The Bonn Women's Museum (german: link=no, Frauenmuseum Bonn) is a women's museum in Bonn, Germany. It was founded in 1981 by Marianne Pitzen (the current director) and an interdisciplinary group of working women, and claims to be the first museum of its kind in the world.Über uns
It hosts temporary exhibitions (over 500 since its founding) and accompanying events, and is run by the society "Women's Museum – Art, Culture, Research".

Activities

The Women's Museum promotes

women artists The absence of women from the canon of Western culture, Western Art history, art has been a subject of inquiry and reconsideration since the early 1970s. Linda Nochlin's influential 1971 essay, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?, Why ...

(both German and international) through a changing program of exhibitions, and examines their work in the context of

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. According to the museum, a number of artists who were first exhibited there have since established themselves on the world market. Female artists and academics work together on the large thematic exhibitions. Furthermore,

women's history Women's history is the study of the role that women have played in history and the methods required to do so. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights throughout recorded history, personal achievement over a period of ...

is examined in the context of new experimental art and through the events which accompany the exhibitions. The museum's own collection includes works by

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ''T ...

Katharina Sieverding Katharina Sieverding (born 16 November 1944) is a German photographer known for her self-portraiture. Sieverding lives and works in Berlin and Düsseldorf. She is a professor emeritus at the University of the Arts, Berlin. Early life and educati ...

Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer an ...

Maria Lassnig Maria Lassnig (8 September 1919 – 6 May 2014) was an Austrian artist known for her painted self-portraits and her theory of "body awareness".Attias, Lauri''Maria Lassnig'', ''Frieze'', May 1996. She was the first female artist to win the Grand ...

, and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

. It also includes a library with an archive on specialist topics: women in art, history and politics;

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

; cultural politics; art of the 20th and 21st centuries; art since 1945;

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

and

constructive art Constructivism is an early twentieth-century art movement founded in 1915 by Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko. Abstract and austere, constructivist art aimed to reflect modern industrial society and urban space. The movement rejected deco ...

; and architecture and design. The museum's academy organises meetings, seminars, workshops and advice services on topics of interest to female artists. Other research themes include the

women's movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such iss ...

and

gender politics Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these id ...

. The work of the Bonn Women's Museum has led to the founding of women's museums elsewhere, for example in

Merano, Italy Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier V ...

and Hittisau, Austria (see

Hittisau Women's Museum Hittisau Women's Museum (german: Frauenmuseum Hittisau) is a museum in Hittisau, Austria, devoted to women. It was founded in 2000 Gabriele Münter Gabriele Münter (19 February 1877 – 19 May 1962) was a German expressionist painter who was at the forefront of the Munich avant-garde in the early 20th century. She studied and lived with the painter Wassily Kandinsky and was a founding memb ...

Prize for female artists. It also hosts art and design fairs, and has its own gallery, studios and publishing house. The Frauenmuseum Haus in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

is also connected with the Bonn Women's Museum.Frauenmuseum Haus Berlin

Notes

External links

* {{coord, 50, 44, 27, N, 7, 05, 33, E, region:DE-NW_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Museums in Bonn Museums established in 1981 Women's museums 1981 establishments in West Germany History of women in Germany

Activities

Further reading

Notes

External links