Poems provide an excellent foundation for creative exploration through illustration. Their vivid language, subtle suggestions, and atmospheric density present a compelling challenge to develop personal interpretations of the material, translate abstract ideas into visuals, clarify existing content, interpret, contrast, or even shade it with irony.

This workshop focuses primarily on the interplay between self-composed lyrical texts and original illustrations. Sometimes the illustration will follow the text, other times the text will follow the illustration, and occasionally, both will emerge simultaneously through conceptual pre-planning.

The Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, with its Center for Artists’ Publications, offers an inspiring environment, providing numerous opportunities for writing and illustration exercises.

For more detailed course information and registration: info@ankebaer.de.

Fig.: Weekend Workshop Poetry and Illustration, Photo: Anke Bär

Activity, relaxation, and artistic inspiration: A 75-minute yoga class for all levels with certified yoga instructor Gabriele Kroll in the Hans Otte Klanghaus. Afterward, enjoy a refreshing conclusion together in the library. Before and after the class, participants are welcome to explore the exhibitions and the museum.

Please bring comfortable clothing and a yoga mat. If you do not have a mat, please mention it when registering.

Fig.: Yoga in the Hans Otte Klanghaus, Photo: Gabriele Kroll

7:15 pm (Hans Otte. Klanghaus)
Welcome by Janneke de Vries, Director of the Weserburg
Introduction with Ingo Clauß, curator of the exhibition

Followed by a joint celebration with DJ set by Phuong-Dan in the Hans Otte. Klanghaus. The Hamburg DJ is known for his versatile and atmospheric sets that combine different musical worlds. As a longtime resident of the Golden Pudel Club in Hamburg and an internationally sought-after artist, he brings his unmistakable sound language to clubs, cultural institutions and festivals all over the world.

FORT. FANTASY ISLAND:
The collective of female artists entitled FORT (Alberta Niemann, *1982 in Bremen, and Jenny Kropp, *1978 in Frankfurt/Main; both live in Berlin) connects art and life in a special way. In a pointed perspective involving various techniques, they summon up stories of impressive intensity. Their works oscillate between humorous lightness and poetical profundity.

Exhibition duration: 8.2. – 25.5.2025

More information on the exhibition here.

An evening where poetry, music, and memory converge. Tonight we speak about what remains when the world falls apart – when every glance and every word is interwoven with pain and hope. This is not merely a concert, but a gathering with those who did not return and with those who stayed to pass on the memories and emotions that have become an inseparable part of history.

Fig.: Portrait of Alexandra Wenger and Viktor Ivanov

Artists have long used their work to draw attention to socio-political injustices. In our collection presentation The Way We Are, a multitude of artistic positions—progressive, defiant, and outspoken—demand equal rights for women and queer people.

After a brief introduction to the exhibition, the art education program at the Weserburg, led by the artists Sirma Kekeç and Hannah Lowitz, will guide participants in designing bags, T‑shirts, banners, and protest signs using various printing techniques and (feminist) motifs.

Afterwards, everyone is welcome to join the demonstration of the Feminist Strike in the city center.

Fig.: Design for International Women’s Day by Anna Kreitsmann

First, curator Anne Thurmann-Jajes will guide you through the exhibition Monochromie. On the Aesthetics of Published Art at the Center for Artist Publications at the Weserburg. Over 60 works are on display – including graphics, paintings, objects, artist books, and sound installations – that explore various aspects of color. In particular, the monochrome paintings and the use of color—from radical reduction to vibrant diversity—are examined.

Following this, Marina Schulze invites to visit her studio. There, the artist explains how, over the course of a year, she created 1,251 color cards documenting the color changes of an approximately 1,250‑year‑old oak in Hasbruch. The studio visit is further enriched by paintings and watercolors that, in greatly enlarged representations, subject surfaces to a detailed examination of their colors. In conversation, additional insights into the genesis and significance of her project will be shared.

Short Biography of the Artist:
Marina Schulze lives and works in Bremen and has been featured in numerous exhibitions. After studying at the University of the Arts Bremen with Karin Kneffel and Katharina Grosse and at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavik, Iceland, she was a master student of Karin Kneffel at the University of the Arts Bremen in 2004–2005. In 2006 she undertook a work residency in New York, USA, and in 2017 she held a substitute professorship at the University of the Arts Ottersberg.

In her work, she often enlarges cropped details of surfaces to many times their normal size, so that the structures depicted no longer reference the original object. This defamiliarization arises from the choice of the crop and the sometimes intense close‑up.

