EXTRABLATT: Franz Schömbs // 11 April - 14 June 2026

With an exhibition and a four-part series of talks, Künstlernachlässe Mannheim (Artists’ Legacies Mannheim) and PORT25 – Raum für Gegenwartskunst pay tribute to the Mannheim artist Franz Schömbs (1909 - 1976).

The painter and film-maker worked extremely experimentally, was occasionally ahead of his time, and accordingly his works were often not as esteemed as they should be by the contemporary public. But Franz Schömbs is an exceptional artist! From the 1930s he examined the question of time, space and movement in the image, which ultimately led him to the motion picture, and he developed thoroughly avant-garde pictorial and presentation forms.

For the art film Die Geburt des Lichts (The Birth of Light), in 1957 Schömbs moved from Mannheim to Munich, where Unda-Film gave him the opportunity to realise his ideas. Schömbs had designed a complex machine, the ‘Integrator’, through which he ran picture strips, painted on according to a precisely calculated score and cut out to resemble templates. By means of multiple exposures and reflections, ever-new colour and shape constellations arose, in which space and time conjoined in abstract colour harmony. Highly praised by the critics, this was also too challenging for the public. Schömbs’s films are presented alongside exemplary works at PORT25. In the accompanying series of talks, the subjects are the artist and his oeuvre (Silvia Köhler), his films in the context of the German experimental film (Thomas Worschech) as well as in the art-historical context (Prof. Dr. Henry Keazor) and the challenges posed by restoration and digitalisation (Lou Burkat).

Lecture series

Friday, 10 April 2026 | 7 pm

Eröffnung der Ausstellung​

Thursday, 16 April 2026 | 7 pm

The Life and Work of Franz SchömbsSilvia Köhler (Director of the Künstlernachlässe Mannheim) will open the series of talks accompanying the Franz Schömbs exhibition. She will provide an overview of the life and work of Franz Schömbs and trace his development from painter to experimental filmmaker. In doing so, she will also explain why his works are now regarded as an important link between the abstract films of the Weimar period and later experimental cinema.

Thursday, 30 April 2026 | 7 pm

Schömbs in the Context of German Experimental Film

In this lecture, Thomas Worschech (DFF – German Film Institute & Film Museum) places Franz Schömbs’ films within the context of German experimental film of the 1950s. In doing so, he also takes a look at the 1920s and 1930s.

Thursday, 07 May 2026 | 7 pm

Dancing Colours – The Restoration of Franz Schömbs’ Films

In 2022, several of Franz Schömbs’ films were restored and digitised. Lou Burkart (curator at the Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam) talks about the challenges involved in this work. The discussion focuses on issues of reconstruction, the different versions of the films, and how experimental film art can be preserved and made accessible today.

Thursday, 28 May 2026 | 7 pm

Film and Art History: An (Interrupted) Tradition

To close the lecture series, Prof. Dr Henry Keazor (Institute of European Art History, University of Heidelberg) will place Franz Schömbs’ film works within a broader art-historical context. The focus will be on how Schömbs’ experiments with colour, movement and space can be situated between painting, film and the avant-garde.

EVENTS

 OPENGING  ​

Friday, 31 July 2026 | 7 pm

Mannheim Art Prize of the Heinrich-Vetter-Stiftung

Main prize: Konstantin Voit

Freitag, 27. November 2026 | 7 pm

Deltabeben. In cooperation with the Mannheimer Kunstverein and the Kunsthalle Mannheim

 EVENTS AT PORT25 ​​​

Friday, 11  April 2026 | 6 pm

Lange Nacht der Innovation und Kultur – entdeckt Mannheims Ideen von morgen!

Friday, 17. April 2026 | 7 pm

elektrosmog concert, Mathieu Sylvestre. Experimental/Drone

Thursday, 23 April 2026 | 7 pm

BBK Werkgespräch #17 with Marek Walczak and Martin Weyers

admission free

Saturday, 16 May | 3 pm

Artist talk with Luigi Toscano

Saturday, 14 June | 3 pm

Artist talk with Luigi Toscano

 GUIDED TOURS (admission free) 

Sunday, 19 April 2026 | 3 pm

Guided tour in German with Kim Behm

Sunday, 26 April 2026 | 3 pm

Guided tour in Russian with Anna Siebert

Sunday, 17 May 2026 | 3 pm

Guided tour in German with Sofja Burczyc

Sunday, 14 June 2026 | 2:30 pm

Guided tour in German with Kim Behm