The exhibition is closed, the artworks return home.

In the fourth part of the series, Mareike Foecking talks with Roberta Ahlquist, a writer, speaker, and book editor, who teaches teachers the multicultural foundations of education in the College of Education at San Jose State University.

Timm Ulrichs in an interview about the significance of travel, fantasy and the last journey.

When is a trip really over? Anton and Beyza know the feeling of wanderlust, of being homesick, and also the joy of coming home when you return from vacation. During their forays through the exhibition ‘Bon Voyage!’ the two have talked about many kinds of travel. We are curious to see which end they will choose for their expedition at the Ludwig Forum!

In the third part of the series, Mareike Foecking talks with Satjiv Chahil, who is a Silicon Valley pioneer and thought leader specialized in the digital transformation of global businesses, enabling startups to scale, and aligning business goals with social purpose.

Doing something that no one else has ever done before – there are artists who try out unusual ways to learn more about a particular thing. In doing so, they embark on crazy and adventurous research journeys. With their artworks, they tell about their journeys and let the museum visitors participate a little bit. Hopefully, Anton and Beyza won’t get any crazy ideas now.

For the collector couple Peter and Irene Ludwig, travel was an important part of their activity. The Ludwig Collection consists of several thousand objects and gathers together art from many continents and epochs. The idea of “world art” was the inspiration.

As an additional part of her artistic work ‘I am looking at Silicon Valley – Silicon Valley is looking at Me’, Mareike Foecking has produced photographic videos – as a reaction to the closure of museums – in which she talks to some of the protagonists of her photographic work and her travel diary about the pictures taken in Silicon Valley and thus decodes them.

Almost 60 years ago, Stanley Brouwn asked people passing by to draw a THIS WAY BROUWN: The path he would have to take to get to their home. In the context of the exhibition Christoph Mueller has drawn a tribute to Stanley Brouwn and in the last weeks many visitors have shown us their way.

As an additional part of her artistic work ‘I am looking at Silicon Valley – Silicon Valley is looking at Me’ Mareike Foecking has – as a reaction to the lockdown of museums – produced photographic videos in which she talks with some protagonists of her photographic work and her travel diary about the pictures taken in Silicon Valley and thus decodes them.

With her project Diving Through Europe, Klara Hobza takes up a great challenge. She wants to dive through Europe in stages and discover cultural, political, and geographical secrets underwater. She reveals her “itinerary” in the video.

An interview with Cordula Sohst-Brennenstuhl and Dominic Brennenstuhl, the lenders of Till Krause’s works – “Achse Kiel-Hamburg, Blickfeldkarte” and “Handykarte”.

A cooperation of the Ludwig Forum for International Art, Akademie für Handwerksdesign-Gut Rosenberg and the Ahoi Group in the context of the exhibition Bon Voyage! Travelling in Contemporary Art.

Beyza and Anton think it’s great to pack their suitcases for a trip. In this episode, they are reminded by artworks that there are a lot of people who are forced to leave their country. They are packing their bags with a completely different feeling. This is pretty unfair! Beyza and Anton think about laws they would like to pass in their own state to enable justice for everyone.

An interview with Sibille and Dietmar Spiegel, the lenders of the booklet on Stanley Brouwn – THIS WAY BROUWN.

Dani Ploeger in an interview about travelling in border zones, flying as “trash time” and his next trip.

A guest article by Janet Bellotto.

Our insider tip for an extravagant weekend!

Norbert Kottmann about the making of the work “… und er warf sein Antlitz zur Erde” (Gethsemane).

Stefan Sous in an interview about folding maps, his next trip and plan B.

Within the context of the exhibition “Bon Voyage! Travelling in Contemporary Art” a special project took place in summer 2020: Together with an interdisciplinary project team – dance, design, music and film – a large group of kids and teens from Aachen’s north worked on a dance film about the movements of migrant birds that tells a story of the adventures and encounters of cranes, brants and swallows.

Jochem Hendricks in an interview about his favorite travel souvenir, his favorite books and a mental journey.

Simon Faithfull in an interview about the feeling of déjà vu, the originality of digital drawings and his travel habits.

