Exhibition preview
WE ARE WHAT WE ARE NOT
What remains when objects are missing?
More than ten percent of the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum’s collection is considered lost. Artist and curator Yohannes Mulat Mekonnen takes this absence as the starting point for his exhibition. Through installations, films, photographs, and performances, he explores the traces left behind by what is missing and asks what they reveal about the museum, its narratives, and the colonial structures underlying them. Moving between theoretical reflection and sensory experience, the works offer surprising, touching, and at times humorous perspectives on loss, memory, and absence.
O.M. Ungers – Architecture as an Idea
To mark the 100th birthday of the Cologne-based architect Oswald Mathias Ungers (12 July 1926 - 30 September 2007), the Cologne Museum of Applied Arts (MAKK) presents Architecture as an Idea, an exhibition dedicated to this internationally influential architect, theorist and professor.
It explores Ungers' conception of architecture as an intellectual discipline.
Hans Georg Esch • The Architectural View: Epochal – Global
The Architectural View: Epochal - Global is the second major museum exhibition by architectural photographer Hans Georg Esch. From Pompeii to 'the Cathedral", from the Chrysler Building in New York to the buildings of Oswald Mathias Ungers and the Abu Dhabi airport, which will not open until 2025, from Beijing to Shibam, the old town of Yemen's capital Sana'a, from Hong Kong to Cologne and Neviges in the Bergisches Land ... The world's architecture is Esch's subject matter.
“B(L)OOMING NOW!” – Young perspectives on baroque floral splendour
How accessible is Old Master art to young people today? And what significance do floral motifs hold in predominantly urban environments? Pupils from schools across the Cologne administrative district explored these questions to mark the 40th anniversary of the Cologne Museum School this year. Together with the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud (Wallraf), the Cologne Museum School invited pupils to submit their own artistic contributions in response to the special exhibition ‘Blooming. Baroque Floral Splendour’. The resulting works will be presented from 21 March to 10 July 2026 in the exhibition “B(L)OOMING NOW!” at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud.
Turkish-language services offered by the Cologne Museum Service | Köln Müze Hizmetleri'nin Türkçe programları
The Museum Service has developed a programme for Turkish-speaking visitors, catering to different age groups.
All free Turkish-language events, both digital and in-person, are listed at museenkoeln.de/portal/Tuerkce_Etkinlikler.
Köln Müze Hizmetleri, Türkçe konuşan halk için farklı yaş gruplarına yönelik bir program geliştirdi.
Dijital ve analog tüm ücretsiz Türkçe etkinlikler museenkoeln.de/portal/Tuerkce_Etkinlikler web sitesinde listelenmiştir.
Lee Ufan receives Wolfgang-Hahn-Award 2026
South Korean artist Lee Ufan (born 1936, lives in Kamakura, Japan) has been awarded the 32nd Wolfgang Hahn Prize by the Society for Modern Art at Museum Ludwig. His art brings together contrasting forces such as emptiness and tension, silence and energy. As co-founder of the Japanese minimalist Mono-ha movement (‘School of Things’), a collective of artists in Tokyo between 1968 and 1975, he continues to seek a harmonious reordering of things to this day.
Ongoing exhibitions
German Photobook Prize
Browsing explicitly encouraged: From 25 April to 31 May 2026, the Art and Museum Library of the City of Cologne presents the exhibition German Photobook Award. The show features 64 outstanding photobooks from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, selected and awarded by an independent expert jury. As one of the competition’s archive libraries, the Art and Museum Library offers a unique experience: all awarded books are not only displayed in showcases but can also be handled and browsed in the library’s reading room—providing direct access to the diversity, quality and innovative spirit of today’s photobook scene.
99 Bowls – A Cosmos
From 23 April to 25 October 2026, the Museum of East Asian Art presents a poetic installation by internationally renowned ceramic artist Young-Jae Lee. Set within the interplay of architecture, light and nature, 99 handcrafted bowls unfold their quiet presence and invite contemplative viewing. Accompanied by special events including a Korean tea ceremony, a concert and an artist talk, the exhibition offers multifaceted insights into contemporary ceramic art between tradition and modernity.
Where flavour meets culture: Café UME opens in the Museum for East-Asian Art
Where flavour meets culture: On 18 April 2026, Café UME opens as a new, inspiring meeting place at the Museum of East Asian Art. Named after the plum blossom—a symbol of renewal, beauty and resilience in East Asian culture—the café combines culinary finesse with cultural depth. From Vietnamese coffee and matcha specialities to creative fusion dishes and desserts, Café UME invites museum visitors, local residents and the art and cultural community alike to linger, connect and enjoy, further strengthening the museum as an open and vibrant space in the heart of the city.
