What happens when our body stops functioning? What happens when we pass the final frontier without returning? Is death a final frontier or part of the life cycle? Do we have a soul? We don't know, but it challenges our imagination. With the exhibition JENSEITS - BEYOND THE BODY, the WELTKUNSTZIMMER opens as a new, interdisciplinary art centre on 27 October at 7 pm. In the listed rooms of the Hans Peter Zimmer Foundation, a former baking factory, visual arts, performing arts and music will find a new presentation space. In the WELTKUNSTZIMMER's first exhibition, JENSEITS - BEYOND THE BODY, Dutch curator and art critic Anne Berk presents 13 artistic positions on the theme of the transience of human existence. The artists pose the question of physical decay and the idea of an afterlife.

"Everything has to change. But nothing comes to an end. The soul will never die. It is always the same spirit, even if it takes on different forms." (Ovid: Metamorphoses)

Our body is in a continuous ageing process. Regardless of medical progress or cosmetic treatment, one day our bodies will no longer function. Our individual personality, one of the main values in our culture, will disappear. How do we curb our fears? How do we come to terms with our own disappearance? How do we comfort the bereaved? And what does death mean? Is there anything beyond the body? People have been asking these questions in philosophy, religion and art since time immemorial without being able to find a clear answer. In our secularised era, we try to ignore death. We try to avoid the questions by depicting perfect beauty and eternal youth in advertising and the media. Death is a black hole that we try to block out. But we will inevitably die. In this vacuum, the questions are taken up again by the contemporary artists in JENSEITS-BEYOND THE BODY. They reflect on them without giving a clear answer. We are left to use our imagination, the origin of art. In JENSEITS - BEYOND THE BODY, the exhibition visitor will experience a symbolic final journey to the various stages, such as Before Death / Death / Beyond the body / Survivers. A catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition.