What Remains – The World of Aïcha Khorchid
14.05.2027 – 07.11.2027 at Kunsthalle Augsburg im Glaspalast
With this exhibition, the Kunsthalle Augsburg presents a comprehensive solo show dedicated to Aïcha Khorchid—one of the most remarkable artistic discoveries in recent contemporary art. The exhibition is being developed in close collaboration with the artist and in partnership with the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, which will host her first institutional solo exhibition—titled Aïcha Khorchid. The Sea Is Not Blue—from November 21, 2026, to March 28, 2027.
The exhibition at the Kunsthalle Augsburg also marks the presentation of the 2026 "Zeitsicht Art Award" to Aïcha Khorchid, an honor bestowed by the Art Collections and Museums Augsburg in recognition of her outstanding artistic work.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1981, Aïcha Khorchid now lives and works in Mallorca, Spain. Her work is deeply autobiographical, revolving around themes of memory, identity, loss, belonging, and human relationships. The artist’s pictorial worlds resemble a journey through her life, visualizing a search for security, for a place in the world, and ultimately for herself.
Working on large-scale wooden panels, Khorchid has developed a distinctive visual language of remarkable emotional intensity. Her paintings intertwine personal memories and biographical experiences with imagined counter-worlds filled with beauty, hope, and longing. Often rendered nearly life-size, her figures confront viewers directly, creating an immediate and powerful presence. Vulnerability and resilience, pain and comfort, memory and vision coexist within these compelling works.
A self-taught artist, Khorchid only began painting in 2020. Following careers as a street performer, dancer, model, and entrepreneur, she developed within just a few years an artistic practice that has attracted considerable international attention. Her work has been exhibited in Berlin, Antwerp, and Prague, among other cities. In 2024, her paintings were featured for the first time in the group exhibition The Beauty of Diversity at the Albertina Modern in Vienna and subsequently entered the museum’s collection.
The Augsburg exhibition brings together key works from recent years and traces the development of an exceptional artistic position. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in Aïcha Khorchid’s powerful visual worlds and to reflect upon universal questions of origin, memory, loss, and hope.
Opening and Award Ceremony
Thursday, 13 May 2027, 7:00 pm
Kunsthalle Augsburg in the Glass Palace
No registration required. We warmly welcome you.
In cooperation with
ZEITSICHT ART AWARD
The Zeitsicht Art Award was established more than twenty years ago as a private initiative of the Augsburg-based consulting firm hauserconsulting. Artists associated with the award over the years include internationally renowned figures such as Marina Abramović, Arnulf Rainer, Rebecca Horn, Neo Rauch, and Katharina Sieverding.
Since 2024, the award has been administered by the Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg and organized by the museum Kunsthalle Augsburg. This relaunch also introduced a new selection process: since then, the recipient has been chosen by an independent jury of experts.
The award, endowed with 7,000 euro and accompanied by an exhibition at Kunsthalle Augsburg in the Glass Palace, aims to support outstanding artistic positions distinguished by quality, originality, and contemporary relevance while providing them with an institutional platform. Alongside the Augsburg Peace Prize and the Bertolt Brecht Prize, the Zeitsicht Art Award has thus established itself as a third major cultural award of supra-regional significance for the City of Augsburg.
The 2026 recipient was selected by a distinguished jury of leading figures from the international art world.
Zeitsicht Art Award Jury 2026
- Dr. Andreas Beitin, Director, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
- Dr. Eva Huttenlauch, Head of Collection and Curator of Art after 1945, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
- Karsten Löckemann, M.A., Chief Curator, Sammlung Goetz, Munich
- Dr. Simone Schimpf, Director, Neues Museum – State Museum for Art and Design, Nuremberg
- Jan T. Wilms, M.A., Director, Kunsthalle Augsburg
Advisory Members (non-voting)
- Jürgen K. Enninger, Councillor for Culture, World Heritage and Sport, City of Augsburg
- Eberhard Hauser, hauserconsulting, Founder of the Zeitsicht Art Award
- Dr. Christof Trepesch, General Director, Art Collections and Museums Augsburg
The jury particularly praised Aïcha Khorchid’s exceptional artistic independence, the emotional depth of her work, and its strong relevance to contemporary discourse.