Everyone knows that excruciating moment: your cheeks flush, your eyes desperately scan the floor, and your only impulse is to vanish into thin air. Shame is one of humanity’s most intimate, uncomfortable, and universally experienced emotions. It resides right at the intersection of identity, physicality, morality, and social norms. Shame can silence us or leave us paralyzed—yet its dynamics are shifting. Ever since the courageous declaration by Gisèle Pelicot, survivor of widespread abuse, that “shame must change sides,” the topic has shifted to the very center of public discourse.

From September 4 to September 20, 2026, the art association 68elf e.V. is dedicating a multifaceted group exhibition to this complex phenomenon at Cologne’s historic bunker_k101.

Under the title “SHAME – Between Me and the World” („SCHAM – Zwischen mir und der Welt“), artists and collectives from Cologne’s independent scene and the BBK Bonn Rhein-Sieg examine this ancient feeling from diverse perspectives.

Between Intimacy and Social Mechanisms

The participating works investigate the theme through various artistic mediums, examining not only deeply personal, intimate shame tied to body image, desire, heritage, or individual failure, but also its collective dimension—such as historical or political wrongdoing—and the widespread phenomenon of second-hand embarrassment (Fremdscham).

The raw, historical atmosphere of the bunker in Cologne-Ehrenfeld serves as a fitting backdrop to explore the delicate boundary between the innermost self and the public sphere.

Supporting Program: Literature & Performance

The exhibition will be accompanied by two live events extending the theme into literary and performative dimensions:

• Saturday, September 12, 2026 | 7:00 PM

  Readings: Thomas Dahl reads from IN HÖLLEN, followed by agii gosse reading from POISON (Note: explicit content / adults only).

• Saturday, September 19, 2026 | 5:00 PM

  Performance: The collective kopróchoma responds to the artworks in bunker_k101 with a site-specific performance.

Participating Artists & Collectives

Zekiye Acar, Pablo Basem, Marleen Becker, Anna Bilman, Tanja Chimes, Gianni Düx, Anja Eichen, Patricia Falkenburg, Johannes Laurin Fischer, Sabina Flora, Matsatso Gogichaishvili, agii gosse, Angelika Haak, Waltraud Hackenberg, Susanna Heider, Monika Heimann, Helmut Hergarten, Jörn Keseberg & Chris Karawidas, Paata Kokaia, Ute Küppersbusch, Rosa Langer, Doris Maile, Brigitte Maxrath-Enger, Brigitte Mekelburg, Georg Petermann, Christiane Rath, Caspar Reuter, Monika Rossmöller-Schmidt, Ricarda Rommerscheidt, Su Rui, Jochen Schemm, Georg Schnitzler, Marina Skepner, Una Sörgel, Marie Spellerberg, Frauke Stärk, Christiane Stegat, Barbara Stewen, Cornelia Teiner, Axel Weishaupt, Tine Wille, Antje Winkler-Sueße, Worst Case, Ina Zeuch, Petra Zieriacks, zweiimdruck & Ingrid Bahß.

At a Glance: Visitor Information

• Exhibition: SHAME – Between Me and the World (SCHAM – Zwischen mir und der Welt)

• Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, 2026, at 6:00 PM

• Dates: September 4 – September 20, 2026

• Venue: bunker_k101, Körnerstraße 101, 50823 Cologne (Ehrenfeld), Germany

• Opening Hours: Fridays 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Saturdays & Sundays 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

• Organizer: 68elf e.V. (in cooperation with BBK Bonn Rhein-Sieg)