The exhibition Iconoclash: Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion and Art emerged from the collaboration of an international group of experts and was curated by Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel in 2002 at ZKM | Karlsruhe, Germany. ZKM, founded in 1989, is a leading European centre for the study of the relationship between art and technology.

The curatorial team included the physicist and historian of science Peter Galison, the art historians Joseph Leo Koerner and Dario Gamboni, the artist Adam Lowe, and the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. An advisory board consisting of experts from the fields of art history, oriental studies, philosophy, media theory, musicology, and anthropology was also consulted (Hans Belting, Marie-José Mondzain, Heather Stoddard, Boris Groys, and Denis Laborde).

Iconoclash was a large-scale exhibition that addressed the problem of representation and the tensions it generates in different fields of knowledge and culture. Rather than adopting an iconoclastic stance, the exhibition critically explored the concept of iconoclasm through a synthesis of scientific materials, historical documents, and artworks. Conceived as a Gedankenausstellung (exhibition of ideas), the exhibition employed cultural artifacts as discursive elements to generate new perspectives and stimulate interdisciplinary discussion.

The term iconoclash is a neologism combining the words iconoclasm and clash. It describes the tension in which images and representations are constantly immersed, questioning their legitimacy, power, and permanence.

According to Bruno Latour, this tension is present not only in art, but also in science and religion. From the trinity in monotheistic religions to scientific theory and contemporary visual manifestations, there is a persistent contradiction between the need to create representations and the impulse to destroy them. This dialectic, inherent to Western thought, has been expressed in Iconoclash through a selection of works from various fields of knowledge and research.

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Iconoclash is a precursor to Summoning the Ghosts of Modernity, an exhibition on view at the Medellín Museum of Modern Art from March 12 to June 15, 2025.