The artist residency Schloss Balmoral is located in the once-fashionable spa town of Bad Ems. Like many places today, it has in recent years increasingly been marked by vacancy and in some areas feels left behind, wounded, and stripped of its charm. That is slowly changing. In the summer, Bad Ems is polishing its (former) shine anew, with flair and contemporary art.
The BAD BIENNALE is an exhibition format featuring artwork by the 2025 cohort of residents as well as (guest) contributions from music, poetry, and more, which can be experienced all around the city. We are looking forward to ‘playgrounds for daydreams,’ ‘sounding architectures, a church filled with art, and a puppet theater in the park in honor of the puppeteer Max Jacob, who was born in Bad Ems. Kick-off is on Sat, July 25, with the Berlin band ‘Der Singende Tresen.’ The full program can be found here. The Bad Biennale takes place from July 25 to August 2, 2026.
We thank the Rhineland-Palatinate Summer of Culture/ Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz for the generous support of our program.
Participants of the 2025 grants:
Yesmine Ben Salah
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/yesmine-ben-salah/
Luis Bruder
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/luis-bruder/
Christian Diaz Orejanera
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/christian-diaz-orejarena/
Badr El Hammami
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/badr-el-hammami/
Christiane Fichtner
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/christiane-fichtner/
Äsel Kadyrkhanova
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/asel-kadyrkhanovaasel/
Sasha Kurmaz
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/sasha-kurmaz/
YeonSook Lee
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/yeonsook-lee/
Dandara Maia
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/dandara-maia/
Felicia Mülbaier
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/felicia-muelbaier/
Paula Müller
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/paula-mueller/
Khathala Nkomo
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/khathala-nkomo/
Sarah Oh-Mock
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/sarah-oh-mock/
Maximilian Schneider
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/maximilian-schneider/
Isabell Spengler
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/isabell-spengler/
Jana Kerima Stolzer
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/jana-kerima-stolzer/
Veronika Weingärtner
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/veronika-weingaertner/
Constanze Witt
https://balmoral.de/stipendiatin/constanze-witt/
Guests:
Simon-Mary Vincent – Composer & Performer-
https://www.simon-mary-vincent.com/
Vimbs MaVimbs – Jazz-Musiker – https://www.vimbsmavimbs.com/
Steloolive
https://www.instagram.com/steloolive/?hl=de
Hauke Dorsch, Archiv für die Musik Afrikas, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz – www.ama.ifeas.uni-mainz.de/
Farieda Nazier – artist & curator
Yassine Balbzioui – artist
Emeka Alams – fashion designer
Ruben Millones – Poet-du-Pain // Baker-in-Res
Markus Berges, Autor (Erdmöbel) –
https://www.markusberges.de/ in Kooperation mit dem Künstler:innenhaus Edenkoben
Monika Nolte, Robert Krieg – https://www.krieg-nolte.de/
Lulo Reinhardt – https://www.lulo-reinhardt-project.de/
In cooporation with:
Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz
Verband der Gehörlosen Rheinland-Pfalz e.V.
Welterbe Bad Ems/ Great Spa Towns of Europe
Stadt Bad Ems, Verbandsgemeinde Bad Ems-Nassau
Staatsbad GmbH
FADA, University of Johannesburg, Südafrika
Sophiatown Circles NPC, Johannesburg, Südafrika
- OPENING: Saturday, 25.7.2026, 2 pm
MAXINE, Römerstraße 37, 56130 Bad Ems
- 2 pm – Welcome in the presence of the artists n
- 3:30 pm – BAD BIENNALE, all venues are open
- 4 pm – Art encounter in DGS (German Sign Language)
- 5 pm – Golden Table / at the longest table in town we break bread and share good intentions with our bakers-in-residence
- 7 pm – DER SINGENDE TRESEN / concert and tribute to tricksters
- 9 pm – x Steloolive (Accra, Artist in Residence AMA/African Music Archive, University of Mainz) and Hauke Dorsch (Head of AMA, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)
The Artist Residency Schloss Balmoral looks forward to seeing you!
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WORK ON TOP
Audio Walk trough BAD EMS with sound stations, starting from MAXINE, Römertsraße 37 – easy to experience via mobile. HERE WE GO
tailings
Jana Kerima Stolzer, Soundwalk, 2026
duration: ca. 1,5 hours
Tailings is a poetic walk through Bad Ems. Along the water, we search for visible and invisible traces that lead to the different temporalities of the place: stories layered and archived in rock and organic matter, revealing themselves wherever we listen. Tailings invites you to walk imaginatively through a more-than-human world. The text and sound fragments are drawn from archived observations and research conducted at and about the respective locations.