Grand opening
2,000 visitors at the opening: Wuppertal sets new standards with the new Barmen Art Gallery
"Our endeavours to breathe new life into this traditional cultural location in the city of Wuppertal can be seen as a success if we succeed in negotiating socially relevant topics just as courageously and unruly as the Barmer Kunstverein once did." Prof Katja Pfeiffer, School of Art and Design at the University of Wuppertal. (*Further information on the photo can be found at the bottom of the page).
INTERNATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE: Immersive and integrative
The reception hall was also splendid: the baroque-style "Welcome Barmen Banquet" by Eat Art Artist Sonja Ahlhäuser not only symbolised the range of the avant-garde show - immersive retinal images, irritations and reflections, neon and light installations, videos, sound works and performances - but also its integrative character - for example with a sauna and fountain on the forecourt.
In addition to two exhibitions of international contemporary art every year under the direction of Artistic Director Isabelle Meiffert, three further experimental exhibition formats will be developed for the "Kunsthalle Barmen" together with the team and students from the School of Design and Art at the University of Wuppertal. All of this will be accompanied by a diverse educational programme to make contemporary art, design and creation tangible. The so-called "LAB", a laboratory for cultural education in the Kunsthalle Barmen, is organised by the university team together with students, municipal initiatives, educational institutions and citizens. The overall team at Kunsthalle Barmen consists of Sebastian Bartel, Marc Kox, Prof Katharina Maderthaner, Isabelle Meiffert, Prof Annemarie Neser, Prof Katja Pfeiffer, Momo Trommer and Christoph Westermeier.
"The Sculpture Park, the Pina Bausch Centre and the Von Der Heydt Museum are among the outstanding cultural venues in Wuppertal. However, the city is not resting on its laurels, but is using this wealth as an incentive. Now the Kunsthalle Barmen has been added and invites everyone to experience art in the centre of the pedestrian zone. Students at the University of Wuppertal are gaining practical experience in designing and organising exhibitions here. I'm excited to see what cultural education formats will be devised here! Art and culture enrich our lives and allow us to participate - an invaluable tool against loneliness and for greater cohesion."
Ina Brandes Minister for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
"SHARED SPACES": Invitation to get to know each other and meet new people
This is the theme of the Shared Spaces exhibition, which visitors can experience from the forecourt to the 400 square metres of exhibition space on the upper floor. The exhibition explores the tension between social cohesion and the feeling of being thrown back on oneself, between identity formation, speechlessness and the questioning of social norms and rituals. It is an invitation to explore the strengths of communities and to encounter each other anew. The exhibiting artists include Sonja Alhäuser, Francis Alÿs, Baltic Raw Org, Monica Bonvicini, Paul Budniewski, common ground, comp_zero, Antje Engelmann, Heiner Franzen, Ivana Franke, Alfredo Jaar, kinesic, Katerina Matsagkos, Rita McBride, Laure Prouvost, Michael Sailstorfer, Isaac Chong Wai and Raul Walch.
"KUNSTHALLE BARMEN LAB": Participation and support welcome!
Educational establishments, social initiatives, institutions and the general public: you are all cordially invited to contribute to, participate in or support the "Kunsthalle Barmen LAB". The Kunsthalle team, together with students from the University of Wuppertal and the participating artists, will be happy to take up ideas from the urban community and weave them into a diverse educational programme.
Throughout the duration of the Shared Spaces exhibition, there will be workshops, guided tours and performances as well as other programmes for children, young people, adults and various groups. Contact and information: pfeiffer[at]uni-wuppertal.de
KUNSTHALLE BARMEN: A place continues to write its avant-garde history
The former Barmer "Ruhmeshalle" (Hall of Fame) is a place with a special appeal in view of the history of the building. Built around 1900 on the initiative of the Barmer Kunstverein, the artists exhibited here at the time today fill the basic literature on the art of the early twentieth century. Barmen became a stronghold of Expressionism; the Barmer Kunstverein already had one of the most important and respected collections of modern art in Europe at the end of the 1920s. During the Third Reich, this was decimated by fire, theft and confiscation. In 1954, the building, which had been completely destroyed during the war in 1943, was rebuilt. Today, in addition to the large exhibition rooms, it houses the "House of Youth" with a theatre hall and music club as well as the Barmen district library.
(*Photo credit: Photo Kunsthalle Barmen, light installation: Alfredo Jaar, Be Afraid of the Enormity of the Possible, 2015, exhibition view Shared Spaces, 2024; University of Wuppertal in cooperation with the City of Wuppertal. Creator and copyright notice: Sigurd Steinprinz / University of Wuppertal)
