Monographie Bonn-Rhein-Sieg

CULTURE TO THE POWER OF FIVE – MUSEUM MILE BONN
In its capacity as a city of culture, Bonn can boast some of
the most important museums in Germany. Five of the
renowned houses are included in the so-called Museum
Mile, which is a magnet for lovers of art and culture and
attracts up to 1.5 million visitors from across the globe
every year.
The cultural heart of the city is found in the south of Bonn.
With the five exhibition buildings included in the Museum
Mile, the three kilometre-spanning course along the main
road focuses on nine outstanding exhibitions revolving
around art, natural sciences, technology as well as the history
of civilisation, and contemporary history. In so doing,
every museum contributes its inimitable part to creating a
unique overall experience. As a prestigious architecture
ensemble, the Bundeskunsthalle and the Kunstmuseum
Bonn (Bonn Museuem of Art) represent the highlyfrequented
heart of the Museum Mile. The museum square,
which is located between the two buildings and primarily
served as a stage and arena for concerts between 1997 and
2011, is currently utilised for exhibition openings of the
Bundeskunsthalle but also as an extended exhibition space.
In this regard, among others, on the occasion of the Iriquois
exhibition, an Iroquoian longhouse that included a garden
landscape could be seen, and during the outer space ex -
hibition, a twelve-metre high model of the Ariane 5 rocket
was set up. 1995 saw the starting signal for a new tradition,
which is enjoying increasing popularity with the predo -
minantly domestic audience – the annual Museum Mile
festival, during which time all five museums offer a colourful
programme that includes art, culture, technology, ecology
and open-air events for four days.
Bundeskunsthalle, is consciously characterised by broad
thematic breadth. However, it is predominantly dis -
tinguished by stringency and continuity – in particular with
regard to its high artistic and scientific aspiration. A unique
selling proposition, by means of which Rein Wolfs, the artistic
director, shaped the new profile of the house in a par -
ticular way, is the exhibitions that take the conscious
decision to go beyond the genres of visual art: fashion,
design, music or also dance draws attention to the diversity
and interrelations of the different cultural fields. Important
milestones were exhibitions on ground-breaking positions
of modern and contemporary art such as, for instance
Kasimir Malewitsch or Hanne Darboven, but also thematic
and inter-disciplinarian exhibitions such as “Outer Space.
Faszination Weltraum”. New target groups could be addressed
with new themes, as became apparent, among
others, with the “Karl Lagerfeld. Modemethode” exhibition
or also the Graffiti and Street-Art Festival. Also in the future,
the Bundeskunsthalle will be presenting new and in part
unexpected themes. For 2020, on the occasion of the 250th
birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, a large exhibition that
focuses on the great composer and son of the City of Bonn
is planned. The event and outreach programme has
committed itself to cultural diversity and participation.
“In addition to integrative offers in a variety of different
languages – apart from English, some topics are already in
Arabic and Farsi as well as easy language and sign language
– the topic of inclusion plays a key role,” Rein Wolfs explains.
In this field, the Bundeskunsthalle assumes a pioneering
role and develops educational offers and modules that
are also brought to bear there in cooperation with partner
mu seums.
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Bundeskunsthall: diversity extending
beyond classic genre borders
The exhibition programme of the art and exhibition hall of
the Federal Republic of Germany, briefly referred to as the
Kunstmuseum Bonn – amazing exterior, amazing interior!
With its collection, which consists of approximately 7,500
works, the neighbouring Kunstmuseum Bonn is one of the
large museums for contemporary art. With its trailblazing
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