A Brief History of Humankind
100 000 Years of Cultural History

22 November 2016 to 26 March 2017

A Brief History of Humankind is the subtitle of the bestselling book by the Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari that sets the narrative structure of the exhibition of the same title. Developed to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and featuring objects from its collection, the exhibition makes its first appearance in Europe.
The historic artefacts recount the history of humankind from the dawn of civilization to the present. Among these objects are the first tools used by humankind, the earliest examples of the use of writing and coins, a rare copy of the Gutenberg bible and the manuscript of Albert Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity.
These artefacts are juxtaposed with select examples of contemporary art that link past and present. Among the artists represented are Mirosław Bałka, Bruce Conner, Mark Dion, Douglas Gordon, Charles Ray, Michal Rovner and Mark Wallinger.

An exhibition of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, in cooperation with Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn.

Touchdown
An Exhibition with and about People with Down’s Syndrome

29 October 2016 to 12 March 2017

The exhibition with and about people with Down’s syndrome is the first exhibition of its kind to take visitors on an experimental and culture historical journey through our past and present. It tells the story of a complex relationship. It describes how people lived, live and want to live – people with and without Down’s syndrome.
Conceived in cooperation with people with Down’s syndrome, the exhibition presents scientific and artistic artefacts from the realms of archaeology, contemporary history, medicine, genetics, film and the fine arts. In its conceptual depth and dynamic diversity of voices, the exhibition does not set out to provide pat ready answers but to engage in a sustainable and better informed debate about social diversity and participation.

A cooperation with the research project TOUCHDOWN 21
All Information in easy English
14.5. - 27.8.2017 KulturAmbulanz Bremen

The Rhine
The Biography of a European River

9 September 2016 to 22 January 2017

The Rhine is one of the world’s busiest rivers. For thousands of years it has carried not only coal, building material and people, but also luxury goods and art treasures, weapons, ideas, fairytales and myths through the western half of Europe. Its course is lined by imposing cities, monasteries and cathedrals as well as by conurbations and industrial zones. Dividing line and nexus in equal measure, it continues to mark the people who have settled on its banks. It has been regulated, straightened, polluted, fought over, conquered and occupied. The European Union was founded in Strasbourg on the Rhine, and the exhibition heeds its cultural and political imperative of cross-border cooperation between the riparian states of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
Following the course of the Rhine from its sources to the Rhine-Meuse-Schelde delta, the exhibition sheds light on many of the momentous and often dramatic events that punctuate more than 2000 years of cultural history.

An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle in cooperation with the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn
Concurrently, the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn presents the exhibition bilderstrom – Der Rhein und die Fotografie 2016–1853

Artists against Aids

Ausstellung und Kunstauktion für die Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung
Ausstellung im Zentralkabinett: 25. November bis 6. Dezember 2016
Eröffnung: Donnerstag, 24. November 2016, 19 Uhr
Auktion: Dienstag, 6. Dezember 2016, 19 Uhr

Ausgewählte zeitgenössische Kunst kommt am 6. Dezember 2016 in der Bundeskunsthalle unter den Hammer. 68 Arbeiten wird Professor Henrik Hanstein vom Kunsthaus Lempertz, Köln, an diesem Tag in Bonn versteigern. Alle Kunstwerke sind Spenden der Künstler und Galerien, die von der Kuratorin Susanne Titz, Direktorin des Städtischen Museums Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach, zu „Artists against Aids“ eingeladen wurden. Die Arbeiten können vorbesichtigt werden: sie sind vom 25. November bis zum 6. Dezember 2016 im Zentralkabinett der Bundeskunsthalle zu sehen. Den Erlös aus der Auktion gibt die Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung an HIV-infizierte und aidskranke Menschen weiter, die die Hilfe der Stiftung dringend brauchen. Schirmherrin von „Artists against Aids“ ist Hannelore Elsner.

Juergen Teller
Enjoy Your Life!

10 June to 25 September 2016

Juergen Teller is one of the world’s most sought-after contemporary photographers. His pictures have straddled the interface of art and commercial photography. His stylistic device of choice is the portrait. Working in the areas of music, fashion and celebrities as well as everyday scenes and landscape, he draws on his intuitive feel for people, situations, milieus and clichés to create images of great immediacy and deceptive simplicity.
In the exhibition, works like Siegerflieger and My Man Crush, Pep Guardiola transform the Foyer into a public viewing area, where images of victories and defeats bear witness to Teller’s feel for capturing decisive moments. Other groups of works are more autobiographical and occasionally anecdotal: quiet landscapes from Nürnberg, carefully staged yet unsparingly candid images of himself in The Clinic and subjective documentations of his engagement with his youth and his origins such as Irene im Wald. The latest series, Mit dem Teller nach Bonn and Plates/Teller, seem to bring together and concentrate all his earlier themes and compositions. 

