Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Artur-Ladebeck-Straße 5
D-33602 Bielefeld

T 0521 32999500
F 0521 329995050
info@kunsthalle-bielefeld.de

Please note that we cannot accept external exhibition requests. We therefore ask you to refrain from submitting applications for exhibition projects. Incoming inquiries cannot be answered and submitted documents cannot be returned. Thank you for your comprehension.

Opening hours

Tue-Fri 11-18 h
Wed 11-21 h
Sat and Sun 11-18 h
Holidays 11-18 h
Mondays closed

Library
Tue/Thu 14-18 h
Wed 11-13 h/14-19 h
and by arrangement

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Form versus function. The solution rarely lies in the middle.
Examples from the renovation of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

A contribution by Dr. Joachim Jäger

Art historian and deputy director Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin

Impulse lecture within the framework of the symposium
Yesterday. Today! Tomorrow?
From the museum of late modernism, its history and its future, monument protection, the “third place” or climate box versus climate crisis.
Part II, September 1 + 2, 2023
What next? More and more is not enough. Best Practices in Dealing with Redevelopment, Expansion, Rededication in Reflection of the Third Place’s Expanded Museum Function.

In the foreground, building materials lie on unpaved yard. In the background is a completely scaffolded building. It is rectangular with a flat roof that overhangs the building on all sides.
Scaffolding of the National Gallery for the removal of the glass panes in 2017. Photo: Nationalgalerie Berlin
Evening twilight. On the right is a modern building with large windows. Bordering it on the left is a paved area with people sitting along its edge. You can look down to another paved area on the left. There are many people, tables, pavilions, surrounded by bushes and small trees.
Public square around the National Gallery overlooking the museum's sculpture park. Photo: Nationalgalerie Berlin

From the very beginning, the renovation of the Neue Nationalgalerie was faced with a major conflict of goals: the museum was built in 1968 in West Berlin for a much smaller audience and for a completely different time. Today’s museum and exhibition operations pose major challenges for the building. Much larger dressing rooms and service areas are needed, better technology, more flexibility in lighting and climate, more possibilities for events and functions. But how can such contemporary needs be realized in a listed building? Experience in Berlin, during the planning and implementation of the refurbishment, has shown that only a very decisive approach can meet both requirements well. Clear decisions help to preserve the building and the myth associated with it. And only equally clear confirmations of needs lead to real change. Joachim Jäger uses seven theses and selected examples to show how the lazy compromise could be avoided and instead both got their due, the preservation of the “form” and the updating of the museum “function”.

You can watch the recording of the entire talk here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h95sORSoyF4
A white man stands leaning against a wooden wall with his hands in his pockets. He has short hair, wears a blue jacket and shirt and beige pants.
Dr. Joachim Jäger, Foto: Stephanie von Becker

Art historian, Deputy Director Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, Museum Berggruen, Collection Scharf-Gerstenberg.
Collection Manager 20th Century Art

Curator of major exhibitions and collection presentations; expert in architectural issues and museum construction; long-time mentor of the “Prize of the National Gallery”; expert supervision of the renovation of the New National Gallery, central involvement in the development of the new building “Museum of the 20th Century”. Scholarly focus on post-1960 international Western art, media art, and architecture. Author and editor of numerous publications.

Projects (selection): Gerhard Richter. 100 Works for Berlin (2023); Monica Bonvicini. I Do You (2022/2023), Alexander Calder. Minimal/Maximal (2021), Art of Society. 1900-1945. The Collection (2021), or Paul McCarthy. The Box (2013), The Divided Sky. 1945-1968. The Collection (2012) Wolfgang Tillmans. Lighter (2008), William Kentridge (2007).

Further blog posts related to the architecture symposium

The symposium is sponsored and supported by:

Black and white logo, the name of the institution flush left and the coat of arms of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia flush right.
Black and white logo, a black rectangle in which the name of the organization is written in capital letters.
Foundation logo, in green is written on the left in capital letters B & A with a circle around it. To the right is the foundation name written out in capital letters.
The advertising poster of the Architecture Symposium with writing in the bottom left corner: Part 2, September 1. + 2. .

Events

Have you ever been to a poetry slam and wondered how to write such texts and whether you could do the same? Or are you wondering what poetry slam actually is and would like to find out?

In both cases, you’ve come to the right place! In a weekend workshop at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, presenter and poetry slammer Niko Sioulis will show you how to transform your emotions and thoughts into entertaining texts, bring them to life with your voice and perform them on stage.

Supported by the Kunsthalle team, we will search the current exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld for the themes and works of art that interest you. You will then work on your own slam text with a few writing exercises.
If you feel like it, you can also perform your text a few weeks later together with others in front of an audience, on February 7, 2025 from 18:00 at the event What’s the word, what’s the world?

Anyone aged 14 and over can take part and the workshop is free of charge. Please register by 17.01.25 at amm@bielefelder-jugendring.de.

