What is Kunsthalle Barmen Lab?
The Kunsthalle Barmen becomes Kunsthalle Barmen Lab, a research institution of the University of Wuppertal. Kunsthalle Barmen Lab is a laboratory of cultural education, a meeting place for the locals of Wuppertal, visitors of the Kunsthalle Barmen and students. Kunsthalle Barmen Lab has a flexible exhibition architecture, has mobile laboratory equipment and provides a barrier-free access to the exhibition. At the Kunsthalle Barmen Lab, we develop and evaluate mediation formats and enable direct access to art through research and teaching.
Kunsthalle Barmen Lab is active, creative and fast. We are responding to current and pressing social issues, the politics of the day, exhibition themes and ideas from participants and visitors. We cooperate with schools, institutions and the local inhabitants. At the Kunsthalle Barmen Lab, we have an intergenerational approach and research the broader concept of mediation.
Take part!
Kunsthalle Barmen Lab is aimed at a broad and diverse audience. We cooperate with educational establishments, social initiatives, institutions, and the public. We offer events for families, children, adolescents and families on a regular basis. Moreover, we develop a programme for schools, students and other groups.
How to participate
For further information on the Kunsthalle Barmen Lab programme and the individual formats, please check the website of the Kunsthalle Barmen. With regard to questions and bookings, please contact us via email: lab@kunsthallebarmen.de
January
Fruchtbare Strukturen
Laboratory exhibition for networked thinking and action
Opening: Jan., 24., 7pm
The exhibition Fertile Structures examines the possibilities offered by networked production and consumption in the urban environment. It utilises the symbolic power of mushrooms and mycelia: they are both valuable sources of raw materials and sources of inspiration for networked thinking and action that can positively change the way we live together in the future. After all, individual ideas can often only unfold their full effect when they are linked together. To this end, artists and designers work together with scientists to develop sustainable practices and processes and experiment with new materials and forms. Their guiding principles are the circular economy and the common good.
Fertile Structures is a laboratory exhibition that invites visitors of all ages to join in, harvest and try things out.
The exhibition is a cooperation between Faculty 8, Industrial Design at the University of Wuppertal and the joint project transform.NRW – Shaping Sustainability with Art, Culture and Design, which is led by the Wuppertal Institute and the Faculty of Design and Art at the BUW. transform.NRW is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
You can find the programme for the opening weekend (24.01. – 26.01.25) here
Curators of the exhibition:
Katharina Maderthaner (BUW) and Martina Fineder (BUW)
Participating students, artists, designers and scientists:
Linda Skellington
Hanna Hryshko, Yeji Lee, Christian Schreckenberger, Theodor Winter
Maria Wildeis
Fungi Orchestra (Larissa Bauer, Leonie Blum, Eric Dute, Sofiia Fedoriv, Evin Gecer, Anja Gronemann, Larissa Herweg, Julian Konrads, Shirley Lechtenböhmer, Louis Lenz, Joyce Lyttek, Salome Mattausch, Peppi Pelkonen, Florian Poulheim, Carolin Reiter, Esra Sophie Wittig, Philip Wistuba)
Rundschau, Industrial Design BUW students (Patrick Bauke, Lana Deleui, Dina El Makrini, Mohamed Gorbel, Ava Hansmann, Paula Herff, Leo Herringslack, Florian Kaufmes, Marten Koch, Hanna von Köver, Benedikt Kreißig, Lasse Kumm, Jörn Läpple, Linxun Li, Linus Micheel, Tobias Möller-Lindenhof, Bent Pollack, Philipp Roling, Christina Sessler, Birger Sendler, Maike Schiffler, Halit Tamer, Yang Wang, Leon Wagner, Helene Wicht together with Martina Fineder, Christa Liedtke, Felix Fastenrath and Katharina Maderthaner)
Stephan Engelke
