analyzed international differences in handling psychoactive substances; and Prof. Christiane Stock, who works at the Charité Berlin, used the Virtual LimitLab to explain new findings in alcohol prevention. At the Kinoklub Erfurt movie theater, visitors together viewed the topical feature film One for the Road and then discussed dependency and the way out of it with people affected by addiction and persons active in addiction prevention / support.

The press response to the exhibition was likewise good. The German national press reviewed it positively, and this included the print media dailies, from “FAZ” to “BILD”, radio stations from Deutschlandfunk to Radio F.R.E.I., and TV channels from MDR to Salve TV.

The insights gained with ON A NIGHT TRIP will now be brought to bear in our next exhibition, which Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen is busy planning for summer 2024 on the topic of “social media” – and naturally also in our new exhibition hall, which the German federal government is helping fund and is scheduled to open in winter 2026-7 in Erfurt. “ON A NIGHT TRIP spawned many a conversation, encouraging people to ponder and revisit their thinking. At the same time, we ourselves learned a lot for our future work,” says Susanne Rockweiler. “Our assessment: We’ve made a first mark. This was possible thanks, not least, to our partners and supporters. We would in particular like to thank our Scientific Advisory Council with Gregor Burkhart, Katja Naie, Sarah Ancelle Schönfeld, Rainer Spanagel, and Maximilian von Heyden, SiT Addiction Support in Thuringia, as well as all our backers, the Thuringia Ministry for Labor, Social Affairs, Health, Women, and the Family, AOK Plus, and Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen.”

Participating artists were: Nevin Aladağ, Asana Fujikawa, Stefani Glauber, Anatol Hanau, Martin Parr, Adrian Piper, Alona Rodeh, Sarah Ancelle Schönfeld, Philipp Stöckel, Nasan Tur and Paula Wolber

The Institut für Gesundheits- und Pflegewissenschaft der Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin presented its Virtual Limit Lab, a project on alcohol prevention among young people, and re-evaluated it as part of the exhibition. The results of this study were published in the scientific open access journal Adolescents, which can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/4/4/33
 
Nightlife is the culmination of all kinds of euphoria and the promise of feeling good. Unlike at work or school, it lures us with the temptation of transgression, and thus a state that often goes hand in hand with substance use: alcohol, ecstasy, cocaine, and cannabis are often as much a part of partying as are good music, flirting, and dancing. 
 
What do people look for in clubs, at parties or festivals? Does an evening of partying always follow the same script? Where do the dangers lurk? These are questions we address. And are there night trips without the blues? We consider the question together with visitors. On A Night Trip facilitates a discourse about health in the party context in the heart of society – in a new and surprising way.
 
The exhibition was accompanied by a program that provided services for school classes and students, featuring discussions with and for club owners and clubbers, as well as lectures. A publication was also released.
 
Project partners:
  • Institute of Health and Nursing Science of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
  • Prevention Center and Subcheck of SiT – Suchthilfe in Thüringen gGmbH
  • Defensionskaserne – Frank Sonnabend
The aim of this and the coming exhibitions is to draw conclusions from the results and experiences that will be incorporated into the concept for the new institution.
 
Fig.: Alona Rodeh, In Dreams, production still Maya Luzon, short film, 2016/2019. Courtesy of the artist, Christine König Galerie Wien © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023.
 
With the support of:
 
 Anlage 5 AOK PLUS Logo Horiz Gruen RGB    Kultur HT Marke rgb auf weiss   Logo SparkasseMittelthueringen rot rgb    DEF22 wortmarke 4c

Partners:

Kalif        Logo Breuninger URL RGB Schwarz Sub      Theater Logo rgb     logo kinoklub schwarz 002Miraculix Logo IU

 Media partners:

Stroeer rgb web     SALVETV logo regiolounge web

 


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Zu den Ausstellungen sind Kataloge käuflich erwerbbar. Bei Interesse kontaktieren Sie uns bitte unter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. bzw. 0361-30 25 79 32.

Cover Katalog BLM

Catalogue: BE.LIKE.ME Social Media und ich (in German)
22,9 x 16 cm, 118 pages
12 EUR*

Editor: Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen
Design: Naroska Design
Print: Heenemann, Berlin
Copies: 250

 

Bild Katalog

Catalogue: ON A NIGHT TRIP. Zwischen Glücksgefühl und Absturz? (in German)
22,9 x 16 cm, 96 pages
10 EUR*

Editor: Stiftung Welt der Versuchungen
Design: Naroska Design
Print: Heenemann, Berlin
Copies: 500

 

Entwurf Ritus web
Edition "Ritus" by Asana Fujikawa: 320 EUR* (Edition: 20 uniques, picture variant)

*plus shipping fee

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