Cornelia Funke is one of the major German storytellers, both with words and with the pencil. The trained illustrator began her career with drawings for texts written by others but quickly realised that she could write just as good, or even better! Thinking out stories continuously progessed over to writing. She started with her own stories in the 1980s with Kein Keks für Kobolde (“No Cookie for Trolls”) and other childrens' books. Series such as Gespensterjäger (“Ghosthunters”) and Die Wilden Hühner (“Wild Chicks”) made her a favourite for young readers. She became famous internationally with Herr der Diebe (“The Thief Lord”) and, finally, her trilogy of Tintenwelt (“Inkheart”) volumes.
In past years her writing has become more important that her drawing, but the originals clearly show that she is a highly creative inventor of images as well. The early illustrations are usually strongly coloured with lots of figures, and in later books she often limited herself to very fine black ink, chalk or graphite drawings for the beginnings of chapters. Cornelia Funke was born in Dorsten, but her chosen homeland America can be seen in some of the latest drawings.
For the first time the graphical work of Funke is presented, ranging from the very beginnings right up to the latest works from Reckless, and accompanied by an extensive catalogue. The exhibition shows that Cornelia Funke is one of the rare twin talents able to carry people off into new and exciting worlds with both text and illustration, and with a high degree of originality. She inspires not only children and young people but is also able to mesmerise adults as well. There have also been several films of her books for new worlds of fantasy in this medium as well.

The photographer Michael Kerstgens in his long-term survey has dedicated himself to the phenomenon of the major immigration of Russian Jews at the beginning of the 1990s. The statistics tell us that in 1990 around 25,000 people were members of the Jewish community in Germany, and today this is more than 110,000. Kerstgens observes and documents their arrival, their start in a new life and has also accompanied some of the families and their destinies and journeys through life.
His photographic eye shows his great interest for the people and for common and religious themes, but also exposes a photographer that sets structures into the visual image and captures the 'right moments'. His themes serve to open up a wide spectrum. The transferral home in Weiden in the Upper Palatine is one of the locations where he accompanies his subjects. The start, for example with the German language is often difficult, as shown by Kerstgens' images. Many photos are shot in the Jewish community in Berlin, the largest in Germany. But Kerstgens also enters the “Russendsiko” (“Russian disco”) made famous by Wladimir Kaminer and shows the relaxed life of the young Russian immigrants. Kerstgens is one of the photographers that can tell stories with a high level of sensitivity, as demonstrated by around 80 photos in this exhibition.
LUDWIGGALERIE has organised this show in cooperation with the Gedenkhalle (Memorial Hall) in Schloss Oberhausen. The educational program in the museum benefits considerably from this cooperation, the Berlin Jewish Museum was able to acquire the complete series of black and white images at the beginning of 2011 for its collection. This also demonstrates the uniqueness of the Michael Kerstgens' photo project.

From 16th March until 30th December 2013 Christo is returning to Oberhausen’s Gasometer with his “Big Air Package” installation. At the same time he will be showing a selection of seven original design drawings of the work of art in the cabinet of the LUDWIGGALERIE in Schloss Oberhausen. These predominantly large-format works provided the model for the Big Air Package which, as the world’s largest self-supporting sculpture with a height of more than 90 metres, is to be seen in the Oberhausen industrial monument and can also be experienced from the inside. The designs were produced in Christo’s New York studio and show the development of the idea of the Big Air Package during the years 2010 up to its implementation in 2013.

From Gasometer Oberhausen, visitors can reach the LUDWIGGALERIE in Schloss Oberhausen on foot along the Rhine-Herne Canal in about ten minutes.