make the secrets productive!

We live at a time that allows us little room for manoeuvre. Much is out of joint, and not only since the pandemic; the foundations we thought we could rely on are coming apart at the seams. Things appear strange and have lost all sense of proportion. Numbers and facts prevail, shaping our personal experiences and predominating in images that go well beyond reasonable limits. It is all the more important that reason informs political action, yet the will to power is taking its place as autocratic tendencies gather pace along with unbridled greed for money and influence, with as yet unforeseen consequences. Although during and after times of crisis, culture matters more than ever in order to give every society a meaningful identity and every person a sense of security, as cultural players we have our backs to the wall. Along with education and science, expenditure on culture is being cut everywhere—also in the case of Kolumba. The intention of our annual exhibition is to make a statement about the systematic importance of art in a functioning democracy. We delve into the painful issues of the present day and at the same time evoke freedom of thought, collaborative social processes and the playfulness and power of utopia ­– in the face of mounting threats. Both religion and art offer spiritual experiences in their own ways, which can deliver pastoral care and provide support. This applies to our task, which we formulate in the words of Joseph Beuys on a board at the start of this year’s exhibition: “Jeder Mensch ist ein Künstler”—every human being is an artist—it says, “make the secrets productive”!

With works from 9 centuries by Josef Albers, Giampaolo Babetto, Monika Bartholomé, Veronika Beckh, Victoria Bell, Joseph Beuys, Anna Blume, Bernhard Johannes Blume, Erich Bödeker, Rudolf Bott, David Bowie, Bernhard Cella, Felix Droese, Olaf Eggers, Jon Fosse, Terry Fox, Bettina Gruber, Walter A. Heufelder, Mirjam Hiller, Görge Hohlt, Simone ten Hompel, Bethan Huws, Enno Jäkel, Donald Judd, Irmel Kamp, Robert Klümpen, Jannis Kounellis, Susanne Kümpel, Konrad Kuyn, Young-Jae Lee, Thomas Lehnerer, Stefan Lochner, August Macke, Bärbel Messmann, Frank Meurer, Duane Michals, Walter Ophey, Jürgen Paatz, Joanna Piotrowska, Walter Schels, Juliane Schölß, Werner Schriefers, Mladen Stilinović, Takayoshi Terajima, Paul Thek, Peter Tollens, Elisabeth Treskow, Manos Tsangaris, Philipp Wewerka, René Zäch among others 

The publication Terry Fox. Catch Phrases was released to coincide with the exhibition.
During a scholarship in West Berlin in 1981/82, Terry Fox listened to the radio broadcaster of the U.S. military. Their programmes contained catch phrases like “arms for peace”, “balance of terror” or “soft target”. Terry Fox used these euphemisms as the starting point for a 27-part group of works titled Catch Phrases, which was developed between 1981 and 1984 in Berlin, Naples and Minneapolis. With five works, Kolumba possesses the most extensive group of restored works from the series, which has lost nothing in their contemporariness today.

Terry Fox. Catch Phrases  (Kolumba. Artworkbooks and Books, Vol. 65), edited by Barbara von Flüe, with texts by Barbara von Flüe/Beate Eickhoff, Terry Fox, Marita Loosen-Fox, and Sebastian Taugerbeck, designed by Tino Grass, 84 pages (German/English), Cologne 2025, 210 x 275 mm, ISBN 978-3-9825800-5-0, 24 EUR.

Events
Art talk, “with a view to...”: November 5, 6–7pm
One hour—one art work, every first Wednesday of the month, free admission

The museum in the body: November 6, 5:30pm
Work meditation, every first Thursday of the month, 15 EUR

Requiem für eine marode Brücke: November 29, 7:30pm
(Requiem for a dilapidated bridge), premiere, a production by SCHAUSPIEL KOELN

Art Space Sound: December 17, 5:30pm
An enhanced art encounter. Every third Wednesday of the month, 15 EUR