A playful artwork inside a medieval nave
The Rhinoceros in the Room, an inflatable installation by Itamar Gov, occupies the central volume of Kunstmuseum Magdeburg in Magdeburg, Germany with a single, overwhelming gesture. Installed inside the former monastery church that houses the museum, the project places a larger than life rhinoceros directly in the nave, its bulk stretching from aisle to aisle and rising toward the Romanesque vaults, so that the animal becomes the primary spatial condition of the building rather than an object within it.
Approaching the exhibition, visitors pass through stone arcades and patterned floors before meeting the pale mass of the creature head on. The architecture remains visible in fragments around its edges. Columns appear cropped. Sightlines shorten. Sound travels differently. The installation shifts the way the church is read, turning a familiar heritage interior into a tight, compressed environment shaped by proximity to an immense body.
the inflatable installation contrasts with the Romanesque monastery architecture | images © Hans-Wulf Kunze
the inflatable rhinoceros contrasts with its historic context
Artist Itamar Gov’s rhinoceros at Kunstmuseum Magdeburg has a matte, almost chalky surface that absorbs light and softens detail. From a distance it reads as a simplified volume, closer to a model or prototype than a naturalistic sculpture. Up close, folds, legs, and horn emerge with quiet precision. The animal stands still, heavy and grounded, yet its size creates a subtle tension, as if any movement would set the entire hall in motion.
Music circulates through the gallery as a multi channel composition, filling the church from every direction. Eight cellos and voices drift between recognizable melodies and lullaby tones, then veer into darker passages. The sound seems to slide along the stone walls and settle into the floor, guiding the pace of walking and encouraging longer pauses. Visitors listen as much as they look. The installation becomes acoustic as well as sculptural.
the installation alters how visitors perceive the Romanesque church architecture
History and symbolism at Kunstmuseum Magdeburg
The rhinoceros carries a dense cultural history in Europe, often linked to power and conquest since Albrecht Dürer’s famous engraving. Gov draws on this lineage while introducing ambivalence. The animal suggests armor and strength, yet also vulnerability. It feels ancient, almost prehistoric, and at the same time oddly contemporary, like a prop or inflatable figure placed inside a sacred structure.
Meanwhile, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg’s striped stonework and vaulted ceiling carries centuries of ritual and civic use. Gov treats the building as an active partner. The sculpture blocks axial views and redirects circulation, making visitors trace the perimeter and discover the architecture from oblique angles. Small shifts in position reveal new overlaps between the animal’s rounded back and the sharp geometry of the arches.
project info:
name: The Rhinoceros in the Room
artist: Itamar Gov | @itamargov
museum: Kunstmuseum Magdeburg | @kunstmuseum_magdeburg
dates: January 27th to July 5th, 2026
photography: © Hans-Wulf Kunze
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