Not far from Haus der Kunst, the Eisbach River, a tributary of the River Isar, flows through the English Garden. Its standing wave, where the first surfing attempts took place in the late 1970s, has made it an icon of river surfing and urban life far beyond the boundaries of the city. What is lost here disappears beneath the surface.
Since 2008, Tao Schirrmacher, European river surfing champion, has been diving in the Eisbach River in search of the objects lost there. What began with a single gold ring has, over the years, grown into an impressive collection of found objects and artefacts: jewellery, car keys, watches, but also cartridges and air pistols from the Second World War, devotional objects, tools, telephones, cameras and much more.
The finds are as varied as the stories they tell. Where do they come from? Who did they belong to? Some offer a glimpse of their past, such as two wedding rings that clearly belong together due to matching details and engravings. Were they lost together? Or was it a deliberate act, a separation sealed in symbolic terms? Others keep their secrets completely.
The objects derive their particular significance from the personal stories connected to them. An old key, a pair of sunglasses or a plain ring may seem unremarkable. Yet they preserve memories of people, places, experiences and special moments. Tao Schirrmacher’s collection offers an unusual perspective on the city and its people, told through the objects that came to rest on the bed of the Eisbach River over time. In one of Munich’s most famous waterways, a hidden archive has emerged, preserving traces and testimonies of urban life.
The display of this collection, which Tao Schirrmacher named “Lost and Drowned” in 2008, arose from a desire to return these objects to their stories, or to tell new ones about them. At the same time, the exhibition draws attention to the immediate surroundings of Haus der Kunst, forging further connections between the exhibition venue, the Eisbach River and the English Garden.
"Eisbach Treasures" is on display in Archiv Galerie, the centrally located exhibition space that serves as a visual record of Haus der Kunst's complex history.
The examination of architecture and legacy has been integral to the institution's programme since the mid-1990s, and the artists who exhibit here actively engage in this process. Over the years, the gallery has become a home for independent and subcultural archives, from the Forum Queeres Archiv München to the record label Trikont. Many of these collections document ways of life and cultural expressions that were marginalised or persecuted under the Nazi Regime. Hosted in this space, Schirrmacher's collection allows the memory of the city and that of the Haus to stand side by side for a moment.
Curated by Sabine Brantl
Artist info
Tao Schirrmacher
Tao Schirrmacher (b. 1982) is a free spirit, graphic designer, surfer, and diver, as well as a three-time European champion in rapid surfing. For more than twenty years he has been part of Munich's Eisbach scene. From 2000 onwards he searched the river for lost surfboard fins, noticing along the way that there was far more to be found on the bottom. When he came across a gold ring in 2008, it gave rise to "Lost and Drowned", a project in which he gathers his finds, gradually assembling a hidden archive of urban life. In his work, the fields he is at home in flow together: water, urban culture, and design.