What could Cologne's next cultural quarter look like?
The exhibition “Future Zeughaus. Visions for a Cultural District on Zeughausstraße” presents nine visionary projects by architecture students from TH Cologne, on view from 26 March to 17 May 2026. Displayed at the historic Zeughaus itself, models, plans and drawings explore new possibilities for the Zeughaus, the Old Guardhouse and the surrounding urban space—opening up fresh perspectives for the return of the Cologne City Museum. The exhibition serves as an open forum for dialogue, experimentation and future-oriented urban thinking.
"Light in Dark Times: Medieval Stained Glass from the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv" has been extended by six months
Around 40,000 people have already visited the exhibition “Light in Dark Times” at the Museum Schnütgen. In light of the many positive responses to this special exhibition project – set against the sad reality of the ongoing state of war – the Museum Schnütgen has asked our colleagues in Kyiv for permission to extend the exhibition until 11 October. We are delighted that the Khanenko Museum has agreed to this extension.
Artistic interventions in the vicinity of the MAKK
To highlight the significance of the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne (MAKK) and its unique urban setting, the MAKK is staging the artistic intervention “Textile Tree Sculptures – Urban Signs” by Barbara Esser and Wolfgang Horn. As a visual counterpoint to the museum’s current surroundings, this extraordinary intervention aims to positively transform the area’s appearance, enhance the urban space and draw greater attention to the museum. The textile structures, made from multi-coloured webbing, interact with eight trees to form ten artistic forms in front of and alongside the MAKK. They serve as visual markers that highlight the special qualities of the public space and Rudolf Schwarz’s listed building. The artists have chosen bright, intense and predominantly warm colours that stand in stark contrast to their surroundings. Ranging from yellow to orange and red, they flash through the branches and catch the viewer’s eye from afar.
Yayoi Kusama
In 2026, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne will dedicate a major exhibition to the legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Kusama (born 1929 in Matsumoto) is one of the most famous artists of our time. Her iconic polka dots, pumpkin sculptures and mirrored Infinity Rooms have become something of a trademark and appear millions of times on social media. The exhibition takes visitors on an exciting journey through Kusama's entire oeuvre with over 300 works, from her first drawing from around 1934 to the present day, and through a variety of artistic media, such as painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, fashion, performance and literature.
HERE AND NOW in the Museum Ludwig
With the most extensive collection of Pop Art outside the USA, the Museum Ludwig is renowned for its connection to the United States – a country that will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its independence in 2026. This exhibition therefore focuses on two contemporary American female artists: Marie Watt and Wendy Red Star.
40 Years of the Cologne Museum School – Cultural Education in Cologne’s Schools since 1986
Since 1986, the Cologne Museum School has been combining school-based learning with the diverse programmes offered by Cologne’s museums. As a joint initiative of the City of Cologne and the Cologne District Government, it has been promoting the cultural education of children and young people of all ages for 40 years now. The Museum School is affiliated with the Cologne Museum Service – the central educational and outreach body for the city’s museums – and thus perfectly complements its educational programme for Cologne’s schools.
Conclusion of the anniversary year: 60 years of the Cologne Museum Service – film and graphic recordings now available on the museum portal
The Cologne Museum Service looks back on an eventful anniversary year: in 2025, it celebrated its 60th anniversary and invited members of the public to a total of six special events to showcase the diversity of its programme and engage directly with the public.
Farewell and Remembrance – Cologne Museum Service launches a new initiative to support young people who are grieving
Death and grief are often taboo subjects in our modern society. Many people die far from their families and friends, in hospitals or care homes. It is not uncommon for those who are grieving to feel isolated and alone. The Cologne Museum Service has now launched a new, multi-part programme for young people who are grieving as a pilot project in cooperation with three Cologne museums. The programme is aimed at young people who are grieving, who can gain control over their own grief through creative work and thus feel less at the mercy of their emotions.
Valuable: How values bring us together – Museumsdienst launches a new project for children and young people on the theme of values
Since 2021, the Cologne Museum Service has been touring Cologne’s neighbourhoods with its mobile exhibition format ‘museenkoeln IN DER BOX’. Featuring objects, replicas and photographs, the exhibition “Living in Cologne” invited visitors to engage actively with the theme through workshops, guided tours and open-format sessions.
With the support of Cologne-based logistics provider Hasenkamp, the Cologne Museum Service will launch a new mobile exhibition on the theme of “shared values” from spring 2026. The focus will be on current key social issues: What do we, as a society, consider valuable and worth protecting?
