Pumi is in the museum for the first time, although he is already 13 years old.

So far he has had to lead a life without enjoying art.

But he doesn't seem to feel very comfortable walking through the exhibition.

He crosses the rooms of the Opel villas uncertainly, looking around questioningly again and again.

Continues.

Hesitates.

Sniff the parquet floor.

Listen to the howling of wolves from the sound installation by Valie Export.

However, Rosemarie Trockel's dog portraits don't seem to impress him.

Not even Gabriele Muschel's drawings of orangutans.

Which may be because Pumi is a dog, a Labrador hybrid, to be more precise.

Katharina Deschka

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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His owner, Ingrid Becker, took up the offer of the Opel villas in Rüsselsheim this morning: “Dogs are welcome!” Where do you get something like that?

Dogs are usually not allowed to enter the hallowed halls of art institutions.

The experiment is now being attempted in the Opel villas.

The show “Art for Animals.

A change of perspective for people ”is ideal for this.

The presentation is about the complicated relationship between humans and animals, about the artists' love for animals and their portrayal of individual animals, about animals as creators and in the performance by Krõõt Juurak and Alex Bailey even about animals as recipients of art.

First of all, art is hip

Ingrid Becker has prepared well.

She came specially from Hofheim with Pumi.

She wants to use her trip to explore the city of Rüsselsheim, the fortress next to the Opel villas, the banks of the Main.

But first of all, art is the order of the day.

And Pumi has to wander through Dominika Bednarsky's installation: 150 ceramic snails, spread over the entire floor.

Pumi is confused.

Avoiding the beasts with their pointed antennae can be quite exhausting for a dog.

But it is always better than waiting an hour in the car.

And now it's getting interesting for Pumi too, because another dog is now entering the exhibition - a young Doberman is yapping excitedly, pulling on the leash and immediately wants to run towards Pumi.

"He's still very young," says the man who has just come in behind the dog apologetically.

He has the family in tow.

The twins, who celebrate their 28th birthday on this day.

And his wife, whose idea was to visit the exhibition.

Everyone likes the visit, only for Rocco, the Doberman, they could have done a little more, says his owner: "Something for dogs to sniff out."

However, this is not how the exhibition is intended, and most visitors are aware of this, says Beate Kemfert, manager of the Opel villas.

The format of allowing dogs into the exhibition enables dog owners to take their darling with them to an exhibition so that the animals do not have to wait in the car.

That makes it easier for visitors.

In addition, curious people would come who would otherwise not be drawn to the museum.

A number of dog owners registered this morning.

Two men just come by with their two dogs.

It's a spontaneous idea, they say.

Would you like to have a look?

Meanwhile, Ferdinand, a four-year-old Beagle, walks curiously through the exhibition rooms.

The dog stops in front of the wall-sized screen on which the dog performance of the artist duo Juurak and Bailey is running.

Look carefully.

Even sits down.

“He also watches television at home,” says his owner Robert Adam-Frick and laughs.

His wife has brought cleaning cloths as a precaution.

"If something happens." But that is not necessary.

Nothing happens to the exhibits - even if there are a lot of dogs running around that day.

At the end there is a sip of water for everyone from the bowl provided.

And a wave of Emma, ​​the Jack Russell lady behind the cash register.

 An open house for dogs

is planned in the Opelvillen Rüsselsheim, Ludwig-Dörfler-Allee 9, in the exhibition "Art for Animals" on December 10th and 17th.

Registration is required.