Museum Schnütgen
Museum Schnütgen IM FOKUS. Silk not sin. Ceremonial garments for the preparation of the holy mass
23 May to 24 August 2014

In the Middle Ages great attention was paid to the preparation of the celebration of mass. By the ritual laying on of clerical vestments accompanied by vesting prayers, priests and bishops completed a transition from the secular to the sacred. Beginning with precious undergarments – these rare items will again be on display for the first time since 1985 at Museum Schnütgen – the exhibition follows the cleric step by step in the solemn preparatory ceremony up to the combing of the hair and washing of the hands. Precious treasures of ecclesiastical textile art including an undergarment from the 14th century and the medieval vestments from the church of St Andreas are presented together with liturgical objects such as the famous ivory comb of St Heribert. This is a continuation of the Museum Schnütgen IM FOKUS format.

Museum Ludwig
Kathryn Andrews
25 May to 25 August 2013

In her conceptual sculptures the Californian artist Kathryn Andrews (born in Mobile, Alabama, 1973) addresses in various different ways the conditions determining the staging and presentation of her work. Its performative quality is particularly evident in the event character of her birthday sculptures. These are polished steel barriers that she decorates with balloons once a year. Other works include rented film props which temporarily complement an otherwise unfinished work. The alliance of a narrative and a temporal dimension reveals a complexity that collides with the imagery which is very direct and influenced by Pop Art. Kathryn Andrew’s interest in presenting her sculptures in juxtaposition to works by other artists is taken account of in her first museum exhibition.

Museum Ludwig
Jo Baer
25 May to 25 August 2013

This exhibition devoted to the American artist Jo Baer (born 1929 in Seattle, has lived in Amsterdam since 1984) will be her first solo exhibition at a German museum. Baer is regarded as a pioneer of Minimalism and achieved a first climax in her career in 1968 as a participant in “documenta IV” and in 1975 when the Whitney Museum of American Art staged a retrospective. At the core of this exhibition at Museum Ludwig is her large catalogue of drawings which will be complemented by important works on canvas. The show focuses on the artist’s minimalist period between 1960-1975 and builds a bridge between this phase and her recent figurative works.

Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln
Jubilee-Weekend: the MAKK celebrates its anniversary
15 June to 16 June 2013

Free admission for all visitors to the museum at the jubilee-weekend

Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln
Der schöne Schein – beautiful veneer – German faience art
15 June to 29 September 2013

On the occasion of the museum’s anniversary, its important collection of German faience objects will be edited, exhibited and published by museum experts. This outstanding collection comprises roughly 200 objects – crockery and figurines – from various different German faience manufactories of the 18th and early 19th centuries, among them rare individual pieces and faience objects decorated by “Hausmaler”, free-lance home painters. This exhibition will present for the first time the museum’s rich collection of faience objects from Germany. The show will also include other collection areas of the MAKK in order to document the refined domestic culture of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Alongside the models used for the decoration of faience objects, the exhibition will present exhibits from other collection areas such as textiles, small items of furniture, metal tableware, glasses and cutlery.

NS-Dokumentationszentrum (EL-DE-Haus)
Der Prozess - The court case against Adolf Eichmann
21 June to 13 October 2013

More than 50 years ago, in April 1961, the Jerusalem District Court opened the trial against Adolf Eichmann, former SS-Sturmbannführer (major) and head of the “Judenreferat IV B 4” (head of the division for affairs relating to the Jewish population) at the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (security main office). The trial developed into a major media event. It was not just the perpetrator of Holocaust atrocities who was in the public limelight – for the first time the world had the opportunity to hear the testimonies of the victims. The trial in Jerusalem marks the beginning of the era of contemporary witnesses. The demeanour of Eichmann before the court triggered discussions on the guilt and responsibilities of individuals in the Nazi system. This exhibition is devoted to both aspects of the trial – the testimonies of the survivors and the strategy of the perpetrator. At the centre of the exhibition is original film material taken in court. The exhibition is organised by the” Topographie des Terrors” Foundation, the” Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas” Foundation and the “Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz” memorial site and educational centre.

