Cosima von Bonin’s 7000 Palmen added to museum collections

On Friday, July 11, 2025, the Neue Galerie in Kassel (Hessen Kassel Heritage) became the first public museum to add copies of Cosima von Bonin’s work 7000 Palmen to its collection. In front of the gallery building decorated with palm tree garlands, Collection Director Dr. Dorothee Gerkens accepted the pennant chains in different lengths from Fridericianum Director Moritz Wesseler and Curatorial Assistant Jasmin Meinold. 

Further institutions receiving the donations include Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München in Munich, Ludwig Forum für internationale Kunst in Aachen, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM) in Luxembourg, mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien in Vienna, and Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bolzano. 

Moritz Wesseler underlined the significance of the donations for the Fridericianum:
We are delighted that Cosima von Bonin’s palm tree pennant chains have not just been met with enthusiasm by so many people, transforming the whole of Kassel into a summery work of art, but that they are now also garnering museum recognition. In this way, this unique artistic intervention can be experienced by an art-interested public in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and Italy both beyond the city limits and the duration of the project itself. 

Dr. Eva Huttenlauch, Collection Director at Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, is also delighted and congratulated documenta on its 70th anniversary: 
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München has been closely linked to the history of this institution since the first documenta in 1955: either significant loans from the collections of the Lenbachhaus were on display in Kassel or works were purchased directly from the documenta exhibitions for Lenbachhaus. 2022 saw the holding of the exhibition “Was von 100 Tagen übrig blieb. documenta und das Lenbachhaus” (“The Remains of 100 Days. documenta and Lenbachhaus”) highlighting the institutions’ mutual relationship. It included, for instance, a certificate for four of Joseph Beuys’s “7000 Oaks”. For this reason alone, we are delighted with the donation of Cosima von Bonin’s “7000 Palmen”. We would like to thank documenta und Museum FridericianumgGmbH and congratulate them on their 70th birthday! 

Karola Kraus, General Director of mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, joined in the congratulations:
With reference to the legendary interventions by Joseph Beuys and Daniel Buren in Kassel’s urban space at documenta 7 and in keeping with her motto “I am many”, Cosima von Bonin designed a participatory project marking the 70th anniversary of documenta with her “7000 Palmen”, where all Kassel residents are invited to decorate their city with these pennant chains – congratulations on 70 years of documenta!

The Fridericianum also received words of appreciation for Cosima von Bonin’s artwork from the Director of Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Yilmaz Dziewor:
I am delighted that the “7000 Palmen” are being added to the Museum Ludwig collection. We already hold several historical works by Cosima von Bonin from the 1990s, as well as one from her solo exhibition in the Lazy Susan Series, which was shown here in 2011. In addition to art-historical references, the palm-tree-shaped pennant chains allude to celebrations and parties. Naturally, this is a perfect fit for Cologne, where the artist also lives.

Press materials for the artistic intervention 7000 Palmen are available for download in the press section of this website.  

The project was being realized with the generous support of the Leinemann-Stiftung für Bildung und Kunst, the Stiftung Stark für Gegenwartskunst, the Karin und Uwe Hollweg Stiftung, the cdw Stiftung, the Kasseler Sparkasse, the City Kaufleute Kassel e. V., the Gerhard-Fieseler-Stiftung, and the Kasseler Kunstverein.