Parkomania
The Landscaped Gardens
of Prince Pückler

EXHIBITION AND GARDEN
14 May to 18 September 2016

THE GARDEN

The gardens and parks of Europe have always been places pleisurable outdoor pursuits. As complex gesamtkunstwerks, they mark the interface between nature and culture. Their design reflects the aesthetic, intellectual, and political concerns of their time. Hermann Prince Pückler-Muskau (1785–1871) wholeheartedly embraced this view of garden design. The eccentric aristocrat, traveller and man of letters is now being rediscovered as an outstanding landscape gardener. Planted in the English style, his parks in Bad Muskau, Babelsberg and Branitz are among the finest examples of nineteenth-century garden design in Europe. The three parks are at the heart of the exhibition that traces the life and work of Prince Pückler. Complementing the exhibition, the roof terrace of the Bundeskunsthalle will be planted with a lush garden based on Prince Pückler’s ideas and horticultural principles.

An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle in cooperation with the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, the Stiftung Fürst-Pückler-Museum Park und Schloss Branitz, the Stiftung ‚Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau‘ and the National Heritage Board of Poland

The Bauhaus
It's All Design

1 April to 14 August 2016

The Bauhaus was one of the most influential cultural institutions of the twentieth century. Like a melting pot, it brought together the formative trends of the European avant-garde. It has acquired near-mythical status as the cradle of international modernism, but it also became the epitome of the modern design cliché: geometric, industrial cool. The exhibition of the Vitra Design Museum is the first to offer a comprehensive survey of the Bauhaus concept of design. Presenting a large number of rarely shown objects from the realms of design, architecture, art, film and photography, it documents the development processes and social ideas that informed them. At the same time, it juxtaposes the Bauhaus idea with current design developments, for example the digital revolution, and works by numerous contemporary designers and artists. This contemporary perspective reveals new facets of the Bauhaus and highlights its undiminished relevance. Among the designers and artists presented are Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Lyonel Feininger, Joseph Grima, Walter Gropius, Enzo Mari, Olaf Nicolai, Open Desk, Adrian Sauer, Oskar Schlemmer and many others.

An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, and the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein

Pina Bausch
and the Tanztheater

4 March to 24 July 2016

Pina Bausch (1940–2009) is recognised as a pioneer of modern dance theatre and as one of the most influential choreographers of the twentieth century. The exhibition at the Art and Exhibition Hall is the first to present her work to a wider public. Together with her company, Pina Bausch developed the artistic form of dance theatre which combines theatre, dance and performance art. Her novel approach not only roundly rejected the conventions of classical ballet, but also went far beyond the preoccupations with formal principles that characterise much of modern dance.
The objects, installations, photographs and videos presented are drawn from the unique holdings of the Pina Bausch Archives. At the heart of the exhibition is the reconstruction of the ‘Lichtburg’, the legendary rehearsal space in an old Wuppertal cinema, in which Pina Bausch developed most of her pieces in collaboration with her dancers. Outsiders are rarely admitted to this intimate space. At the Art and Exhibition Hall it becomes a platform for inspiration and exchange. Members of the company will introduce visitors to the quality of dance theatre movements and short sequences of dance moves. Performances, dance workshops, public rehearsals, conversations, films and much more transform the rehearsal studio into a vibrant, experiential space for visitors.

Isa Genzken
Models for Outdoor Projects

15 January to 17 April 2016

Isa Genzken, born in 1948, is one of the most important and most complex artists working in Germany today. Her works can be read as a contemporary take on the ideas of Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Pop Art and the readymade or objet trouvé. A three-time documenta participant, the artist has won numerous international prizes and awards.
This exquisite exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle presents thirty-five models for outdoor projects – realised and non-realised – some of which are shown at All the World’s Futures, the central exhibition of the 2015 Venice Biennale. The display in Bonn, which has the look and feel of a mini retrospective of outdoor sculptures, complements this unusual group of works within the artist’s oeuvre, provides additional background information on the individual projects and offers visitors an insight into Isa Genzken’s creative and sculptural strategies. As models of an urban reality, they are reflections about spatial contexts.