Proving Presence - Helen Hausdorf, Jonathan Stein, Cem Akbal
Identity accompanies us throughout our lives – and changes with every experience, every decision, every new beginning. But how can something so fluid be captured? Can a person truly be defined by fixed categories like name, gender or place of birth – as current identity documents suggest? How can identity systems reflect the diversity and constant change that define human life? How do we want to prove identity in the future – and for whom? How do we show others who we are?
We have addressed these questions in a collaborative project with SPRIND – federal agency for breakthrough innovation. SPRIND is currently developing Germany’s EUDI Wallet: a digital version of the national ID card, set to launch by the end of 2026. Digitising our wallets is the logical next step in the evolution of identification in an increasingly high-tech world.
The result is an interactive, intermedia exhibition that allows visitors to immersively experience two speculative future scenarios. „Biotech" describes a world in which biological systems and living networks carry identity and communicate. „Detech" is about a society that has largely turned its back on high-tech solutions. The exhibition invites visitors to think critically about the future of identity.