The SCHIRN celebrates 40 Years – A weekend together

SCHIRN AT NIGHT. Birthday Edition
Friday, May 8, 8 PM–Midnight

The legendary party series comes to Bockenheim: to mark the 40th anniversary of the SCHIRN, the SCHIRN AT NIGHT will take place at its temporary home for the first time. Spread across two floors, the evening will offer a varied program of DJ sets. Jamila will introduce the evening in the foyer from 8 p.m. The Frankfurt DJ combines her roots in dance with a fine sense of rhythm and moves playfully between hip-hop, house and salsa, always guided by the question of what would inspire her to dance herself. She is followed by ALYZAH, a rapper and singer who fuses hip-hop, R&B, funk, and house with influences from the 1990s and 2000s to create an original sound that crosses genre boundaries, faithful to their musical roots while also pointing towards the future. BECKSHAM then takes over with energetic sets full of groove and heart. Her sound is reminiscent of many aspects of house, at times minimal and percussive and at other times pulsating and funky. She is also part of the collective Disco Volante, where she works as an event manager.

Alba will start at 8.30 p.m. in Hall 2 on the second floor. A DJ and music journalist, Alba frequently appears throughout Germany. With her party series GOODIES (hip hop and beyond), she campaigns for increased visibility for women in the club scene. Her music hovers between baile, bass, breakbeats, Afro, house, and disco, held together through their strong anchoring in hip-hop and R&B. Later, Josi Miller will be standing at the decks. Her career began with spinning vinyl before the era of USB sticks, and she has long been a fixture in the club landscape. In addition to her work as producer, podcaster, and presenter for the ARTE program Chat with a DJ, she performed at renowned venues and festival stages as Trettmann’s tour DJ. With an eclectic approach that fluidly moves between genres, she combines rap, house, and electronic bass music to create dynamic sets that defy classification—sure to end the evening with a powerful finale.
The dress code for the evening is: polka dots.

Entrance: 7.30 p.m., tickets € 25 in advance only via Schirn.de/shop, no sales at the door

Rosemary Mayer: “CONNECTIONS (FRANKFURT)”
Saturday, May 9, 2 PM–4 PM

The participatory temporary work “Connections (Frankfurt)” (1978/2026) by Rosemary Mayer (1943–2014) is an ephemeral sculpture consisting of ten individually designed helium balloons. The work forms connections to time, place, and history, while also celebrating individuals and communities. Within the framework of the art action and on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the SCHIRN invites local communities and associations to pay tribute to people with whom they are linked by history and collaboration. Each balloon is dedicated to a person or a group and assigned a date. Then, following the artist’s concept, a link is established with a local native flower and a star, in collaboration with two nearby institutions, the Palmengarten and the Physikalischer Verein. Rosemary Mayer’s series Temporary Monuments stages transient public installations with ephemeral materials. Mayer viewed these works as sculptures, not as performances or happenings. “Connections (Frankfurt)” embodies Mayer’s own concept of a social and moving sculpture and at the same time transforms the outdoor area of the SCHIRN into an exhibition space.

Marie Warsh, the co-director of the Estate of Rosemary Mayer, will present a talk in English on the work on Sunday, May 10, at 4 p.m.

Lili Reynaud-Dewar: Perfekte Leben / Perfect Lives
Saturday, May 9, 7.30–8.30 PM

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Schirn, the artist Lili Reynaud-Dewar (b. 1975) was commissioned to examine the history of the institution and linked it to her own artistic career. The result is the book Perfekte Leben / Perfect Lives, which the artist, accompanied by the German voice of Anna Böger, will present to the public in a performative reading. On the basis of research into the SCHIRN’s location and archival materials, this unusual anniversary publication combines an intimate double portrait with critical reflections on the societal, institutional, and artistic transformations in Germany and France over the last forty years. A large number of voices offer their thoughts throughout the work. Perfect Lives also serves as a catalog and literary sketch for the artist’s exhibition, which will take place in the SCHIRN after it returns to the Römer following its energy-efficient renovations.