This workshop was initiated by the Kunsthalle Bielfeld round table. It will be organized together with Slam OWL and the Bielefeld Youth Ring organized.

Logo of Slam OWL. At the bottom is a black lettering without serifs, above it a hand microphone from which a red cable runs. This also forms the outline of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region. Logo of the Bielefelder Jugendring e.V. Bielefeld is written in yellow in a sans serif font, with the rest of the name in blue below. A yellow ring is placed around the last part.

Workshop and final event are sponsored by the Peter and Monica von Möller Cultural Foundation

Logo of the Peter and Monica von Möller Cultural Foundation. The name is in sans serif font at the bottom. A black circle with a curved ampersand is placed centrally above it.

Have you ever been to a poetry slam and wondered how to write such texts and whether you could do the same? Or are you wondering what poetry slam actually is and would like to find out?

In both cases, you’ve come to the right place! In a weekend workshop at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, presenter and poetry slammer Niko Sioulis will show you how to transform your emotions and thoughts into entertaining texts, bring them to life with your voice and perform them on stage.

Supported by the Kunsthalle team, we will search the current exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld for the themes and works of art that interest you. You will then work on your own slam text with a few writing exercises.
If you feel like it, you can also perform your text a few weeks later together with others in front of an audience, on February 7, 2025 from 18:00 at the event What’s the word, what’s the world?

Anyone aged 14 and over can take part and the workshop is free of charge. Please register by 17.01.25 at amm@bielefelder-jugendring.de.

This workshop was initiated by the Kunsthalle Bielfeld round table. It will be organized together with Slam OWL and the Bielefeld Youth Ring organized.

Logo of Slam OWL. At the bottom is a black lettering without serifs, above it a hand microphone from which a red cable runs. This also forms the outline of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region. Logo of the Bielefelder Jugendring e.V. Bielefeld is written in yellow in a sans serif font, with the rest of the name in blue below. A yellow ring is placed around the last part.

Workshop and final event are sponsored by the Peter and Monica von Möller Cultural Foundation

Logo of the Peter and Monica von Möller Cultural Foundation. The name is in sans serif font at the bottom. A black circle with a curved ampersand is placed centrally above it.

Tickets

The actress Brit Dehler (Theater Bielefeld) reads poems by Hans Arp in the exhibition with musical accompaniment by the saxophone duo Leptophonics. The exhibition can be visited in advance with the ticket.

Brit Dehler
After studying acting in Cologne, Brit Dehler, born in Bergisch Gladbach, was engaged at the Wolfgang Borchert Theater in Münster and then at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, where she worked with directors including Claudia Bauer, Henriette Hörnigk, Peter Dehler, Daniel Pfluger, David Czesienski and Robert Hartmann. She received the Conrad Ekhof Prize in 2012 for her acting performance in Fressen Lieben Kotzen (production: Markus Wünsch). Brit Dehler has been a permanent member of the Theater Bielefeld ensemble since the beginning of the 2018/19 season.

Leptophonics
Since the formation of the saxophone duo Leptophonics, the two musicians have been able to demonstrate their musical skills and empathy at a large number of events. Among other things, the ARD program “Bilderbogen Deutschland – Bielefeld” is accompanied by the music of the Leptophonics.

www.leptophonics.de

Tickets

Electronic sounds in the middle of the exhibition with “Nummer zu Platz”.

The Volksbank in Ostwestfalen and the Kunsthalle Bielefeld invite you to an evening in the museum with the Sound Collection that is unlike any other. Listen to the electronic sounds of the “Utopia 615 Crew” of Nr. z. P., DJ AN:JA and DJ MARLA, stroll through the exhibitions and spend a relaxing time surrounded by art.

The museum closes at 21:00, but the event will continue until 24:00 in Café Gemach Manhattan.

In cooperation with: Volksbank Ostwestfalen, Volksbank Lobby, Nr. z. P.

Students of art history at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, together with their professor Dr. Timo Skrandies, invite you to explore the exhibition in small groups. We connect with the narratives of the images. We stroll through the exhibition and experience how art connects us with the past and the future. When art connects us with the past, we become an archive for the future. This keeps us awake and gives our battered planet new hope. Sounds exciting? We meet at the “Werkinsel” and start our tours at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00.

Cost: included in admission (free admission for students)

 

In cooperation with Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

KB Journal

The path to a climate-friendly museum
A contribution by Prof. Peter Gorschlüter

Presentation slide for the Museum Folkwang

A blog post by Prof. Peter Gorschlüter on his lecture ‘The path to a climate-friendly museum’.

Presentation slide for the Museum Folkwang

Look up – the road to a green museum
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Stefan Simon

A labyrinth of various pipes, cylinders and measurement displays. In the bottom right corner it states: Air conditioning Humboldt Forum, Berlin.

