May in the art collections
100 years of Alfred Gunzenhauser: New floor & a spring party
The Museum Gunzenhauser is celebrating the 100th birthday of Alfred Gunzenhauser, the collector and namesake of the museum, on 16 and 17 May with a festive weekend full of art and a new floor with space for dialogue, education and creative debate.
In 2007, the Gunzenhauser Museum was the first museum in eastern Germany to be dedicated to a private collection. Since then, it has provided a home for the first-class collection of Munich gallery owner and art collector Alfred Gunzenhauser. With 380 works by Otto Dix, the Gunzenhauser Museum has one of the world's largest collections of the painter. The museum also has one of the largest collections of works by the expressionist Alexej von Jawlensky. Large collections also include works by Willi Baumeister, Gabriele Münter, Conrad Felixmüller, Serge Poliakoff, Uwe Lausen and Johannes Grützke.
On the weekend, the new 4th floor will be ceremonially opened as a permanent mediation and meeting level. With the newly extended 4th floor, the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz are strengthening cultural participation as an extracurricular learning and meeting centre. The realisation was supported by the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism with 500,000 euros from PMO funds. The realisation was complemented by the generous commitment of the Gunzenhauser Foundation.
On the anniversary weekend, guests can expect an extensive programme with creative offerings, Bienenstich - Alfred Gunzenhauser's favourite cake -, music and lively art moments. The exhibition "Mahlzeit! Feinkunsthalle" exhibition and the museum's important collection complete the festive programme. Admission is free of charge.
The birthday weekend emphasises the role of museums as open places of democracy, education and encounters. The timing is no coincidence: The Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz are also celebrating International Museum Day on 17 May. They are also making a contribution to the nationwide "Day of Honour" for the Basic Law, which will be celebrated during the campaign period from 16 to 31 May. The "Day of Honour" on 23 May was initiated by Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the German Foundation for Commitment and Volunteering to mark the 77th anniversary of the German Basic Law. It is intended to raise public awareness of voluntary work and honour the many committed people in the country. Further information on the nationwide day of honour as well as opportunities to get involved and campaigns can be found at www.ehrentag.de.
From 7 May to 30 August, the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz are presenting the exhibition "Traces of Proximity. Käthe Kollwitz and contemporary photography". The focus is on the dialogue between the work of Käthe Kollwitz and contemporary art. It shows that her themes are still important today. The starting point for the exhibition is the Chemnitz Art Collections' own extensive collection, from which a comprehensive presentation of the artist's work has been created for the first time in almost four decades.
The exhibition is being organised in cooperation with Heidi Specker's photography class at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. The students have intensively analysed Kollwitz' visual world and developed their own artistic works from it. Photographs, graphics and sculptural and film installations take up central themes such as self-expression, the body, motherhood, war, violence and protest and translate them into the present day.
The exhibition will be accompanied by lectures, artist talks with Heidi Specker and students from the photography class and curator-led tours.</p