Simultaneous Projects 2023

To mark the 40th anniversary of the exhibition in the Simultanhalle, nine artists will perform as part of the SimultanProjects 2023: Janine Böckelmann, Jonathan Flohr, Theresa Lawrenz, Camila Agudelo Mejía, Prekärotopia, Heiko Schäfer, Robin Thomas, Edgar Unger, Ulla Bönnen & Andreas Schulz Cologne, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg the outdoor space of the simultaneous hall and former schoolyard on Volkhovener Weg. The selected artists represent diverse artistic interests – from performance to installation art, from sculpture to photographic intervention. They relate to the terrain and the landscape, explore and question its history and structure. The resulting connections and demarcations create an experimental field of tension between artistic and architectural possibilities. The outdoor space is exhausted and rebalanced as an exhibition space by the works created in situ. The site of the exhibition hall, which has been closed since 2018 for building protection reasons, serves as a biotope, studio space and exhibition space at the same time. The hall, built on a former schoolyard, served as a test building for the Ludwig Museum and was transformed into a lively art venue thanks to volunteer work, the future of which is currently uncertain. This eventful history and the 40-year history of the exhibition are to be celebrated this year.

Curated by the Board of Trustees of the Simultanhalle.

40 years of exhibition space Simultanhalle

From the model to the exhibition space to the place with perspectives – with the symposium, the Simultanhalle looks at perspectives on exhibition space II on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, its creation, its current positioning and perspectives. Theoretical and artistic contributions to the history of architecture, organization and exhibitions are supplemented by a view of the outside and urban space as an exhibition space.

The ongoing exhibitions in and around the Simultanhalle began with the first exhibition in September 1983. Initially curated by individuals, the project space has been run and maintained as an art association with a collective board of trustees since 1990. In addition to individual and group exhibitions with all artistic media, workshops, concerts, readings and performances complement the diverse program. This is not characterized by a singular curatorial line, but has always been aligned with the idea of “design and model”. The title of the symposium Perspectives on Exhibition Room II refers to the symposium in the Simultanhalle conceived in 2013 by the then Board of Trustees in cooperation with the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. The 40th anniversary, but especially the loss of the physical space of the Simultaneous Hall, which has been going on for five years, and the associated reorientation of the exhibitions, give the opportunity to look again at the concept of “exhibition space”.

With contributions by Marie Donike & Johannes Specks, Meryem Erkus, Eva-Marina Froitzheim, Godfrid Haberer, Leon Hösl, Inga Krüger, Janice Mitchell, Selina Redeker, Laura Schönlau, Maria Vedder, Anna Witt and others.

Curated by Kriz Olbricht and Lisa Oord.

Board of Trustees of the Simultanhalle / Kriz Olbricht and Lisa Oord