COLOGNE.- Today, Thursday, May 28, Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition at the Museum Ludwig surpassed the 250,000 visitor mark. Public interest remains strong. Weekends in June are already sold out. Time-slot tickets for the exhibition should be booked in advance. This also applies to free tickets for children and young people up to age 18, Köln Pass holders, and members of ICOM and other associations. All tickets are available exclusively through the online shop.

Children and teens are also fascinated by the Japanese artist’s vibrant works and immersive spaces. For young visitors, there is a free activity booklet that allows them to discover Kusama’s work on their own through exciting facts and fun hands-on activities. The activity booklet is suitable for children ages 4 and up when accompanied by an adult, and for ages 10 and up unaccompanied. In addition, children and teens can get creative themselves in the Open Studio within the exhibition. The studio is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 1:00 PM to 5:30 PM, Thursday from 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM, and Friday through Sunday from 11:30 AM to 7:30 PM.

“We are thrilled that Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition is captivating so many people. We are particularly delighted to see so many young people coming—some of whom have never visited a museum before. We very much hope that the spark ignited here will carry on and inspire them to return,” said Yilmaz Dziewior, director of the Museum Ludwig.

Audience reactions range from positive to enthusiastic. “Spectacular and enlightening from an art-historical perspective!” “The exhibition is sensational.” “Absolutely worth seeing! Top-notch exhibition, an absolute highlight.” “At some point, you’re no longer just looking at art—you’re right in the middle of it.” “The rooftop installation with Cologne Cathedral in the background is simply brilliant. This dialogue between Kusama’s world and the cathedral in the background creates something unexpectedly powerful and unforgettable.” (Users on Google),

About 5,000 copies of the exhibition catalog have been sold so far—roughly four times as many as for other major special exhibitions. Among the merchandise, the bags, posters, and silk scarves designed exclusively with Kusama Studio are the crowd favorites. Here, too, sales figures are many times higher than usual. No less popular are the art editions provided exclusively for the exhibition by the artist.

The retrospective traces Kusama’s artistic development. From early childhood drawings, through expressive early graphic works, to large-format Infinity Net Paintings, which she created inspired by her flight across the Pacific Ocean to New York. In the male-dominated New York art scene of the 1960s, she gained notoriety with her phallic-shaped Soft Sculptures; during the era of the Flower Power movement and the Vietnam War, she took a political stance and made headlines with provocative happenings. She is also active as the founder of a fashion label and the editor of a magazine.

Through some 300 works, visitors can experience an exciting journey through the cosmos of Yayoi Kusama along a 2,000-square-meter exhibition route.
The Yayoi Kusama exhibition is organized by the Museum Ludwig in collaboration with the Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (October 12, 2025 – January 25, 2026) and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (September 12, 2026 – January 17, 2027).