Cologne Museum Night 2018

3 November 2018 is the day – or night, rather – that Cologne’s art and cultural scene opens its doors even wider than usual. Stadtrevue, the publisher behind the event magazine of the same name, has teamed up with the City of Cologne and selected museums, art spaces and off-spaces for the 19th Museum Night. On the agenda are over 200 creative events in 45 venues, including exhibitions, live music performances, readings, theatre, cabaret shows and DJ sets – an impressively packed festival programme lasting into the wee hours of the morning.

Bunker k101 is a windowless concrete block, forbidding and not exactly inviting. The above-ground bunker on Ehrenfeld’s Körnerstrasse seems alien, and not just because of its exterior. The Nazis erected it right next to the ruins of the Ehrenfeld synagogue in the early days of the war. Now, slowly but gradually, it’s being reclaimed as an art space.

“Even with all the technology there is today, young artists still find it very difficult to be seen. They are practically invisible to the wider public.” The Enter Art Foundation from Berlin wants to change that. At the exhibition “Transformation”, 22 international artists will showcase their idea of what transformation means to them.

The Weimar Republic, the golden Charleston era, the era of Marlene Dietrich, cultural change and new approaches to architecture – it’s all alive and well in Cologne’s Höhenberg district. GAG, a local housing company, maintains a “museum apartment” that provides an intriguing insight into the way people lived and worked in the early 20th century.

This year, the museum apartment and the café area will feature live music, with beer in swing-top bottles and bread-and-dripping served as refreshments.

“I want to leave a mark through my work”. This quote by Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) remains a fitting description of the work of Germany’s most significant artist. Kollwitz’s work is eminently moving, with her drawings, prints, and sculptures of an unprecedented intensity. The exhibition of works by Eva Besnyö, a Hungarian-born photographer who worked in Budapest, Berlin and Amsterdam, sketches out the life and work of a strong woman with her very own poetic and experimental visual language. Finally, Jana Rahma, an actor and singer with a gorgeous deep, smoky and multifaceted voice, will read from the memoirs of Vicki Baum, whose accounts of interwar life in the glittering metropolises of Vienna and Berlin foreshadow the dramatic events that would change the world forever – and remind us of how this strong, modern woman took her life into her own hands.

What does our world look like? What will it look like in future? The students at the Köln International School of Design (KISD) are design visionaries who during Museum Night will take a step outside to discuss the wider issues surrounding design. What are the factors that shape design? Why do some things look the way they do? What will they look like in future?

Mülheim’s “culture bunker” has been many things over the years: a sanctuary during the war, a hotel, a storage space and a restaurant. For more than 20 years, however, it has been dedicated to art in all its guises, a stage for innovative drama projects, festivals, and concerts. During Museum Night, among other things the bunker will feature an interactive “social sculpture” and art relating to the Mexican holiday “día de los muertos”, or Day of the Dead. A traditional sacrificial altar will be set up where visitors can place photographs of their deceased relatives.

So the Middle Ages were dark? Actually, no. At Museum Schnütgen, visitors can experience the incredible and astoundingly colourful imagery that originated in this era. The Schnütgen showcases a comprehensive array of medieval sacred art in the impressive Roman church of St Cecilia and its airy, modern museum annex. Besides the exhibitions, Museum Night visitors can experience the Laut & Luise Special. During this special, one-night-only event, Cologne-based Laut & Luise label will put on an (atmo-)spheric concert for electronic and experimental music. Accompanied by large-scale visuals by interactive design company Büro FLUUR, the special architecture of St Cecilia will become a backdrop and a stage for both the music and the images.

Also known as the EL-DE Haus, the NS Documentation Centre is putting on a special programme for Museum Night, ranging from guided family tours and a special exhibition of anti-Semitic and racist stickers from 1880 to the present day to a reading of the comic “Nieder mit Hitler!” (Down with Hitler!) and musical performances by Schwarzpaul and Hayder Al Babeli, plus a political satire shows by Frank Meyer.

Not far from the banks of the Rhine, between Zoobrücke bridge and Riehler Strasse, is a very unique park – a quiet highlight of Cologne’s cultural scene: because far from being just any old park, the Skulpturenpark is home to a large and varied number of contemporary sculptures. During Museum Night, the pieces will be colourfully illuminated to appear in a very different, very special light.

Get your ears and eyes ready for an art event extraordinaire! SoundART is known for blurring the lines between sculpture and performance, sound and image and mixing them all up to produce something entirely new. Visitors can look forward to a multifaceted audio-performative programme that will truly wake up the senses in more ways than one.

Fancy a stroll through autumnal vineyards? No need to head down to the Mosel or the Ahr – simply make your way to Cologne’s Wine Museum. Its rooftop is home to a sun-kissed vineyard with almost 700 vines right in the heart of the city. During Museum Night, the vineyard will be flooded with soft lights for a truly surreal experience.

• The Program 2018: www.museumsnacht-koeln.de (Only in German)
• Free admission for children and adolescents aged 15 or under
• Advance tickets (EUR 19) available from all participating venues as well as at stadtrevue.de/kiosk, kölnticket.de and at all Kölnticket offices (plus fees)
• Tickets can be purchased on the night for EUR 19 at all participating venues except Ubiermonument as well as at the info points on Neumarkt and outside the Romano-Germanic Museum