« I took a deep breath
and listened to the old brag of my heart.
I am, I am, I am. ¹»

L’Harmonie du Personnel is both the title of Annika Kahrs’ first solo exhibition in France and that of her latest film, shot at the Peugeot Archives in Hérimoncourt in the Pays de Montbéliard with the musicians of the Harmonie de Sochaux in the spring of 2026. These few elements already offer some clues to an artistic practice that has, for several years, situated itself at the intersection of the visual arts, music, and a situated approach through which the artist, with a sort of irreverent elegance, breathes new energy into specific places or situations.

Since 2024, Annika Kahrs has been exploring the role of brass bands in Europe within various political, social, industrial, and demographic contexts. The project in Montbéliard brings this research to a close, taking the form of a trilogy of films brought together here for the first time.

Annika Kahrs (born in 1984 in Achim, Germany) lives and works in Hamburg and Berlin. She is a visual artist working with installation, video and performance. Her research and the subjects it addresses always involve sound or music in their entanglements with social or political topics, and in connection with professional or amateur performers. She holds degrees from the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg and the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna.

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This exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération through the project Les couleurs de l’agglo for the production of the film L’Harmonie du Personnel, and IFA - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen for the production of the exhibition; the Plan Fanfare program of the DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-Comté for its support through the close collaboration between composer Louis d’Heudières and the Sochaux Wind Band; and the Liebelt Stiftung in Hamburg for the entire project. The film L’Harmonie du Personnel also benefited from the generous hospitality of the Centre d’archives de Terre Blanche / Fonds de dotation Peugeot pour la mémoire de l’histoire industrielle in Hérimoncourt.