Monsters live everywhere: under the bed, in the dark, in nature, in others, in ourselves. Where we don't know what to do, we construct them: the pandemic becomes a zombie apocalypse, the wild boar becomes a lion, our own body becomes an enemy. Nevertheless, they are not always just dangerous or terrifying and can take the form of a best friend in children's books or a protective cuddly toy. Sometimes we ourselves become a ‘monster’ that protects us from others and gives us superhuman powers. After all, who defines what is monstrous and why does it have to be something we avoid? When and where does the sacred become monstrous?

Together with seven artistic positions, things we meet in the dark approaches these questions on different levels. Moran Sanderovich's performance Anastatica kicks off the exhibition opening. In her work, the artist utilizes the aesthetics of the grotesque to examine the concept of otherness using her own body. Traumas and wounds function as a way of creating new potentials of supernatural physicality and deconstructing stigmas of supposed abnormality.

A publication accompanying the exhibition will also deepen the discourse theoretically and offer different individual approaches to ‘monsters’. With an educational programme consisting of an artist talk, workshop, film screening, reading session and guided tours, visitors will also be invited to engage with ‘Monsters’ on a personal level.

The Kleine Humboldt Galerie (KHG) is a voluntary project initiative for the conception and realization of exhibition projects. Since 2009, the KHG has been made up of students from Berlin's universities and colleges as well as various faculties. The collective offers students in Berlin the unique opportunity to try out a wide variety of curatorial formats according to their interests and thus react to current events. As a project initiative without its own premises, the KHG uses this as an opportunity to repeatedly play in new places - both inside and outside the universities. The KHG has also set itself the task of offering a free programme that connects visitors and participants through a comprehensive mediation offer. The aim is to create formats in which young people can find access to topics relevant to them and familiarize themselves with artistic practices. In the past, exhibitions, publications and performance series have dealt with various topics such as self-optimisation, video games and the view of young artists on the big city.