QUO VADIS, Kestner Gesellschaft?
The identity and role of art institutions in society
On the Body and Mind of Art Institutions, or Who Owns Art Institutions and How They Can Exercise Autonomy, Independence and Relevance
With the participation of Prof. Dr. Stephan Berg, Director of the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Meike Behm, Director of the Kunsthalle Lingen and Chairwoman of the ADKV and Janneke de Vries, Director of the Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst Bremen, an attempt will be made to break down the identity and role of art institutions in society. This will be the first of three events in the series QUO VADIS, Kestner Gesellschaft?
Stephan Berg (born 1959 in Freiburg im Breisgau) studied German, English and history at university and received his doctorate in German studies. From 1990 to 2000 he was director of the Kunstverein Freiburg, then director of the Kunstverein Hannover from 2001 to 2008. He has been an honorary professor at the Braunschweig University of the Arts since 2004. He has been the director of the Kunstmuseum Bonn since 2008. Stephan Berg has organized numerous exhibitions and written publications on contemporary art. He lives and works in Bonn.
Meike Behm (born 1966 in Mölln) studied art history, modern German literature and classical archaeology and graduated with a Magistra Artium in art history. From 1995 to 2008, she was curator of the exhibition space rraum, first in Frankfurt am Main, then in Hamburg. In 2001, she co-curated the exhibition "Frankfurter Kreuz. Transformations of the Everyday in Contemporary Art" at the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main, and from 2006 to 2008 she was a research assistant at the Kunstverein in Hamburg. She has been director of the Kunsthalle Lingen since 2009 and chairwoman of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Kunstvereine in Berlin since 2014. She lives and works in Lingen (Ems).
Janneke de Vries (born 1968) is a German curator, critic, author and lecturer. She studied art history, contemporary German literature and European ethnology. She has been Director of the Weserburg Museum of Modern Art since October 2018. Prior to that, she headed the GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst Bremen and the Kunstverein Braunschweig. She also worked as a curatorial assistant at the Kunstverein in Hamburg and was editor-in-chief of a regional art magazine in Frankfurt/Main. She also works as a freelance critic for various art magazines and daily newspapers. In addition to her exhibition activities, she regularly publishes texts on international contemporary art and holds university lectures.
Two further chapters in the series QUO VADIS, Kestner Gesellschaft?
-The ethics of work, or the mere life of institutional practice -Financing and its discomfort
will follow shortly. We will inform you of the dates as soon as possible.