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 Art and Design 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 decisive factor in 2023 was an exchange between Prof Dr Birgitta Wolff, rector of the University of Wuppertal, and Matthias Nocke, head of the cultural department and city director of Wuppertal. At the beginning of July 2024, the University of Wuppertal, together with the city and the art and museum association of the Von Der Heydt Museum, was then able to announce the revitalisation of the Kunsthalle Barmen. With the sponsorship of the University of Wuppertal, under the direction of the School of Art and Design and with curator Isabelle Meiffert as holder of the Dr Jörg Mittelsten Scheid Visiting Professorship, the Kunsthalle Barmen will become a research laboratory for the mediation of contemporary art, design and creation.

A great adventure that has since undergone a powerful development process behind the scenes. And this applies not only to the preparations for the exhibition, but also to the students, who have been intensively involved in the design of the Kunsthalle Barmen for months. They have developed mobile furniture for the LAB, worked out a guidance system for the local conditions and are also significantly involved in the conception, organisation and implementation of the mediation programmes. Sebastian Bartel, Marc Kox, Prof Katharina Maderthaner, Isabelle Meiffert, Prof Annemarie Neser, Prof Katja Pfeiffer, Momo Trommer and Christoph Westermeier make up the overall team at Kunsthalle Barmen.

This is the theme of the first Shared Spaces exhibition, which visitors can experience from 18 October in the forecourt right through to the 400 square metre exhibition space on the upper floor. The show will be accompanied by an experimental educational programme.

In times of a challenging social climate, the artistic works open up spaces: for social practices and self-empowerment, for immersive retinal images, for irritations and reflections. The artistic works include neon and light installations, videos, sound works and performances. Artistic interventions such as a sauna with an integrated bar by Baltic Raw Org and a fountain as a social meeting point by Raul Walch will enliven the Geschwister Scholl-Platz in front of the Kunsthalle Barmen. In addition, a sumptuous banquet by artist Sonja Alhäuser awaits all visitors.

The exhibition moves along the field of 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.

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. More information on the programme: kunsthallebarmen.de/LAB.

Donations are very welcome

The mediation programmes also welcome monetary support: at https://lmy.de/TyKfa, donors can find options for small or large donations. It is also possible to provide financial support for selected events or material purchases. Browsing here is therefore expressly encouraged and provides an insight into the scope and diversity of the "LAB" programme. Unless otherwise requested, all donors are mentioned by name.

The former Barmen "Hall of Fame" is not just any art gallery, but - particularly in view of the history of the building - a place with a special appeal. Built around the turn of the last century on the initiative of the Barmer Kunstverein, the Kunsthalle was always supported by the citizens of Barmen as a lively place to encounter art. Even the inauguration was attended by a large number of people.

The artists shown here at the time now fill the basic literature on the art of the early twentieth century. Barmen became a stronghold of Expressionism, with the result that the Barmer Kunstverein owned 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 exhibition rooms, it houses the "House of Youth" with a theatre hall and music club as well as the Barmen district library. Including these different users, the exhibition and education programme under the sponsorship of the University of Wuppertal will not be limited to the five exhibition rooms on the first floor in future, but will also include the foyer, the mezzanine and the forecourt as potential spaces for exchange and art.