The Saarland University and State Library is celebrating its 75th anniversary in a collaborative project with HBKsaar:

Kunstraum Bibliothek
(Art Space Library)

 

For 75 years, the Saarland University and State Library (SULB) has stood for knowledge, research and the cultural memory of the Saarland.
The founding of the university library is directly linked to the founding of the new university in 1948, initially in Homburg and later in Saarbrücken.
What began in 1950 in the semi-autonomous Saarland as a university library in a barracks building with truckloads of books from France and the holdings from Homburg has developed into a modern academic library. Housed since 1954 in the building designed by architect Richard Döcker, the library has also been responsible for state library tasks since 1994. The SULB looks back with pride on its history – and with curiosity to the future of digital knowledge.

Curiosity was also the motivation for the cooperation project ‘Kunstraum Bibliothek’ (Art Space Library) between the SULB and the Saar College of Fine Arts (HBKsaar): How do artists perceive the world of the library? To explore this question, the SULB approached the HBKsaar with a request for collaboration and invited art students to engage artistically with the SULB building and the people who work and study there. As part of two courses taught by Prof. Gabriele Langendorf and Dr Florian Rossbach at the HBKsaar, the students created works of art that engaged with the library.

The artistic positions, inspired by architecture and history, surprise and invite visitors to ‘re-read’ both the institution of the library and the use and effects of the various media.

The exhibition ‘Kunstraum Bibliothek’ will open at the library anniversary ceremony (closed event) on 31 October 2025 and can be seen in the exhibition space and other locations in the library until 30 March 2026.

An exhibition booklet with texts by the artists will be available, and a publication on the project will be released in spring 2026. 

A mid-term exhibition will also take place on 29 January 2026.

Guided tours are available on request.

 

Opening hours:
Mon – Sat   8 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Campus B1 1, 66123 Saarbrücken

 

Artistic direction of the project:
Prof. Gabriele Langendorf, Dr. Florian Rossbach

 

Other contributors from HBKsaar:
Florian Luxenburger and Malgorzata Sztremer


Participating artists:
Victoria Daschiev, Šejla Daudbašić, Julius Gödtel, Mattis Lehmann, Sara Mariani, Jonas Meiser, Sebastian Schütz, Alina Stimm and Laura Weisbrodt

 

Contributors from SULB:
Catherine Bellaire, Dr. Desirée Griesemer, Julian Wichert.
With the support of Saarland University.

 

Download the exhibition booklet as a PDF (2.8 MB) here