Image: Kunstmuseum Bonn ; VG Bild Kunst Bonn
The Kunstmuseum Bonn has opened ‘KRAFTFELDER – New Perspectives from the Collection’, a collection rehang that turns the museum’s upper floor into a thematic parcours linking works from the early 20th century and the postwar period with contributions by contemporary artists. The presentation runs from 12 July 2026 through 11 June 2028 at the Kunstmuseum Bonn in Bonn, Germany.
Organised around four thematic fields—‘Transparency & Concealment’, ‘Community & Division’, ‘Vulnerability & Resistance’ and ‘Microcosm & Macrocosm’—the exhibition presents the collection as a set of active relationships rather than a fixed historical sequence. The museum describes the title ‘KRAFTFELDER’ as a term used both in physics and sociology, referring to the dynamic interaction of bodies in space and of individuals with one another.
The rehang brings together works from the museum’s holdings and long-term loans, alongside a new production and selected loans from other collections, including the Federal Art Collection. The museum says this approach presents its holdings as an open structure that can connect with other collections and continue to grow. Works by artists including Marina Abramović, Joseph Beuys, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Gerhard Richter, Hito Steyerl, Joan Miró, Niki de Saint-Phalle and Tomás Saraceno are included, alongside numerous other historical, postwar and contemporary positions.
Examples documented by the museum include Max Ernst’s ‘Grätenwald’ (1927), Joan Miró’s ‘Ohne Titel Figure abstraite sur fond bleu’ (1926), Niki de Saint-Phalle’s ‘Karabinerbild Variante ’64’ (1964), Sigmar Polke’s ‘Ohne Titel (Der Indianer II „Papagei“)’ (1977), Wolfgang Laib’s ‘Wachsraum’ (1992), Thomas Demand’s ‘Badezimmer’ (1997), Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s ‘Panoramism and the Abstract Sector’ (2022) and Louisa Clement’s ‘Believers’ (2023). The presentation also includes works by Anna Uddenberg, Trisha Baga, Anna Oppermann, Ulrike Rosenbach and others.
The exhibition extends the Kunstmuseum Bonn’s collection-focused work into related formats. In the museum’s ‘ZOOM IN’ series, individual artists are given an entire exhibition room; within the ‘KRAFTFELDER’ presentation, this framework includes works by Sigmar Polke. The museum states that the Polke display forms part of ‘Sigmar Polke. Athanor NOW’, a project of the Anna Polke Foundation. The collection presentation will also be accompanied by cooperation with the University of Bonn’s collection coordination, including dialogue-based tours with curators and experts from academic collections.
The opening on 12 July begins at 11:30 a.m., with admission free and no registration required. Performances by the soloist ensemble Kaleidoskop, developed in cooperation with artist Gili Avissar, are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. ‘KRAFTFELDER – New Perspectives from the Collection’ remains on view at the Kunstmuseum Bonn until 11 June 2028.
