In the hushed, Romanesque nave of Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, a surreal presence dominates the space: a colossal, all-white rhinoceros, its inflated form stretching nearly 17 meters (nearly 56 feet) from nose to tail and soaring more than 9 meters (almost 30 feet) high. This is The Rhinoceros in the Room, a monumental installation by artist Itamar Gov that blurs the boundaries between sculpture, architecture, and metaphor, while transforming a medieval sacred space into a living, breathing artwork.
At first glance, the creature’s matte, chalky surface recalls something primordial and almost fossil-like, as if unearthed from the subconscious rather than constructed for the present. As visitors step closer, its scale becomes a lesson in contrast. Weightlessness is made enormous, and form is anchored in fragility.
Gov’s inflatable rhinoceros does not merely occupy the nave. It redefines it. Where the church’s axial symmetry once drew the eye toward distant arches and stone vaults, the rhino interrupts that vista entirely. Columns are cropped from view, perspectives shift without warning, and what once felt like a procession through time becomes an encounter with massive presence.
The spatial intervention is both playful and disorientating. Visitors must walk around the animal to reengage with the architecture, rediscovering arches and pilasters from unexpected angles. In doing so, the installation reminds us how much our perception of space relies on expectation and how quickly that expectation can be upended.
Gov encourages visitors to engage with the work not only through sight, but through listening. A multi-channel sound composition fills the nave, weaving together eight cellos, layered voices, gentle lullabies, and fragments of Goethe’s “Erlkönig” alongside a Hebrew “Hitragut” lullaby. The result is immersive and deeply felt. The sound echoes off the stone walls and lingers in the vaulted ceilings, giving the impression that the architecture itself is resonating.
The title references the familiar idiom “the elephant in the room,” yet the work’s conceptual depth goes further. The installation also draws on a rich web of cultural and historical references. Eugène Lonesco’s absurdist play Rhinoceros explores conformity as townspeople transform into beasts, while Albrecht Dürer’s iconic 16th-century engraving shaped Europe’s image of the rhinoceros. Locally, Magdeburg’s 17th-century Guericke-Einhorn, a faux unicorn assembled from assorted animal bones, adds another layer of myth and imagination. Together, these influences enrich Gov’s installation, blending theatrical and historical dimensions into his own rhino’s presence.
The Rhinoceros in the Room functions as both conceptual prompt and sculptural spectacle. It challenges viewers to reconsider what it means to truly see, not only with their eyes but with an awareness of space and history, with narratives that shape both. Gov transforms a centuries-old ecclesiastical interior into a dynamic stage for contemporary dialogue, where past and present coalesce in the inflatable body of an extraordinary beast.
A colossal inflatable rhinoceros by Itamar Gov transforms the Medieval nave of Kunstmuseum Magdeburg.
This installation is on view through July 5, 2026.
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