»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 Jan Adam, Joseph Albers, Giampaolo Babetto, Monika Bartholomé, Veronika Beckh, Victoria Bell, Josef Beuys, Anna Blume, Bernhard Johannes Blume, Erich Bödeker, Claus Boehmler, Rudolf Bott, David Bowie, Bernhard Cella, Paul Derrez, Felix Droese, Olaf Eggers, Emma und Lina, Jon Fosse, Terry Fox, Bettina Gruber, Mirjam Hiller,  Simone ten Hompel, Bethan Huws, Enno Jäkel, Olav Christopher Jenssen, Kathrin Joppien, Donald Judd, Hermann Jünger, Irmel Kamp, Sanghoon Kim, Per Kirkeby, Robert Klümpen, Jannis Kounellis, Susanne Kümpel, Konrad Kuyn, Young-Jae Lee, Thomas Lehnerer, Lene, Beate Leonards, Stefan Lochner, Johan Gerard van Loon, August Macke, Johannes Makolies, Falko Marx, Ingo Meller, 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.