15 September 2011 to 31 August 2012
»thinking«
5th Annual Exhibition

An exhibition of ways to experience the world. Kolumba was conceived as a Museum of Reflectiveness in order to “find possible approaches for making sense of one’s own existential world by recognizing and thinking about artistic designs” (Joachim M. Plotzek 1994). The »very Catholic mixture of reveling in images and striving for serious interpretation« (DIE ZEIT 2009) was to become an idiosyncratic feature of this Art Museum of the Cologne Archdiocese. But what does »thinking« entail and what how does it differ from thinking in other disciplines when it is expressed in art works? What roles do curiosity and the imagination, experience, and memory, knowledge and faith play in this? How does one think in images, music or architecture without words? The exhibition allows us a glimpse into the artists’ studios, into the their work, foundations and research. In terms of media and time, it ranges from an exquisite block book (xylography) on the Art of Remembrance (ca. 1470) to the Kleines Liebesglück (A Little Happiness in Love), from the medieval Madonna Enthroned, the sedes sapientiae (seat of wisdom) to finely manufactured typewriters, those cast-off tools of thought. As an artistic medium – on a par with painting, drawing and sculpture – the book is allotted special attention in this presentation, the emphasis stemming in particular from the artists’ books contained in the Missmahl donation. As each year, all objects on display come from the Museum’s own collection. What they all have in common is their maker’s attempt to give form to the world.

Works being shown this year are by Monika Bartholomé, Krimhild Becker, Victoria Bell, Joseph Beuys, John Cage Attila Kovács, Thomas Lehnerer, Rune Mields, Manos Tsangaris, Josef Wolf and Peter Zumthor

(Book publication: denken)
(Book publication: ars memorandi)
(show video)

Art museum of the
Archdiocese of Cologne