Fig.: Marina Schulze, O. T. (AE I – XII, 1249 Colors), 2024, Photo: Frank Scheffka, © VG Bild-Kunst 2025, Bonn

The animal kingdom, with its seemingly endless variety, offers ideal starting points for drawing and painting explorations—for experiments, quick sketch exercises, narrative compositions, character development, anatomical studies, and much more. In art history, literature, and especially in illustrated (picture) books, animals have long played a significant role as subjects, protagonists, or as deliberate embodiments of certain human traits. Illustrating animals allows one to move freely between realistic and fantastical realms, expanding, exaggerating, embellishing, or even discarding and reassembling reality. Clearly, one’s imagination knows no bounds.

The Weserburg, together with the Center for Artist Publications, offers an inspiring environment that can provide a variety of opportunities for writing and illustration exercises.

For more detailed course information and registration, please contact: info@ankebaer.de.

Fig.: Illustration by Petra Spreen

Three hours of singing together, experiencing harmonies, and creating a special atmosphere with new people. During this time, we will devote ourselves to a polyphonic piece that we sing in a relaxed, intimate setting. By preparing the piece at home, we quickly dive into making music and enjoy how many voices merge into one. Curator Ingo Clauß will kick off with a brief introductory talk through the current exhibition FORT. FANTASY ISLAND.

Leader of the One-Day Choir: Line Papendieck
Organization: Janna Rohloff

Registration by March 24, 2025: anmeldung@brynja-raum.de

An event as part of the exhibition FORT. FANTASY ISLAND at the Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst.

Fig.: One-Day Choir, Photo: brynja e.V. – Raum für Psyche und Gesundheit

What happens when a mop suddenly starts questioning social conditions? How does art change our understanding of belonging and exclusion? These questions are at the heart of the guided tours through the exhibition The Way We Are, taking place as part of the International Weeks Against Racism. Together with cultural psychologist Dewi Stümer, the tours will focus on works by Anna Ehrenstein, Nil Yalter, Kasia Fudakowski, and Zoe Leonard. Their works address themes of belonging, exclusion, and racial marginalization, demonstrating how art can challenge societal norms and open up new perspectives.

Parallel to the tours, a creative workshop will take place from 12 to 3 pm for visitors of all ages. Under the guidance of artist Sirma Kekeç, participants can try out printmaking techniques, work with collage, and create with modeling clay to creatively engage with the themes of the exhibition.

Registration is possible until March 28, 2025, via email to info@weserburg.de. Please specify the desired tour time and the number of participants for the creative program. Capacity is limited.

This project is funded by the Senator for Labour, Social Affairs, Youth and Integration with funds from the state and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

About the people involved:

Dewi Cynthia Stümer studied social and cultural psychology at the London School of Economics. Her research focuses on social identity, migration, and discrimination. As a consultant at the Bremen Integration Council, she develops strategies against exclusion and implements projects addressing anti-racism, intersectionality, and political participation. Previously, she worked at the Berlinale and currently serves as Board Director of EVRESEA, an organization combating anti-Asian racism. Her work combines academic research with practical education and cultural work, critically examining social power structures and creating new spaces for inclusion.

Sirma Kekeç studied painting with a focus on printmaking at the University of the Arts Bremen. From 1999 to 2000, she was a master student with Professor Wolfgang Schmitz. In addition to her own artistic practice, Sirma Kekeç has been active for many years at the intersection of art and education. She serves as the artistic director of kek Kindermuseum Bremen. With her extensive experience working creatively with children, youth, and adults, she initiates and leads courses, workshops, training sessions, and projects at various institutions and schools – in Bremen and beyond.

A found footage collage in search of the ultimate happy ending, a cartoon animation featuring a Snow White hooked on a needle, a Tatort inspector singing about a dead child, and a luxury limousine driver screaming out his loneliness in a music video.

Audiovisual fantasies full of eerie stories and melancholic scenarios reflect a sense of exhaustion and refusal in the face of the performance-driven society, the emptiness behind consumerism’s promises of happiness, and the pervasive uncertainty stemming from lost certainties.

