Deutsches Kunstmuseum Köln · Ein Theaterprojekt von und mit Christof Breidenich, Anja Kolacek und Marc Leßle

Meeting point: Deutz Central Plant of Fine Arts, Deutz-Mülheimer-Str. 137, Green Gate
Cost contribution: 16 € / 8 € reduced
Limited number of participants, pre-registration recommended: info@raum13.com

Exciting, experimental and downright avant-garde, the German Art Museum Cologne invites you to the Deutz Zentralwerk der Schönen Künste.

The German Art Museum Cologne in the Otto & Lange Quarter is a theater project in which space, art, history and the present enter into a lively dialogue. At the center of the discussion are outstanding works of 20th century fine art. Visitors can expect a multi-layered journey through post-war art, including positions such as Kippenberger, Matta-Clark, Posenenske and Mucha, which not only traces aesthetic developments, but also makes social, political and cultural upheavals visible.

The museum sees itself as an open space for education, reflection and encounters in the context of the special atmosphere of its location - the former industrial halls of the Otto & Langen site. Using the means of theater, it combines historical industrial architecture with the demands and modes of action of contemporary museums, in particular their integration into the city and society as well as their use by diverse actors within and outside the art system and its discourses.

This creates an exciting space at the interface between historical substance and its transformation in the context of art, theater and culture. With over 6,000 square meters of exhibition space, the museum is one of the largest museums of fine arts in Germany and also offers an extraordinary stage for experimental and performative theater work.

Meeting point: raum13 Deutzer Zentralwerk der Schönen Künste, Deutz-Mülheimer-Straße 147-149, 51063 Cologne
Cost contribution: 16 € / 8 € reduced
Limited number of participants, pre-registration strongly recommended: info@raum13.com

As part of the exploration of artistic aesthetics, places, spaces and objects of the Otto & Lange quarter will be marked and contextualized. The focus is on the interface between the historical significance of the area and the aesthetic potential of artistic works of post-war modernism. Works of art and artistic positions from the second half of the 20th century show, on the one hand, a departure from traditional forms of work such as panel painting, sculpture or plastic, and, on the other, a turn towards situationist installations and actionist performances. The result is an aesthetic of the everyday that artistically incorporates life in all its facets - an approach that is taken up and further developed at the DKMK.

The themes that artists have been exploring aesthetically since the 1950s - such as global networking, transformation, archiving, systems of order, social values and individual destinies - can also be found in the historical layers of the industrial site. Through their structural traces, the partly ruinous environments tell of everyday working life, organization, upheaval and decay through vacancy.

The aesthetic parallelism of art and site opens up a special perspective for visitors: the artworks not only provoke a new way of seeing, but also heighten awareness of the historical and social dimensions of the site. The assertion that something is art becomes the starting point of a cognitive process that combines aesthetic experience and historical reflection. This opens up a double space of experience for the recipients - a reflected understanding of art in dialog with the aura of an extraordinary historical site.

The theater production "Deutsches Kunstmuseum Köln" is an initiative that also aims to draw attention to the desolate state of Cologne's museums. Regular public theatrical interventions are offered through the museum, giving visitors an in-depth insight into the exhibited works. The production is aimed at different target groups, including families, school classes and adults. Private events can be booked individually and offer the opportunity to explore specific interests in greater depth.