'Sound and Silence - the sound of silence in contemporary art'

The exhibition "Sound and Silence" is being realised in view of the 250th anniversary of Ludwig von Beethoven's birth and thus in view of a biography in which the paths from sound to silence and back, the resistance against the silencing of the world have been inscribed in an exemplary manner. Based on this, the exhibition addresses the question of how contemporary art makes silence visible and audible. In doing so, it takes special account of the fact that silence itself can only ever be grasped in relation to sound. In a broad panorama that includes installations, performances, videos, films, photos and drawings, the sound of silence becomes comprehensible in very different ways as an ambivalent expression of emptiness and fullness, longing and threat, beauty and failure. The exhibition comprises works by 55 international artists, including Marina Abramović, Laurie Anderson, John Baldessari, Tatiana Blass, Christoph Büchel, John Cage, Hanne Darboven, Annika Kahrs, Teresa Margolles, Yoko Ono, Susan Philipsz, Anri Sala, Jorinde Voigt, Gillian Wearing, Samson Young.

The exhibition architecture was designed by Berlin architect Ruth Lorenz. A comprehensive catalogue with essays on the theme of the exhibition and texts on the artists accompanies the exhibition.

The exhibition is supported by BTHVN2020, with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Bonn, the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis and Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council.

Curators of the exhibition: Dr. Volker Adolphs, Prof. Dr. Stephan Berg

Press contact: Kristina Thrien, T 0228- 776209, kristina.thrien@bonn.de