YOUNG MASTERS EXHIBITION

In 2025, the KLANGLICHT Young Masters Exhibition will once again take place in the side tunnels of the Schlossbergstollen as part of the festival. This year, a total of five works by young artists will be on display, most of them for the first time. With this exhibition, KLANGLICHT offers young and emerging artists and collectives the opportunity to present themselves to a wide audience, attract attention and establish new contacts for collaboration or further exhibitions.

This year’s participants are Jana Habiger, Joschua Hohenbrink, Konstantin Postl, Mattia Fiacco Mazzini, Xaver Rath, Alice Zanutti, Bensu Kaya and Indy YuQian. The media artworks of these artists range from philosophical to dramatic, and some are even interactive, and create their own uniquely voiced atmosphere in the caves of the tunnel.

curated by Jan Herman de Boer

location: Schlossbergstollen, Zugang über Schlossbergplatz

This installation is made possible with the kind support of AVL.

Jana Habiger – IN THE END
Strange scenes unfolding in a miniature version of Graz’s Clock Tower. These are scenes from the biblical apocalypse as described in the Book of Revelation. The bells of the Clock Tower, which have already rung for many reasons, now proclaim another new message: seven seals are opened, seven trumpets sounded, and seven bowls of plagues are poured out upon the world.
With ‘In the end’, Jana Habiger draws a parallel to our actual reality – a reality that seems surreal to many people due to climate change, the mass extinction of species and depletion of natural resources; as surreal as the reality in this work.

Joschua Hohenbrink – THE DRAGON’S CAVE
In seinem Projekt „Die Drachenhöhle“ erzählt Joschua Hohenbrink die Geschichte eines Drachens, der tief im Schlossberg ruht. Jedoch hält er sich nicht versteckt; vielmehr ist der Berg selbst der Drache. Er ist in die geologische und kulturelle Geschichte des Ortes eingebettet und hält sich in den Schichten der Zeit und der Natur verborgen. Mit wachsenden Pflanzen, die zu einem Netz aus Linien werden, die sich wiederum zu einem Drachen formen zeigt Hohenbrink einen Zyklus aus Verwandlung, Leben, Verfall und Wiedergeburt.

Konstantin Postl, Mattia Fiacco Mazzini, Xaver Rath – LET GO
Not every moment needs to be shaped. Sometimes profound changes occur when people decide not to shape the experience, but to observe it. That is the message of ‘Let go’. The installation by Konstantin Postl, Mattia Fiacco Mazzini and Xaver Rath explores the tension between control and acceptance in dreams and thus also in life. The audience can influence the dream they experience here via an interface: every touch changes it. But the more interaction there is, the more resistance the system offers. Chaos and emptiness follow, giving way to beauty only when control ends – and we simply let go.

Alice Zanutti, Bensu Kaya – THE CROSSING

Surface water that initially appears calm is moved by hidden currents. Warm white is constantly disturbed by aggressive red. And a carousel of silhouettes spins incessantly. There is no thought of calm – let alone safety – here. The audience watches from a distance. Intervention is not possible.


‘The Crossing’ by Alice Zanutti and Bensu Kaya is an installation of light and shadow that tells the story of migration: displacement, the illusion of safety, danger, death and, last but not least, the world’s passive view of humanitarian crises.

Indy YuQian – FRAGEMENTS OF IDENTITY
Fragments of Identity is an audiovisual installation that explores self-discovery between two cultures. At its heart is porcelain, which once travelled from China to the Netherlands, where it broke away from its Chinese ancestors and established itself as an independent and valuable cultural heritage alongside the development of Dutch ceramics.
Like porcelain, Indy YuQian herself came to the Netherlands from China and found herself in a culture that was often different from what she had expected. Based on this analogy, the artist’s project explores cultural life, questions traditions and celebrates identity.