Part of the exhibition FORT. FANTASY ISLAND

Film Program:

• Schorsch Kamerun | Das eigensinnige Kind | 2022 | 4:51
• Roz Mortimer | Safety Tips For Kids | 2003 | 5:06
• Ulu Braun | St. Mickeyland | 2023 | 12:54
• Susann Maria Hempel | Die Hüter des Unrats | 2022 | 11:00
• FORT | The Calling | 2014 | 9:09
• Clemens von Wedemeyer | Occupation | 2002 | 8:00
• Johan Grimonprez | … because superglue is forever! | 2011 | 12:21
• Timo Schierhorn, UWE | Auch im Bentley wird geweint | 2023 | 3:15

The program is part of the ongoing curatorial series film:art, which presents films at the intersection of art and cinema.

Fig.: Clemens von Wedemeyer, Occupation, 2001-2002 (Film still)

An abandoned drugstore with empty shelves. Heart-shaped balloons floating through the exhibition. A room filled with cabinets, from which children’s songs can be heard. The exhibition FANTASY ISLAND brings together unsettling works – everyday scenarios and objects that at first appear familiar but, through subtle distortions, take on a surreal and sometimes eerie character.

What stories do these works tell us? The focus of the tour is on detailed, interactive descriptions of spaces and works, collective conversation, and the opportunity to touch selected objects. The tour concludes with a visit to the sound installation Last Song (2025), created especially for the exhibition at Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst.

Meeting point: In front of the museum entrance. There will be time to arrive, store coats, and for a brief introduction before the tour starts.
The tour with art educator Karin Puck will take place from 4 to 5 PM.
The tour was developed in collaboration with and will be accompanied by Denise Evers.

As part of the exhibition FORT. FANTASY ISLAND.

Fig.: FORT, Hercules, 2017, Courtesy Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Photo Tobias Hübel

On this evening, singer Stefanie Schlesinger and vibraphonist Wolfgang Lackerschmid present their new album Sharing Secrets. Their music blends influences from classical music, Broadway, swing, and blues, all reinterpreted and explored through the lens of jazz.

Over the years, their repertoire has continually evolved through shared interests and collaborative projects, making not only the music selection but also the stories behind it a key part of their duo performances.

Presented by Dot Time Records

Poems offer a wonderful foundation for artistic interpretation. Their vivid language, subtle hints, and atmospheric density present a unique challenge: to develop one’s own perspective on the subject matter, to visualize abstract ideas, to clarify, interpret, contrast, or ironically shade what already exists.

In this study group, the main focus lies in exploring the interplay between self-written poetic texts and original illustrations. Sometimes the illustration follows the poem, sometimes the text follows the image, and sometimes both are developed simultaneously through conceptual planning.

Additional sessions in this course series will take place on September 6 & 7, 2025, and November 22 & 23, 2025. The courses are conceived as a complete unit and must be booked together.

Registration: info@ankebaer.de

Photo: Anke Bär

With climate change comes the transformation of landscapes, the disruption of familiar ways of life—but also a curiosity about radical reordering. What landscapes lie ahead, and how do we want to meet them? Sinking Cities is an international research project. At the Weserburg, it now opens as an artistic training and research station, where children and adults alike can prepare physically and emotionally for the changes to their environment. Stine Hertel, Jan Rohwedder, and Daniel Dominguez Teruel invite visitors to envision rising sea levels and engage with the forces of water. Stories are gathered, knowledge is shared, and imagination is expanded.

In a performance and installation, Sinking Cities explores future urban coastal landscapes and the movement of water and sand. A sound installation captures the power of the waves through a bass speaker that sweeps across sand-based scenographies. Together with the audience, the three artists seek ways to confront nature’s forces, change, and farewell. They invite everyone to participate in transformative training and quiet contemplation—among sandbags.

This artistic project is part of the international research initiative Sinking Cities, a collaboration on climate transformation and cultural heritage by HafenCity University Hamburg, in partnership with the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) Potsdam, Schwankhalle Bremen, Rujak Center for Urban Studies (Jakarta), and B’sarya for Arts (Alexandria). After installations in Alexandria and Jakarta, Bremen is the third station in this art–science collaboration.

About Rotterdam Presenta and Daniel Dominguez Teruel:
The performance platform Rotterdam Presenta, based in Düsseldorf, brings together international performance artists, choreographers, architects, and light and sound designers. The collective develops new formats for performance, research, and gathering. Currently, they are working on active landscapes and the open-source construction of their temporary, accessible rehearsal stage THE STUDIO.

Daniel Dominguez Teruel is a composer whose work addresses questions of (national) identity, division, and community. In recent years, he has focused increasingly on the human voice. His piece LOVESONG, which deconstructs the German national anthem musically, was presented at the 2022 Impulse Theater Festival, among others.