A blog post by Prof. Dr. Stefan Simon on his lecture ‘Look up – the path to the green museum’.

A labyrinth of various pipes, cylinders and measurement displays. In the bottom right corner it states: Air conditioning Humboldt Forum, Berlin.

Peace with Gaia – perspectives, possibilities and limits of cultural institutions in the sustainability transformation process
A contribution from Ministerial Councillor Ralph Zinnikus

Black and white photo of an old globe in a wooden frame with four legs and a ring around the equator.

A blog post by Ministerialrat Ralph Zinnikus on his lecture ‘Peace with Gaia – perspectives, possibilities and limits of cultural institutions in the sustainability transformation process’.

Black and white photo of an old globe in a wooden frame with four legs and a ring around the equator.

Curating as Care Work: Of the Museum Climate in Planetary Interdependencies and Cultural Imaginaries.
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Elke Krasny

Dark beige background with black lettering: Curating as care work imagines and practices grief work and care for the future and insists on the hope that a culture of the living, in which human and non-human living beings can breathe again with their planet Earth, is possible.

A blog post by Prof. Dr. Elke Krasny on her lecture ‘Curating as care work: On the museum climate in planetary interdependencies and cultural imaginaries’.

Dark beige background with black lettering: Curating as care work imagines and practices grief work and care for the future and insists on the hope that a culture of the living, in which human and non-human living beings can breathe again with their planet Earth, is possible.

The city, the box, the art and the climate. Attempt at a relational reassembly
A contribution by Prof. Dipl. Ing. Bernd Kniess

On a white background is written several times in black handwriting, in various sizes: Museum, below a square through which is written ,Power

A blog post by Prof. Dipl. Ing. Bernd Kniess on his lecture ‘The city, the box, art and the climate. Attempt at a relational reassembly’.

On a white background is written several times in black handwriting, in various sizes: Museum, below a square through which is written ,Power

Exhibiting and preserving as toxic paradigms. Can cultural institutions negotiate the environmental crisis?
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Peter J. Schneemann

A large fire at dusk. It eats its way through a construction of wooden slats that form a building.

A blog post by Prof. Dr. Peter J. Schneemann on his lecture ‘Exhibiting and preserving as toxic paradigms. Can cultural institutions negotiate the environmental crisis?

A large fire at dusk. It eats its way through a construction of wooden slats that form a building.

Rewilding the white cube: the role of art museums in tackling the climate emergency
A contribution from Frances Morris

A very high, shaft-like room. The entire floor is covered by a white, paintable surface on which countless drawings can be seen. People can be seen adding drawings all over the room. Large sheets of white fabric covered with splashes of paint hang from the ceiling.

A blog post by Frances Morris on her talk ‘Rewilding the white cube: the role of art museums in addressing climate emergency’.

A very high, shaft-like room. The entire floor is covered by a white, paintable surface on which countless drawings can be seen. People can be seen adding drawings all over the room. Large sheets of white fabric covered with splashes of paint hang from the ceiling.

The spatial culture of the museum
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Kali Tzorzti

On the left side six pictures of white painted exhibition rooms. Art from the Middle Ages hangs on the walls. To the right is a floor plan drawing with many black lines running through the rooms at different densities, on different paths. A red line marks a circular path through the rooms.

A blog post by Prof. Dr. Kali Tzorzti on her keynote lecture ‘The spatial culture of museums’.

On the left side six pictures of white painted exhibition rooms. Art from the Middle Ages hangs on the walls. To the right is a floor plan drawing with many black lines running through the rooms at different densities, on different paths. A red line marks a circular path through the rooms.

Vulnerable Processes. Vulnerable Processes. A Curatorial Reflection on the Museum in Transition.
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Doreen Mende

On the left, an oblong, rectangular flyer in magenta, on the right one in yellow. In large black letters on the top of both is written: Stannaki Forum Art and Research in Conversation. Below that on the left it says: 05.04.23 Motif, FROMPO. On the right it says: 07.06.23 Mining, AQU.

A blog post by Prof. Dr. Doreen Mende on his keynote lecture ,Vulnerable Processes. A Curatorial Reflection on the Museum in Transition.’

On the left, an oblong, rectangular flyer in magenta, on the right one in yellow. In large black letters on the top of both is written: Stannaki Forum Art and Research in Conversation. Below that on the left it says: 05.04.23 Motif, FROMPO. On the right it says: 07.06.23 Mining, AQU.

Abhängen statt aufhängen? – Museum Spaces and the New Ethics of Communitization
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg

In a yellow-painted hall-like space stands a large seating area. The stair-like construction is made of poles from scaffolding and wooden boards.

A blog post by Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg on his impulse lecture ,Hang up instead of hanging up? – Museum Spaces and the New Ethics of Communion’.

In a yellow-painted hall-like space stands a large seating area. The stair-like construction is made of poles from scaffolding and wooden boards.