Unwesen und Treiben

Who was Hans Arp? Who was Sophie Taeuber-Arp? And to what extent is their pioneering artistic work still relevant for us today? These are questions we ask ourselves again and again at the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck. Over the past 15 years, we have tried to answer these questions in various formats: through our exhibitions, in which we showed the groundbreaking works of the two artists, through academic research and comprehensive publications.

Now we want to dare something new! We are opening the museum and invite our visitors to join us in a venture with an uncertain outcome. With the exhibition »Unwesen und Treiben« (lit. mischief and doings), we are laying the foundation for the permanent exhibition planned for 2023, which will be dedicated to these two pioneers of modernism.

In the exhibition, we no longer on our own pose the big questions that surround the artistic principles of Hans Arp’s and Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s art, but wish to enter into a dialogue and thus open up new perspectives on Arp’s and Taeuber-Arp’s creative work. We want to »do some mischief« together (Unwesen treiben), inspired by the two artists who thoroughly turned the art world upside down during their lifetime. They did things differently, thought them in a new way and created works whose relevance is still undiminished today. A modernist couple who with their innovative radiance continue to inspire. Their oeuvre always offers new approaches for thinking, living and creating art in a free and creative way. 

In order to get support, we invited four groups to reflect, ask questions and try things out with us: students of the Köln International School of Design (KISD), participants of the Nak Nak Kunstlabor in Cologne, pupils of the Friedrich-Ebert-Gymnasium in Bonn and pre-school children of the Family Centre Juco e.V. in Bad Godesberg. By means of workshops before and during the exhibition, the participating groups will engage with the art of Hans and Sophie. The new perspectives gained in this way will then be on display in four alternating exhibitions in the cabinet room on the upper exhibition floor and will thus continually complement the show.

Furthermore, visitors may also expect an unusual perspective on works from the museum collection: some surprises and well-known highlights from the collection will be presented in an exceptional exhibition architecture. Further research material and accompanying discursive formats invite you to linger and to engage with our museum’s patrons in your own way.

Hence, we set out together with you, accompanied by the two pioneers of abstraction, Arp and Taueber-Arp. We embark on a quest for new ideas, information and exchange in order to create an exciting permanent exhibition for the two namesakes of the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck. Only with you will it become a lively place of the arts, of exchange and inspiration.

Exhibition

‚Ich bin von einem Anfang zum anderen Anfang gerollt und habe kein Ende gefunden‘

Februar 12 – April 16, 2023

For almost a year we have been working on the exhibition "Unwesen und Treiben. Towards a Permanent Exhibition for Arp and Taeuber-Arp', gathering inspiration for the collection presentation opening in 2023. Design students, schoolchildren, an inclusive art laboratory and kindergarten children have visited our house and engaged with the works of our patrons in their own unique way.

In the last 6 weeks of the runtime, we would like to draw a conclusion. What have our visitors given us to take away with them? What suggestions can we implement? What feedback can we not (yet) implement?

In the past months, we have invited different actors to take an external look at our house, but now we are using the cabinet space to present our ideas for the presentation of the collection to the public in an open process. We take our visitors with us as we create exhibitions and present ideas, discarded ideas, plans, patterns, inspirations and thought experiments. The cabinet thus becomes a walk-in mind map that provides information about the goings-on in the Arp Museum.

An exhibition within the framework of the new conception of the collection exhibition.
Concept and project management Cabinet: Meike Eiberger (curatorial assistance)
Curator Hans/Jean Arp Collection and Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Astrid von Asten

Exhibition »A Colorful Space«

December 8, 2022 - February 5, 2023

What does »colorful« actually mean? Colorful does not only stand for a combination of different colors. It also means the freedom to choose between colors and to join them together according to personal sensibilities. Colorful is therefore individual. Colorful is also collective. Colorful is diversity. Colorful invites to experiment. And colorful is fun!

The artworks in this room were created during several workshops with the pre-school group of the family center Juco in Bad Godesberg. The art of Hans Arp and Sophie  Taeuber-Arp served as a source of inspiration, which was interpreted in a creative way with a wide variety of materials.

The results range from individual to collaborative pieces. While in some workshops each child created a personal work of art, in other workshops the children worked together on one piece of paper, on window pictures or clay sculptures. This principle is also based on Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp: while each had their own unique form of expression and implemented it in their works of art, they repeatedly produced artworks in collaboration, in which the forms, colors and ideas of both were united.

Just as colorful incorporates various colors, this exhibition combines the creativity of many individuals, foremost of the Juco children. The understanding that art brings us closer together was present in all the workshops. We now invite visitors to join our shared experience. The space can be explored, fabric can be woven in, and new compositions can be created. Through this, we all become part of this diverse, cheerful and colorful space.

Artists of the exhibition: Carolin, Emma, Ezra, Felix, Fiker, Hannah, Hannah, Hendrik, Johanna, Juliette, Klara, Leon, Leonie, Lisa, Mara, Martha, Nicolas, Niyanna, Philipp, Sebastian, Stella

Project management and curation: Loana Oyeniran
A cooperation project of the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck and the family center Juco e.V. in Bad Godesberg