Fig.: Sinking Cities, Foto: Jan Rohwedder

The artist duo FORT—Alberta Niemann (*1982, Bremen) and Jenny Kropp (*1978, Frankfurt/Main)—connects art and everyday life in striking ways. With precisely chosen artistic strategies, they evoke stories of remarkable intensity. Their current exhibition FANTASY ISLAND features large-scale sculptures, enigmatic objects, and expansive installations across more than 800 m².

In conversation with curator Ingo Clauß, FORT offers insight into their practice. What inspires them? What societal role does art play for them? What is it like to work as a duo? The talk spans from their beginnings in Bremen to national and international projects, and delves into their newest works.

The evening concludes with the presentation of the exhibition catalogue (hardcover, 80 pages, 29 euros at the museum counter).

Part of the exhibition FORT. FANTASY ISLAND

Fig.: Portrait FORT (Jenny Kropp and Alberta Niemann), Photo: Emma Adler

On International Museum Day, visitors enjoy free admission to the Weserburg throughout the day. Additionally, there will be short guided tours in the exhibitions The Way We Are and FORT. FANTASY ISLAND, as well as a workshop with U.S. musician Dalton Harris.

Program:

11:30 AM
Short tour of FORT. FANTASY ISLAND
With Karin Puck

12:30 PM
Short tour of The Way We Are
With Karin Puck

2:30 PM, 3:15 PM, 4:15 PM, 5:00 PM
Acoustic Ready-Mades
Pop-up sound workshop on FORT. FANTASY ISLAND with Dalton Harris

Location: Project Space

Together with U.S. trombonist and sound artist Dalton Harris, participants explore the acoustic potential of found objects from the museum. Using a mixer, they create a soundscape for the exhibition, exploring the tones of heart-shaped balloons, store shelves, and shoe soles.

The workshop is open to all visitors and lasts approx. 20 minutes. Children under ten should be accompanied by an adult.

About Dalton Harris:
Dalton Harris is a trombonist and sound artist working with both modern and historical instruments. His work explores the intersections between art, technology, and everyday life—bringing everyday objects to life through sound. He has premiered over 50 works, composed soundtracks for media installations, and developed sound experiments between improvisation and composition. Currently Artist-in-Residence at Het Concreet (Tilburg, NL), he leads the youth ensemble SMusic21 in Bremen and regularly holds workshops and residencies—most recently at the Arts Lab of the University of New Mexico with the New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble, which he co-founded.

A pop-up art market, print-your-own stations, piano concerts, and short tours—during the Lange Nacht der Bremer Museen (Long Night of Bremen’s Museums) the Weserburg presents a lively, diverse program for all ages.

Program

6 pm–11 pm
Pop-up Art Market
Students from the University of the Arts Bremen offer small-edition items: from stickers to earrings and postcards—affordable and unique.

6 pm–10 pm:
Print Station: Cut Out & Print it!
With artist Sirma Kekeç
Get creative! Try your hand at relief printing with softcut, create your own artwork, and take it home—no prior experience needed!

6 pm–10 pm (hourly)
Short guided tours
Through current exhibitions with curators and art educators

6:45 pm, 7:45 pm (each for 20 minutes)
Piano Recital at the Hans Otte. Klanghaus
Pianist Alexandra Wenger rehearses weekly with Ukrainian children and youth at the grand piano in the Klanghaus. During the Lange Nacht, the young pianists invite you to enjoy a special performance. The grand piano is made available thanks to Sparkasse Bremen AG.

Fig: The Weserburg at the Lange Nacht der Bremer Museen 2024

Part of realtime festival 2025 – international festival for new music bremen

In this workshop, participants build sound machines from everyday materials (old toys, empty cans, Christmas decorations, cardboard). These objects are brought to life using motors, circuits, and microcontrollers to create noise and music.

It’s all about discovering interesting sounds, experimenting with material and rhythm, learning programming, and building machines. At the end of the week, the results will be presented in an exhibition and concert on Sunday, June 1 at Tor 40 (Beim Handelsmuseum 9, 28195 Bremen).

About the artists:
Thomas Keiser studied Integrated Design (focus on language and communication) and was a master student at HfK Bremen in the class of Prof. Rosa Barba. His work has been shown at the Weserburg, in Osnabrück, Delmenhorst, Seoul, and Hamburg.
Felix Fisgus, M.A. in Digital Media from HfK, co-developed the Sound Machine Workshop.

In cooperation with Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst

Fig.: Sound Machine Workshop, realtime festival 2025, Photo: Andreas Caspari