Do you know the book “Die unendliche Geschichte”? Here, a boy travels to the land of fantasy. In the same way, there are journeys in the exhibition that do not happen physically, but only in our mind. One artist takes us on a mental journey to exotic places, and another artist sends people who actually prefer to stay at home on a journey by mail.

Christoph Mueller in an interview about his way to the museum and the things he takes with him on his travels.

Dagmar Keller in an interview about the making of ‘dear to me’ and private insights into the living rooms of others.

Wolfgang von Contzen in a short interview.

Vera Sous in an interview about the Ahoi Group and the influence on her own artistic work.

Christoph Brech in an interview about the making of the work Passage and his travel habits.

Philipp Goldbach in an interview about the creation of his micrograms.

Via Lewandowsky in an interview about his name, mental journeys and his passport.

Mareike Foecking in an interview about Silicon Valley, portraits and the question “man or machine”.

Sven Johne in an interview about a silent witness and a self-assessment.

Till Krause in an interview about differences, cartography and detours.

Dagmar Keller and Martin Wittwer in an interview about the fascination of non-places and traces.

Stephan Huber in a short interview.

Manaf Halbouni in a short interview.

Christoph Westermeier in an interview about social media, the meaning of traveling and the Horizontal Grand Tour.

Travelling is fun because you can discover new things in foreign places. Often you also get to know something new about yourself! In this episode, Beyza and Anton get the chance to ask curator Alexandra Kolossa questions. “What new things did you discover when you made this exhibition?” The two are pretty sure they see something that is new to the curator as well.

Alicja Kwade in a short interview.

Jerry Frantz on his meeting with Countess Ermesinde II of Luxembourg and the mission to create a state.

Welcome 2021! With the contribution of WDR Lokalzeit we like to take a look back on a great exhibition installation. We are looking forward to start the journey into the exhibition with you soon. Bon Voyage!

Jon Rafman in an interview about his series Nine Eyes of Google Street View, the task of photography and a surprising discovery.

Christoph Westermeier travels, and he travels through several countries, eras, and media simultaneously.

The intensive study of the Hundred Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai inspired Wolfgang von Contzen to realize a similar project.

Hier 40 000 km. With these words, Timm Ulrichs points at the circumference of the earth, and thus marks the start as well as the end of a journey around the globe.

Klara Hobza in an interview about total horror, the right way and a particularly valuable experience.

The focal point of Timm Ulrichs’ oeuvre is often the artist himself, not due to narcissism but rather as a consequence of conceptual reflection, as he regards the separation between art and life unthinkable. 

The project Frontières Fluides, fluid boundaries, which has been running since 2013, focuses on migration and transit movements between Europe and North Africa to question the cultural, social, and economic effects of colonialism and the European migration policy.

The image of a woman of color, who looks at us, who is virtually put on display before us, as the result of a colonial policy that has not yet been dealt with, is not uncommon.

A mental short trip on the performance Two Lovers, The Great Wall Walk by Marina Abramović & Ulay.

Vera Sous creates travel images of great personal and emotional value because she uses threads of garments worn by refugees on their escape for her hand-embroidered pictures, books, and objects.

Where are we? Where do we want to go? At least geographically, maps can provide answers and offer orientation in an unknown environment. They help to determine one’s position.

Enjoy a nice and relaxing time with our winter travel songs.

Even before social media, there were selfies. Venetian Blind shows 24 self-portraits of the artist Michael Snow in Venice.

Nicole Schuck’s artistic focus is the native wildlife and its changing habitats. She researches and questions its regional adaptation due to ecological, geographic, economic, and social change. She incorporates in her works her findings, which she generates on-site, in collaboration with scientists, conservationists, and local residents.

While in the past, travel may have been about speed and efficiency, we are looking for holistic, authentic, and unique travel experiences today.

Nine eyes that have been almost everywhere in the world. Nine eyes that capture moments and yet are free of any personal motivation.

Anne Pöhlmann is at home in several places around the world; traveling is an essential part of her life and work. Photographs from Havana are, for example, processed in Germany and printed on French silk in Kyoto.

It has a height of up to four meters, is tightly meshed, and lined with coiled NATO razor wire. It is this wire, equipped with razor-sharp blades, that makes every border impossible to cross for refugees.

