Watering can museum
The watering can museum is a museum for watering cans and other irrigation instruments in the central Hessian city of Gießen . It was launched in 2011 in the run-up to the Gießen State Garden Show 2014 as a hands-on project for the public, following the motto of the preparatory phase "The gardener's first duty: pour!"
Carrier and operator
The sponsor is the city of Gießen, the operation is carried out by the artist group gärtnerpflichten (Oliver Behnecke, Ingke Günther, Esther Steinbrecher, Jörg Wagner, Manuela Weichenrieder), which was also commissioned with the conception and implementation of further participatory activities as well as a supporting program to prepare the garden show.
Location
The collection was initially on view temporarily in the former market keeper's house at the Marktlauben, but from 2011 it was housed on around 150 square meters on the second floor of the Neustädter Tor gallery . Since September 2017, it has been housed on around 100 square meters in a converted shop in the immediate vicinity of the Giessen Botanical Garden .
Concept and realization of the collection
The collection was brought together almost entirely from objects donated by citizens or made available on permanent loan. In the meantime (as of September 2017) it consists of a good 1200 exhibits, not only from Giessen, but from many countries around the world.
The focus is not on particularly old or valuable jugs, but on the wealth of shapes and materials of this everyday object .
The exhibition is divided into small watering cans for indoor use (rooms, cacti and balcony) and larger ones for outdoor use. Within these categories there is a further subdivision according to the material (plastic, metal, ceramic). Toy watering cans for children are assigned to their own category, as are purely decorative objects.
All pieces are recorded on index cards, which are provided with information about their origin, any associated memories, special features and state of preservation, photographed and presented virtually on a website and thus independent of the opening times of the real museum.
The exhibition is complemented by the presentation of some prints with images of watering cans from the 19th century. Since March 2012, the discussion series “Talking Shop” has dealt with issues relating to the watering can. For 2013, the museum has released a calendar with photos of jugs.
Cooperations
Since spring 2012 the watering can museum has been cooperating with the Frankfurt art project botanoadopt by Haike Rausch and Torsten Grosch (431art), which gives "neglected and abused houseplants" individual names and biographies and arranges them for adoption by means of a presentation in the watering can museum. There is also an exchange with the Museum of Garden Culture in Bavaria, which was founded in February 2013 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Katrina Friese: Watering can museum opened at a new location in Gießener Sonnenstrasse . In: Gießener Anzeiger, September 26, 2017
Coordinates: 50 ° 35 ′ 11.01 " N , 8 ° 40 ′ 36.41" E