Podcast “In the Moment” with Benno Fürmann
In a fast-moving world full of change and uncertainty, more and more people are looking for moments of quiet and focus. How can art museums help bring us back to the here and now? And how can the practice of mindfulness be combined with seeing, feeling, and experiencing Impressionist art? The Museum Barberini dives into these questions with its audio podcast In the Moment: A Meditative Journey with Monet. Now available wherever you can find podcasts.
Season 2
The podcast "Im Moment," which started in 2025 with five episodes on Claude Monet's works, was expanded to include two new episodes on Paul Signac's works from the Impressionism collection. Paul Signac und der Neoimpressionismus" um zwei neue Folgen zu Gemälden Paul Signacs aus der Impressionismus-Sammlung erweitert. Narrated by Benno Fürmann, each episode, lasting around ten minutes, invites listeners to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of an Neo-Impressionist artwork.
Hasso Plattner Collection
Paul Signac: Mill of Edam, 1896
Paul Signac: The Port at sunset, Opus 236 (Saint-Tropez), 1892, Oil on Canvas, 65 x 81 cm, Hasso Plattner Collection
Season 1
The Museum Barberini dives into these questions with its new audio podcast In the Moment: A Meditative Journey with Monet. In five episodes of around ten minutes each, listeners embark on an acoustic journey through selected works by Claude Monet in the Hasso Plattner Collection. Descriptions of the paintings narrated by actor Benno Fürmann are complemented by mindfulness exercises conceived by the journalist and mindfulness trainer Diane Hielscher.
Ortrud Westheider, Director of the Museum Barberini"The artists of Impressionism were masters of capturing the moment. Our podcast is an invitation to concentrate on the moment and experience Monet’s works in a different, meditative way. Researchers in Great Britain and Belgium as well as at the Charité in Berlin have studied the effect of art on mental and physical health—and have found that art has a positive impact. Art can help us concentrate on the present moment and experience more inner peace and contentment. In addition to our longstanding and very popular yoga sessions in the museum, we are delighted to now offer an acoustic format to help people experience the connection between art and well-being."
Water-Lilies, 1914–1917, Hasso Plattner Collection
Claude Monet: Landscape in Ile Saint-Martin, 1881
Both nationally and internationally, more and more museums are responding to the growing desire for slower-paced experiences and are integrating meditation into their programs. With its “Mindfulness in the Museum,” the Getty Museum in Los Angeles offers meditative art viewing, while the Tate Modern in London invites visitors to “Slow Looking” and German museums like the Bode-Museum in Berlin are providing opportunities to explore art and meditation.
Paula Winkler / Thomas Koy
Conversation about art and mindfulness
On November 3, 2025, the Museum Barberini marked the launch of the podcast by hosting a conversation: Benno Fürmann, for whom meditation has been a part of daily life for years, talked with Diane Hielscher about the power of stillness, about silence in the midst of constant overstimulation, and about how art can help sharpen our perception. In conversation, the two will explored what we can learn from the Impressionists as “masters of the moment,” how their works still speak to all our senses today—and the powerful effect that conscious experiencing can have on us. The talk was recorded and is available as a bonus track on the podcast.
About the participants
In the Moment: A Meditative Journey with Monet is a podcast by the Museum Barberini, written and produced by studiodrei, edited by Carolin Stranz, Marte Kräher, Esther Franken and Valerie Degen (Museum Barberini), supplemented by Diane Hielscher, and narrated by Benno Fürmann.
The podcast is now available on the Museum Barberini website and on all popular podcast platforms.
Benno Fürmann is an award-winning actor (Anatomie, Nordwand, Babylon Berlin) who also advocates for environmental and social issues. In 2023 he published Unter Bäumen, a book about connection to nature, mindfulness, and social responsibility.
Diane Hielscher is a moderator, author, and podcaster. A familiar voice from radio and the podcast Achtsam (Deutschlandfunk Nova), she explores themes related to science, consciousness, and society with a focus on mindfulness and meditation.
