Bonner Kunstverein

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Bonner Kunstverein is a non-profit, member-based institution dedicated to promoting contemporary art, its practitioners, and the associated discourses. With over 1,000 members and based on three intertwined pillars — the exhibition space, the studio building, and the Artothek—it defines itself as a site of production, experimentation, mediation, as well as artistic and social exchange. Founded in 1963 amid Bonn’s unique historical situation as the provisional capital, and thus a city in which a young democracy took shape, the Kunstverein’s approach to art is firmly rooted in civic engagement and guided by continuous reflection on participation and accessibility.

For over six decades, Bonner Kunstverein has shaped and supported local and international art discourse. Its strong embeddedness in the region’s social and cultural fabric and due to its international reach, it derives a responsibility: to serve as an open space where ideas can emerge, circulate, and enter into dialogue.

At the centre of its activities are the production, presentation, mediation and discussion of contemporary artistic positions. Bonner Kunstverein has a distinguished history of being the location for many artists’ first major solo exhibitions in Germany, as well as for organising timely, topical group exhibitions. The exhibition programme is complemented by events, publications, educational offers, and collaborations at local, national and international levels.

As an active part of the local art and cultural landscape, the Kunstverein fosters artistic production within the region. Since 1985, the Peter Mertes Fellowship has supported two emerging Rhineland-based artists each year with an exhibition and production grant. The Kunstverein also runs a studio building, which has, since 2004, provided eight artists with subsidised studios and a space for production, exchange, and public engagement. Each year, the Atelierhaus invites the public to the “Open Studios” where the artists present their work.

Founded in 1987, the Artothek comprises a collection of over 2,000 works, and as a lending library for art, it gives the Kunstverein’s members direct access to contemporary art by letting them borrow works of art to display at home.

Bonner Kunstverein also offers a programme exclusively for its members. Under the title VEREINEN, it includes excursions and day trips, screenings, discussions, and reading groups — communal formats to share knowledge and open up new perspectives.

Our members support us through an annual tax-deductible contribution. In return, they enjoy the following benefits.