The Hidden Museum (exhibition)

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The exhibition Das Verborgene Museum was on view in the Akademie der Künste (Berlin-Hansaviertel) from December 18, 1987 to February 7, 1988. It was realized by the two artists Evelyn Kuwertz and Gisela Breitling in collaboration with the project sponsor Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst on the occasion of Berlin's 750th anniversary . The art association Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst was founded in 1969 and represented an alternative to conventional art and cultural associations. The cultural institution was quickly anchored in the West Berlin art and culture scene.

construction

In preparation for the exhibition, the holdings of well-known Berlin museums were searched: Art Library , Brücke Museum , Artothek of the New Berlin Art Association , Georg Kolbe Museum , Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin , Kupferstichkabinett , Berlin Museum , Gemäldegalerie , Nationalgalerie , Berlinische Galerie , Bauhaus- Archive and collections of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg . An exhibition with around 150 exhibits was put together from a total of 600 works found .

A first, historical part spanned a period of over 500 years and showed works found in the collections. The second part, spatially separated from the first, with the subtitle Dein Land ist Morgen, a thousand years already ( Ingeborg Bachmann ) presented eleven female artists with works between 1953 and 1987, some of which came from public, partly from private collections in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin but had also been specially designed for the exhibition. The invitation to tender for this exhibition encouraged women artists who were living in Berlin at the time to deal with the relationship between women and artists and their history.

reception

Sigrid Schade saw the merit of the exhibition as having shown an impressive show by female artists, the existence of which was largely unknown. But she thought the exhibition was disappointing, despite its size and the great response from the public. Among other things, she criticized the lack of accuracy in the data presented with the works and the “lack of rigor in the exhibition concept”. She also criticized the fact that the two curators Gisela Breitling and Evelyn Kuwertz were two of the eleven artists of the second part as “self-production”. It is true that the catalog states that the members of the preparatory group had decided which artists should be presented in this contemporary part: Breitling and Kuwertz did not decide on their own initiative that their works should be included in the exhibition. But Ingrid Wagner-Kanthuser, who was responsible as curator for this part of the exhibition, said that Breitling and Kuwertz had insisted on a wall in this room. Wagner-Kanthuser had declined responsibility for this decision and was therefore not included in the foreword of the catalog.

The exhibition Das Verborgene Museum saw itself as the first impulse for further research on the role of female artists in the museum as an institution. At the same time as the exhibition, similar projects were planned in Bielefeld and Düsseldorf , but failed due to resistance from the museum directors. "The groundbreaking concept of the Hidden Museum was lost in the lack of positive reception ."

financing

The Senate of Berlin took over the financing of the first exhibition as part of the 750th anniversary celebration. Young art historians were hired to work in the collections and paid for from project funds. Over a period of two years, the Berlin Senate made 300,000 DM available for the project.

literature

Exhibition catalogs

A catalog was designed for each of the two exhibition groups , which, in addition to documenting the exhibited artists, contains articles on the historical training and working conditions of women. Important works that could not be found in the collections were presented as facsimile reproductions, display boards and catalogs gave an insight into the lives of the artists. An accompanying program with readings, lectures and panel discussions should clarify the situation of the artist in the past and present.

  • Ruth Nobs-Greter, Lida von Mengden, Marina Sauer, Ulrike Haß , Gisela Breitling, Renate Flagmeier, Gisela Zies : Das Verborgene Museum. Volume 1. Documentation of the art of women in Berlin public collections. Ed .: Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e. V., Berlin. Edition Hentrich, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-926175-38-9 .
  • New Society for Fine Arts e. V., Berlin (ed.): Das Verborgene Museum. Volume 2. Your country is tomorrow, a thousand years already. Edition Hentrich, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-926175-39-7 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Monika Kaiser: The Hidden Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238-275, p. 239.
  2. ↑ Monika Kaiser: Das Verborgene Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238–275, p. 240.
  3. ↑ a b c d Gisela Breitling, Evelyn Kuwertz: The hidden museum. Documentation of the art of women in Berlin public collections. In: Critical Reports . Journal of Art and Cultural Studies, Volume 3, No. 3. Jonas Verlag für Kunst und Literatur, Marburg 1985, ISSN-Print 0340-7403, ISSN-Internet 2197-7410, accessed on February 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Sigrid Schade: What remained hidden. For the exhibition “The Hidden Museum”. Documentation of the art of women in Berlin public collections. Berlin December 18, 1987 to February 14, 1988. In: Critical reports. Journal for Art and Cultural Studies, Volume 16, No. 2, Jonas Verlag for Art and Culture, Marburg 1988, pp. 91–96.
  5. ↑ Sigrid Schade: What remained hidden. For the exhibition “The Hidden Museum”. Documentation of the art of women in Berlin public collections. Berlin December 18, 1987 to February 14, 1988. In: Critical Reports. Journal for Art and Cultural Studies, Volume 16, No. 2. Jonas Verlag für Kunst und Kultur, Marburg, 1988, pp. 91–96, p. 94.
  6. ↑ a b Sigrid Schade: What remained hidden. For the exhibition “The Hidden Museum”. Documentation of the art of women in Berlin public collections. Berlin December 18, 1987 to February 14, 1988. In: Critical Reports. Journal of Art and Cultural Studies, Volume 16, No. 2. Jonas Verlag für Kunst und Kultur, Marburg, 1988, pp. 91–96, p. 93.
  7. ↑ Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e. V., Berlin (ed.): The hidden museum. Volume 2. Your country is tomorrow, a thousand years already. Edition Hentrich, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-926175-39-7 , p. 7; quoted from: Monika Kaiser: Das Verborgene Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238–275, p. 245, note 19.
  8. ↑ a b Message from Dr. Ingrid Wagner in a telephone conversation with Monika Kaiser in January 2011, quoted from: Monika Kaiser: Das Verborgene Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238–275, p. 245, note 19.
  9. ^ Foreword to the catalog Das Verborgene Museum I , 1987, pp. 7–9, quoted from: Monika Kaiser: Das Verborgene Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238–275, p. 240, note 10.
  10. ↑ Monika Kaiser: Das Verborgene Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238-275, p. 252.
  11. ↑ Monika Kaiser: Das Verborgene Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238-275, p. 254.
  12. ↑ Monika Kaiser: Das Verborgene Museum 1987/88 in the Academy of Arts in West Berlin. In: Monika Kaiser: New appointments in the art space. Feminist art exhibitions and their spaces, 1972–1987. Transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-8376-2408-3 , pp. 238–275, p. 240, note 9.