On Thursday December 12th Vienna Design Week co-founder Tulga Beyerle was officially presented as the new director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden.
A decision that excites us as much as it surprises us.
Not least because until now the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden has never struck us an institution with any ambitions above securing its own existence. For example, we can’t remember any special exhibitions being organised there or to be honest any form of event that sought to actively use the museum’s extensive collection.
Our home base is Leipzig, yet in a professional capacity it would never occur to us to visit the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden. Privately yes, it is housed in a charming Baroque Schloss set in delightful grounds on the edge of the city. But professionally? Why?
We hope that will change. That the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden will give us reason to visit.
With Vienna Design Week Tulga Beyerle has established a design festival that goes its own way, which does things that other design festivals don’t do.
Yes the 2013 Vienna Design Week was a fairly sparse, dilute affair and in no sense one of the better editions, but was still more entertaining than a lot of other design weeks.
And was still undeniably a design week that sought to present design in all its facets rather than just present pretty objects.
And so we are hopeful that Tulga Beyerle will do the same at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden and for all that she will make real use of the collection. For all their Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau collection which in addition to furniture from the likes of Richard Riemerschmid, Bruno Paul and Rudolf Horn also features ceramics, textiles, lamps and wallpapers produced by the Deutsche Werkstätten from its founding in 1878 up until the late 1970s. Or put another way from Art Nouveau to DDR chic.
While we accept that the museum will remain a strictly summer affair – for conservation reasons it is closed from November till May – modern museums aren’t just about displaying objects on plinths for visitors to stare at, but are about using their collections in innovative ways that in the best case extend the reach of the institution beyond its own walls.
A Tulga Beyerle knows and understands that and so we’re thoroughly looking forward to seeing how things develop.
And possibly even visiting the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden in a professional capacity.
The other aspect of Tulga Beyerle’s appointment of course is that from the original three Vienna Design Week founders only Lilli Hollein remains. That needn’t mean anything negative for Vienna Design Week, does however mean that there will inevitably be changes. Hopefully of the good variety. Time will, as always, tell.
Tagged with: Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden, Tulga Beyerle