March 30, 2025–March 15, 2026
Joseph-Beuys-Platz 1
Krefeld 47798
Germany
In 2025, the Kunstmuseen Krefeld present a series of exhibitions which further reinforce their distinctive identity as an institution that points up the intersections between art, architecture, and design and brings historical and contemporary positions into dialogue.
HLHE Dialogue: The Special Site
Partly Furnished, Excellent View: Site-Specific Art at Haus Lange Haus Esters
Haus Lange
March 30–September 21, 2025
Since 1955, Haus Lange has been internationally renowned as a place where contemporary experimental art and modern architecture come together. On the occasion of this seventieth anniversary, as part of HLHE Dialogue: The Special Site, the Kunstmuseen Krefeld turn their focus for the first time on the tradition of site-specificity that has done so much to shape the exhibition history of Haus Lange and Haus Esters since the 1960s. There are a number of internationally famous artists whose first museum presentations emerged from their engagement with this site.
With works by Christo, Jasmina Cibic, Elmgreen & Dragset, Hans Haacke, Yves Klein, Karin Kneffel, Claes Oldenburg, Andreas Schmitten, Andrea Zittel and others.
Curated by Sylvia Martin.
Gregor Schneider
Haus Esters
May 4–September 21, 2025
Internationally renowned artist Gregor Schneider (born 1969 in Rheydt, today Mönchengladbach) is developing a new site-specific work for Haus Esters—parallel to the exhibition Partly Furnished, Excellent View. His Totes Haus u r was awarded the Golden Lion at the 2001 Venice Biennale. Gregor Schneider had his first museum exhibition at Haus Lange back in 1994, and in 2000 he explored the garden house at Haus Esters. To mark 70 years of Haus Lange, the artist is completing his exploration of the site on Wilhelmshofallee with a new site-specific work in Haus Esters.
Curated by Sylvia Martin.
Charlotte Perriand: L’art d’habiter / The Art of Living
November 2, 2025–March 15, 2026
Under the title L'Art d'habiter. The Art of Living, the Kunstmuseen Krefeld are mounting the first retrospective of the French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand (1903–1999) in the German-speaking world. She is one of the most influential figures to emerge from Le Corbusier's studio. The show will focus on Perriand’s innovative contributions to residential architecture and interior design and has been organized in close collaboration with the Archives Charlotte Perriand.
The major exhibition of 2025 will take place at the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum (KWM) as well as at Haus Lange and Haus Esters, the two villas designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. From her iconic tubular steel chaise longue to the Les Arcs ski resort, Perriand’s work encompasses buildings, interiors, and furniture, all of which underwent dramatic developments over the course of nearly seven decades.
KWM
The exhibition at the KWM follows the development or Perriand’s design process from the early 1920s onward, with thematic sections such as “Industry Moves into Everyday Life” and “Learning from Rural Life”.
Haus Lange
The presentation at Haus Lange thematizes Perriand’s guiding principle of a “synthesis of the arts” as well as her creative dialogue with other cultures and artists (including Fernand Léger, Isamu Noguchi, and Le Corbusier). With interiors inspired by her stays in Japan, Indochina, and Brazil, we are furnishing and decorating the Mies van der Rohe residence to create a unique ambience which makes it possible to directly experience how Perriand’s cultural influences shaped her approach to interior design.
Haus Esters
The exhibition at Haus Esters highlights from the museum's design collection will be displayed, offering a different perspective on the relevance and topicality of Perriand's ideas and design strategies–from the Werkbund through the Bauhaus to the present day with sustainable design projects.
The exhibition is a collaboration of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld with the Museum der Moderne Salzburg and the Fundació Miró, Barcelona. Starting in Krefeld, it will be the first major exhibition of Charlotte Perriand’s work in all three countries.
Curated by Katia Baudin in collaboration with Waleria Dorogova and Juliane Duft.