Intervention! How do we tell the story of the Nazi era today? – Exhibition project builds a bridge to the planned redesign of the permanent exhibition at the NS-DOK
When the NS-DOK opened its permanent exhibition in 1997, a milestone was reached: drawing on a wealth of evidence, the exhibition dispelled the widespread myth that the majority of Cologne’s residents had opposed National Socialism. Three decades have passed since then – and the permanent exhibition at the NS-Dokumentationszentrum der Stadt Köln is now one of the oldest in the country. However, it is not only our understanding of Nazi history and how it is communicated that has evolved; expectations of a visit to an exhibition have also changed – and, not least, the perspectives of the team at the NS-DOK. To respond to this, the NS-DOK uses the medium of intervention to introduce contemporary perspectives and engage in dialogue with visitors.
Exhibitions 2026 – 50th anniversary of the Museum Ludwig
In 2026, the Museum Ludwig will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an extensive programme of exhibitions, workshops and other activities under the patronage of the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst MdL. The museum is presenting two major anniversary exhibitions: the Yayoi Kusama retrospective celebrates a strength—the most extensive Pop Art collection outside the USA—yet illuminates this period from an unusual, non-Western perspective.
The second major anniversary exhibition, Along the Colour Line – Perspectives of a Transatlantic Modernism, deliberately addresses the gaps in the Museum Ludwig’s collection. It presents various Black movements and artistic positions from America, some of which emigrated to Europe between the 1920s and 1950s. With this exhibition, we examine the structural and social reasons why these relevant perspectives are not represented in our American collection, even though they were present at the same time. As part of the exhibition, we are specifically acquiring works intended to fill some of these gaps.
Faith with a sense of humour. A prayer book from northern France
How do piety and humour go together? Did people in the Middle Ages have a sense of humour? A precious, richly illustrated book – a special new acquisition by the Museum Schnütgen – containing the Liturgy of the Hours for clergy from around 1300 provides surprising answers to these questions.
The manuscript, populated by boisterous hybrid creatures, fantastical birds, and figures armed with bows and arrows or juggling balls, is a magnificent example of French Gothic illumination. All 900 pages are adorned with decorative illuminations.
Expedition Drawing – Dutch Masters Under the Microscope
What secrets lie hidden in centuries-old drawings? How can we make these silent masterpieces speak? And how can we tell the difference between an original and a copy? These and other fascinating questions will be answered in Cologne from 14 November 2025 by the exhibition ‘Expedition Drawing – Dutch Masters Under the Microscope’. With this exhibition, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum is presenting, for the first time, the astonishing results of a research project spanning several years.
Vivid Images – Buddhist Rituals in the Art of China, Japan and Korea
Religious practice in Buddhism is characterised by rituals performed by monks, nuns and laypeople on various occasions. Around 50 works of art and artefacts illustrate the central role of ritual practices in the Buddhist traditions of East Asia. They showcase the diverse ways in which Buddhists accumulate spiritual merit, celebrate religious festivals or commemorate the historical Buddha.
Light and space installation in the foyer of the Museum of East Asian Art
The artistic light-and-space installation occupies a unique contemporary position in the foyer of the MOK. Commissioned as a collaborative and site-specific work, it comprises two artworks that correspond conceptually and aesthetically, yet are also independent in their own right: Andreas Schmid’s light sculpture Geste im Raum (Gesture in Space), suspended from the ceiling, and Zheng Chongbin’s freestanding spatial sculpture With or Without Edge. These works bring together diverse sources of inspiration and discursive traditions in a cross-disciplinary manner. Through their interaction, they create a dynamic, open structure that actively engages in dialogue with the physical environment and the visitors to the MOK.
B{L}OOMING – ‘Baroque Blossoms’ at the Wallraf
Roses, tulips and carnations – flowers are not only a feast for the eyes, but also a remedy, an accessory and a symbol of love, faith and loyalty. During the Baroque period in particular, artists celebrated the fleeting beauty of flowers and immortalised them in their paintings, as the Wallraf-Richartz Museum will demonstrate from 6 June 2025 in its new annual exhibition ‘B{L}OOMING – Baroque Blossoms’.
Children and young people are helping to shape the museum – the Museum Service and the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum are setting up a children’s and youth advisory board
The Cologne Museum Service and the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum (RJM) are sending a clear signal in favour of sustainable participation: together, they are establishing a children’s and youth advisory board. The aim is to actively involve young people in the museum’s development – in terms of content, space and programming.