Nicole Schuck in an interview about getting involved, reading, walking and listening and affinity.

Michail Pirgelis sources his materials from discarded aircraft, which are stored on a gigantic site in the American desert.

The stick figure walks a dangerous path. Like a tightrope walker, it crosses a fragile, narrow footbridge. Flames flare up towards him from the abyss.

Hiroyuki Masuyama in an interview about art as experience and the world from above.

For his project Casting Antinomads, Roman Ondak asks family and friends about their attitude towards travel and divides them into nomads and antinomads.

Since the 1960s, Duane Michals has been assembling several photographs into chronological sequences. Often including text elements, his imaginative and sometimes fantastically staged image productions address time and cosmos, dream, spirituality, and death.

Talisa Lallai in an interview about her most precious travel memories, wanderlust and exoticism.

Most people are fascinated by being above the clouds and seeing the world from above. Hiroyuki Masuyama conserves this special moment between heaven and earth in an endless panorama.

Unlike most of the works of Land Art, Richard Long’s interventions into the found landscapes during his conceptual hikes are only minimally invasive. His works are articulated by temporary traces, which are usually visible as lines or circular shapes.

There’s a new podcast from kids at the Ludwig Forum! Find out who the kids are who are reporting from the museum. They take us on a special journey. It’s about 40,000 kilometers, completely wrong directions, a packed car and much more. (in German)

African decorative scarification, a clearing in the jungle, a naked girl, or a boat in the sunlight: These clichéd images of a trip to Africa are fictitious, generated on the computer with the help of digital editing.

Janet Bellotto in an interview about the preparations for her expedition, her companions and impressive experiences.

What do we associate with the idea of the tropical? Which images and motifs of it are anchored in our collective memory?

The museum is closed, the exhibition is waiting for visitors. But two children, Anton (7) and Beyza (9), report exclusively from the Ludwig Forum in the podcast Kunstrauschen.

Alicja Kwade wants to make time tangible in a physical space. Her works take the viewers on a tour that questions their perception.

Michail Pirgelis in an interview about his attitude to flying, the “graveyard of airplanes” and sustainability in aviation.

How do we experience our surroundings? Till Krause tries to answer this question with the help of maps. In his work Achse Kiel–Hamburg, Blickfeldkarte, a red line marks the beeline between the cities.

His first encounter with Dürer’s Christus am Ölberg 1521 made a lasting impression on Norbert Kottmann. The small pen-and-ink drawing was created during Dürer’s journey to the Netherlands and shows the pleading Christ, throwing himself to the ground, face down, and with arms outstretched. 

Katrin Ströbel in an interview about changing perspectives and experiencing boundaries.

Ready for the big hike, both backpacks are packed. Svetlana Kopystiansky, who had joined the Russian underground scene in the late 70s, emigrated to New York with her husband Igor in 1988, the year the works were created. 

The images Fabian Knecht presents in his work Fred spuckt in den Pazifik are prosaic as well as moving: In a hospice in Berlin, Knecht lets the terminally ill Fred spit into a glass in order to empty it again 16 days later over the Pacific. 

Claudia Linzel, one of the two founders of the podcast and blog Die Leichtigkeit der Kunst, in an interview with Alexandra Kolossa and guests.

They seem tired and exhausted; their gaze is empty or directed at the smartphone. Others sleep, their heads leaning against the window of the train.

Anne Pöhlmann in an interview about the value of travel and her art.

While conversations face-to-face or on the phone and via letters once used to be the most common means of communication, now there are many more possibilities such as SMS, e-mail, instant messaging, and video chat.

Rarely have our suitcases been as useless as this year, rarely have our journeys been confined only to our minds – that needs to change!

It all starts with a small tower that communicates with his owners via Alexa, an artificial intelligence (AI) developed by Amazon.

Roman Ondak in an interview about (anti)nomads and postcards.

In 47 Faults between Calais and Idomeni, Sven Johne documents his journey through Europe, whereby each photo, tagged with the place, date, and time, stands for a stop.

In der Mitte Mee(h)r. More Africa, more Europe, and the sea. Between long panels of canvas, the viewers stand between cultures, as if they were standing in the sea between them.