Marwa Arsanios, Michael Baers, Cana Bilir-Meier & Emel Yükseloğlu, Bouchra Khalili, Iman Issa, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Aykan Safoğlu and Huda Takriti
For several months now, Benin, Huriye, Mayada, Nada, Ribaz, Sidra, Yara and Yaren have been participating weekly in a curators’ workshop with Nina, director of the TAXISPALAIS. In the process, the girls gave themselves the collective name the eight friends. The eight friends are between ten and twelve years old, come from different countries, each of them speaks several languages, and they all live in Innsbruck.
At the beginning of the workshop, the children were invited to invent a story that the exhibition could revolve around. Together they wrote a tale entitled The Missing Carrot. It tells of how a rabbit and its friends come to experience what community means: shared joy, collective loss, the willingness to forgive and to help one another. Through this adventure, the animals learn to live together justly and blissfully.
This story serves as the heart of the exhibition. The artists Marwa Arsanios, Michael Baers, Cana Bilir- Meier & Emel Yükseloğlu, Bouchra Khalili, Iman Issa, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Aykan Safoğlu and Huda Takriti were invited to react to it and create works for the eight friends. Some responded directly to the story, others paid tribute to the eight friends, and others have done both. Most of the works on view were created specifically for the exhibition.
Curated by Nina Tabassomi together with the eight friends
Thanks for the cooperation to the Tiroler Soziale Dienste and Julia Berger.
Press release from TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol
Image: Exhibition view from the eight friends at TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol, 2026. Textile seating elements and sand letters. Dimensions variable. Commissioned by TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol for the eight friends. Photography by Günter Kresser. Image courtesy the artists, TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol, 2026