Kölnisches Stadtmuseum
125 years Kölnisches Stadtmuseum. 125 x bought - gifted - donated
22 June to 6 October 2013

The Kölnisches Stadtmuseum is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013. It opened its doors at the beginning of August 1888 and is thus one of the oldest museums in Germany – an excellent reason to celebrate. In the exhibition the museum provides a panorama of its history, the huge variety of its 300,000 exhibits and the history of Cologne. 125 years – 125 exhibits: an exhibit from each year of the museum’s history is presented – many for the first time - each with its own history. The exhibition includes all the materials and all the historical periods – and also highlights the tionshave so far never been displayed, precious objects, unpretentious objects, things lost and things whose genuineness is disputed. A refreshing glimpse behind the scenes and the history of Cologne in the last 125 very turbulent years.

Kunst- und Museumsbibliothek
Künstlerbücher von Studenten der Alanus-Hochschule
29 June to 21 July 2013

In 2013 wird die Kunst- und Museumsbibliothek zum achten Mal Künstlerbücher von Kunststudentinnen und Kunststudenten der Alanus Hochschule für Kunst und Gesellschaft Alfter zeigen. Unter der Leitung von Dozent John Gerard, entwickeln und gestalten die Teilnehmer ein eigenes Künstlerbuch. Die Betonung liegt auf Handfertigkeiten und -fähigkeiten in der konzeptionellen Entwicklung von Bildern zu einem Thema, Integration von Schrift, Buchformen und Komposition. Dazu setzten sich die Studentinnen und Studenten mit Buchbindetechniken, Falt- und Klebetechniken, Materialien und einer Definition des Künstlerbuch-Genre auseinander.

Kœlnischer Kunstverein
Pernille Kapper Williams
29 June to 1 September 2013

Die Ausstellung von Pernille Kapper Williams (*1973 in Dänemark) ist die erste institutionelle Einzelausstellung der Künstlerin in Deutschland. Neben bereits existierenden Arbeiten werden auch extra für die Ausstellung neu produzierte Werke der Künstlerin zu sehen sein. In der Arbeit von Kapper Williams stellt sich die Frage, wie die Bedeutung von Dingen mit deren jeweiligen Gestaltungs- und Präsentationsformaten verknüpft ist. Die Träger, Sockel und Rahmungen, mittels denen Ideen, Inhalte, Kunstobjekte aber auch Konsumprodukte kommuniziert und verteilt werden, sind das Ausgangsmaterial ihrer Objekte und Bilder. Die Konfrontation damit, wie gestaltete Oberflächen, die unseren Alltag ausstatten, konstruiert sind und was sie dabei über sich und über uns vermitteln, stellt die Künstlerin durch ästhetische Eingriffe, hintergründige Reduktionen oder ungewöhnliche Kontextualisierungen her.

Kölnisches Stadtmuseum
When the world came to Cologne - High-ranking guests on their visits to Cologne
2 July to 15 September 2013

Konrad Adenauer achieved his aim of making Bonn the West German capital in 1949. From that point onwards illustrious state visitors often popped over to neighbouring Cologne. In 1962 Charles de Gaulle held a speech to a large crowd in front of the Spanischer Bau (part of Cologne town hall). In June 1963 John F. Kennedy did the same. The Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and Queen Elizabeth also visited Cologne – as did later Prince Charles and Lady Diana. When Adenauer withdrew from the political scene, however, the period when high-ranking state visitors made a stopover in Cologne slowly ground to a halt. Historical photographs illustrate the visits by Theodor Heuss, Heinrich Lübke, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Fabiola of Belgium, Charles de Gaulle, Emperor Haile Selassie, John F. Kennedy, Prince Charles and Lady Diana.