Space for Sustainability by Design (Shahriar Assadi, Tom Baffi, Anke Bernotat, Rolf Brändle, Lucas Dieckmann, Steffen Hartwig, Katharina Herbrich, Lena Jean Jäger, Marius Land, Stefan Neudecker, Corinne Riepert, Judith Schanz, Judith Schlupkothen, Robert Schnüll (Artist / Designer in Residence), Johanna Schmeer, Lilli Malou Weinhold (Artist / Designer in Residence), Daniel Wilkens)
UWID Materiallabor, Andreas Kalweit
Studio Offsee (Simon Rummenhöller, Paul Bujak, Leo von Boetticher)
transform.NRW : Carolin Baedeker (WI), Eva Eiling (WI), Felix Fastenrath (BUW), Martina Fineder (BUW), Severin Hackspiel (WI), Kim Huber (WI), Katja Kremser (BUW), Christa Liedtke, Anica Luggen-Hölscher (WI), Katharina Maderthaner (BUW), Erica von Möller (BUW)
dform (Andreas Pawlik, Bernhard Poppe, Antonia Klimsza)
Students of the Master’s programme Strategic Product and Innovation Development (Jiaxin Gong, Albrecht Hegge, Lars Herzog, Marius Knipp, Finja Kösters, Luca Schouren, Yuliya Sobol together with Martina Fineder, Fabian Hemmert, Gert Trauernicht and Christa Liedtke)
Utopia City Wuppertal
Linda Nadji and students from the Faculty of Design & Art (Larissa Bauer, Leonie Blum, Eric Dute, Sofiia Fedoriv, Aylin Forneberg, Evin Gecer, Anja Gronemann, Larissa Herweg, Julian Konrads, Ben Joy Muin, Shirley Lechtenböhmer, Louis Lenz, Joyce Lyttek, Salome Mattausch, Peppi Pelkonen, Florian Poulheim)
Other actors*:
Josi Hartmann, Pia Schieren
Sebastian Bartel together with art education students (Svenja Biedenbach, Aylin Forneberg, Aaron Göke, Josi Hartmann, Laura Longerich, Ben Joy Muin, Hilal Oezer, Eva Rosen, Melissa Şerifoğlu, Lukas Ülger, Teresa Usai, Lasse Schimmelpferd, Georgina Leilani Wotte)
Guests of Zentrale-Verteiler-Bar
Christopn Westermeier and Lars Breuer with students of the BUW and Peter Behrens School of Arts, HSD Düsseldorf (Aylin Forneberg, Celine Weller, Chiara von Wille, Cindy Kästner, Eva Rosen, Kai, Laura Decken, Lina Haas, Lynn Schockenbäumer, Natascha Bayer, Paul Böse, Rabia Kübra Can, Tine Kloster, Vjosa Maxhuni)
Merle Ibach and Christoph Rodatz and PID students
LAB Möbel, Industrial Design BUW students (Ece Birdogdu, Emilia Engels, Hanna Feiertag, Jun Feld, Juli Goldenbaum, Mia Hermanns, Vincent Köberl, Semi Nazli, Martin Patt, Leonhard Quack, Anna S. Ronsdorf, Konstantinos Sampanis, Lauritz Scholz, Mathis Schüll, Angelina Tadumi, Laura Thomas, Ary Völker, Mats Wendel together with Katharina Maderthaner)
During the exhibition period, we offer a varied programme every week from Thursday to Sunday: for example, repair workshops can be attended, fabrics can be dyed with bacteria or mushrooms can be artfully preserved. Founders can examine the sustainability impact of their ideas together with the transform.NRW team and our art education team organises guided tours for different age groups and interests on request.
Fruchtbare Strukturen
Programme for the opening weekend
Programme opening weekend Fr., 24.01. – Su., 26.01.25
Programme for the opening weekend
Friday, 24.01.2025
19:00
Opening with greetings from Brigitta Wolff, Rector of the University of Wuppertal and Katja Pfeiffer, Director of Kunsthalle Barmen
Introduction to the exhibition Fertile Structures
with Katharina Maderthaner (curator and artist of the exhibition, Kunsthalle Barmen team) and Martina Fineder (curator of the exhibition and transform.NRW team)
20:00
Geschmacksarchiv (Taste archive) by Arpad Dobriban and opening of the Zentrale-Verteiler-Bar
20:30
Sound performance by Maria Wildeis & the Fungi Orchestra
Saturday, 25.01.2025
14:00
Opening speech and subsequent guided tour for families with children and young people
Katja Pfeiffer, Katharina Maderthaner and Martina Fineder
15:00
Performance CollectCollectivConnections, Linda Nadji and students of the BUW on Geschwister-Scholl-Platz
17:00
Guided tour through the exhibition with the Kunsthalle team, artists and designers of the exhibition
Sunday, 26 January 2025
14:00
Curator guided tour