artothek - Raum für junge Kunst
Juergen Staack
4 July to 24 August 2013

Römisch-Germanisches Museum
Music in Roman Cologne
18 July to 3 November 2013

Music is ephemeral and the music people listened to in Roman times has long ceased to be heard. What remains are instruments made from clay and metal, reports of pipers and images of mythical musicians. A major city such as Roman Cologne – historians estimate that the city was home to 25,000 people – must have had a rich musical scene. In the theatres, small orchestras accompanied tragedies and comedies – the latter being the more popular genre. Tuba players cheered the gladiators in the arenas and cornus players gave signals to the guards of the proconsul. Flute players drowned out distracting noises during sacrificial rituals, women playing the lyre accompanied singers at private celebrations, children whistled popular tunes and wet nurses sang lullabies to babies. The objects dating from that period that have survived are part of the collection of the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne. Original finds, memorials depicting musicians from Cologne and the entire Roman Empire as well as numerous written sources give an idea – albeit a fragmentary one – of the musical life in Roman Cologne.

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud
The inkblot drawing – between apprentice piece and psychoanalysis
9 August to 13 October 2013

At the centre of the exhibition there are several ink blot drawings recently acquired for the Graphische Sammlung of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud. Leonardo da Vinci had called on young artists to seek inspiration from cloud formations for their designs. Taking up this theory of inspiration the term “Klecksographie” was invented around 1850. The natural scientist Justinus Kerner (1786-1862) and his artist friend Franz von Pocci (1807-1876) made it popular as a special drawing technique. Towards the end of the 19th century the inkblot drawing played an important role in psychoanalysis (Rorschach test). In addition to drawings from Kerner’s circle the exhibition will also show cloud studies by Johann Anton de Peters which provide an introduction to the theme of perceiving and identifying accidental forms.

artothek - Raum für junge Kunst
Christian Hellmich
5 September to 26 October 2013

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud
Sarah Westphal: Timpano
20 September to 2 February 2014

Parallel to the exhibition “Die Geheimnisse der Maler” (Painters’ secrets) roughly a dozen selected works by contemporaries of the artist Sarah Westphal (born 1981), who works in Belgium and Germany, will be presented in the Medieval Section of the Wallraf. Her work, above all large format photographs, deal with the motifs of veil and curtain. In aesthetically sophisticated fashion they explore the thematic field of transparency and projection, concealing and unveiling. The title of the exhibition refers to an historic genre of mounted textiles which served to shroud precious paintings and thus alludes to the “painters’ secrets”.

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud
Die Geheimnisse der Maler (Painters’ secrets). Cologne around 1400
20 September to 9 February 2014

The “Madonna in the Rose Bower” at the Wallraf is world famous. Every year large numbers of visitors come to admire the painting by the master Stefan Lochner. But how exactly was this subtly painted miraculous work created – at a time when there were no electricity and no tubes of paint. A team of art technologists, natural scientists and art historians from the Alte Pinakothek and the Doerner Institute in Munich and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud investigated this and other secrets of medieval painting in Cologne. Using the most modern technological methods – including 3D X-Ray – they examined outstanding works by medieval artists in Cologne. This extensive exhibition for the first time presents the results of their research to the general public. The in part spectacular results include re-allocations between works and artists, re-dating of paintings and reconstructions of altar pieces.

Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln
Boys get skulls, girls get butterflies. Jewellery at the MAKK
21 September to 15 December 2013

The exhibition “Boys get skulls, girls get butterflies” brings together jewellery from prehistoric times to Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Baroque to the present day from the jewellery collection of the Museum of Applied Art in Cologne with rare and exemplary pieces by the goldsmith-artist Georg Hornemann. Pieces of jewellery are tracked down from birth till death and juxtaposed in the context of themes such as mysticism and power, love and sentimentality, ostentation and splendour or function and motif. For a limited time the pieces of jewellery leave their places in the chronology of art history and combine to form a theme-based presentation. The exhibition documents the constant interplay of continuity and change, tradition and innovation, consistency and occasionally unwilling evolution.

Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum - Kulturen der Welt
Made in Oceania: Tapa – Art and Social Landscapes
11 October to 27 April 2014

What connects James Cook, the Bounty mutineers and about 15 million people in Oceania? A unique fabric, made from tree bark. From clothing in Hawai’i to ritual masks in Papua New Guinea, from a room divider in Fiji to an important wedding gift in Samoa or even as the “red carpet” during coronation ceremonies in Tonga – tapa can be found nearly everywhere in the Pacific. In Europe however, the material is still largely unknown. The RJM’s new special exhibition presents a number of unique masterpieces from the museum’s own collection in combination with loans from major institutions such as the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington or the Australian Museum in Sydney. Many of them will be shown in Europe for the first time. The selection ranges from the oldest objects dating back to the 18th century – the Cook collection – to contemporary artworks from renowned Polynesian or Melanesian artists like Si’a Fatu Feu’u, Shigeyuki Kihara, Timothy Akis or Mathias Kauage. Various me-dia such as film or audio stations bring people and stories behind the objects to life. Connec-tions between past and present, everyday life and art and from island to island can be inde-pendently discovered. “Made in Oceania” is funded by Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) and Kunststiftung NRW.

Museum Ludwig
NOT YET TITLED new presentation of the permanent Collection by Philipp Kaiser
12 October to 26 January 2014

Autumn 2013 will see an as yet untitled show featuring the extensive reorganisation and new presentation of the museum’s collection. This show is not just intended as an evaluation and review, but will also present new acquisitions and thus demonstrate the museum’s programmatic perspective. As a result of the re-hanging and re-arranging of works, new narratives will be attempted, alternative relationships explored and familiar arguments questioned. Well-known works are to be brought back into the spotlight and works from the museum’s storerooms will be displayed and re-evaluated. The unique character of the museum’s collection will thus be conveyed to a wide general public in a dynamic way. Numerous fringe events are planned to accompany the exhibition, among them a symposium on the challenges of the museum today in its role as Cologne’s treasure chamber on the one hand and its global ambitions on the other.

Museum Ludwig
Louise Lawler
12 October to 26 January 2014

The American concept artist Louise Lawler (born 1947, lives and works in New York) is above all interested in art as a system with its complex rules and organising patterns. The photos of works of art she came across in museums, private collections, auctions or storerooms emphasise the importance of the contextual or institutional framework for art works. The Museum Ludwig will present the first retrospective of this artist in Germany and will extend over the entire building. The juxtaposition of Lawler’s works and the museum’s high-class permanent collection will provide surprising encounters.

Museum Schnütgen
Heavy hearts, silent lament. Women mourning. A new acquisition for the collection
19 October to 19 January 2014

Museum Schnütgen IM FOKUS The group of four women who in profound grief lament Christ’s crucifixion is moving in its beauty. It is one of the multi-figure representations of the crucifixion of Christ whose special character consists in the fact that the grief of Mary and her companions is as emotionally important as the crucifixion itself. In 2012 it was possible to acquire the carved group with the support of the Kulturstiftung der Länder, the Ludwig-Stiftung, the Sparkassen Kulturstiftung Rheinland and the Förderverein Pro Arte Medii Aevi – Freunde des Museum Schnütgen e.V. This was an important complement to the multi-figure Calvary at Museum Schnütgen. It is one of the main works of the collection and is an artistically outstanding example of a carved altar screen from the southern Low Countries, which is presumed to have been made within the ambit of the workshop of Jan van Eyck.

Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst
Von Istanbul bis Yokohama: the eastward voyage of photography
26 October to 23 February 2014

This exhibition presents a selection of roughly 350 works by renowned photographers of the second half of the 19th century. The founders of the museum, Adolf and Frieda Fischer, compiled a comprehensive collection of photos on the numerous journeys they undertook to acquire objects. With Istanbul as their starting point, the sea routes led to major international ports as far as Yokohama. In these ports, European, and a growing number of local photographic studios offered images showing the famous tourist sites, the country and its people, and their customs and traditions to voyagers. These were the beginnings of the tourist industry which at the same time captured the European view of the Middle and Far East.

Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln
Herzkammer. At the heart of the museum – the MAKK’s collection of graphic art
26 October to 16 February 2014

This exhibition will for the first time provide an insight into the history of the museum’s collection of models and specimens for works of graphic art. Initially, this department within the museum had the task of developing a sense of taste in the artistic work of artisans. Specimen sheets in the form of photographs, newspaper clippings, ornamental engravings, drawings and book illustrations exerted an influence on the aesthetic and technical education and development of artisans, teachers, architects and artists. The exhibition focuses on the foundation, institutionalisation and development of the specimen collection in its cultural and historical context. Prints and drawings from the Middle Ages to the 20th century will complement the exhibition and provide fascinating insights into the rich variety and quality of ornamental specimen sheets from the MAKK. Traditional drafts, etchings and specimen books will be on display in some smaller rooms alongside unusual, even bizarre depictions of fashion items and animals.

Römisch-Germanisches Museum
Alfred Seiland – Imperium Romanum. Photographic exhibition
7 November to 30 March 2014

Alfred Seiland, professor of photography at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste (art academy) in Stuttgart, is among leading contemporary photographers. For many years he has been visiting sites associated with classical antiquity around the Mediterranean equipped with his analogue large-format camera. These places are ruin sites from the times of the Roman Empire and are located in Egypt, Libya, Israel, Italy. His photographs also show exhibits in various museums from Spain to Turkey. Often, these places are difficult to access or not open to the general public and are thus hidden from the view of most people. Seiland will exhibit a series of 90 large-scale colour prints at the Römisch-Germanisches Museum. His photos confront visitors with themes highlighting the conflict between ancient antiquity and the modern age. They provide a panorama of famous locations from the past with their architecture, sculpture and works of art. In his complex works Seiland distils moments of perfect composition and uses colour in a painterly fashion.

artothek - Raum für junge Kunst
Natalie Bewernitz/Marek Goldowski
7 November to 21 December 2013

NS-Dokumentationszentrum (EL-DE-Haus)
An entire life in a hatbox. Bertha Sander: a Jewish interior designer from Cologne
8 November to 30 April 2014

The exhibits from Bertha Sander’s estate tell the story of a life that was rich in contrast. It began in Cologne and Vienna as a joyful, cosmopolitan, emancipated life and ended in constrained circumstances and embittered in London and southern England. These personal documents and objects come from all over Europe – Cologne, London, Spa, Davos, Paris, Venice, Vienna and Athens. They lead to well-known contemporary artists such as the designer Dagobert Peche (Wiener Werkstätten until 1923) and the Austrian architect Philipp Häusler. Bertha Sander kept and cherished many personal documents, photos, works of her own, publications and memorabilia, preserving them despite her numerous moves and her emigration to England. She kept important documents and photos in a hatbox. After the exhibition, these objects will be donated to the NS-Dokumentationszentrum as a private narrative of the life of this Jewish designer that began 110 years ago in Cologne.

Kölnisches Stadtmuseum
Drunter und drüber: above and below: Eigelstein
9 November to 1 March 2014

Scenes and locations of Cologne’s history 2 Today, the number 18 tram goes to Istanbul (Eigelstein is at the centre of Cologne’s Turkish quarter), 2,000 years ago the Roman road led to the neighbouring city of Neuss. Along this arterial road in the northern part of the old town is an urban district steeped in tradition – Eigelstein. After the museum’s popular exhibition on the Waidmarkt district in 2011/12 the Kölnisches Stadtmuseum and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum continue their exhibition series “drunter und drüber” with this new jointly organised show on 2,000 years of history of scenes and locations in Cologne. Complementing the exhibition, an “Oral History Project” in cooperation with the University of Cologne will give visitors the opportunity to listen to the voices of local residents and witnesses of a particular time period from different social backgrounds, but all from the same district,who have been invited to take part..