Cardinal Calls Art "Degenerate"; Generali Changes Director; Expansion for Städel; Viennafair Partners with FIAC; Setbacks at Pompidou Shanghai
CARDINAL WARNS AGAINST "DEGENERATE" ART
Cardinal Joachim Meisner—who recently criticized Gerhard Richter's new stained-glass window in the Cologne Cathedral—has made headlines once again by referring to some art as "degenerate." The term was used by the Nazis as part of a program to persecute artists and to ban artworks, especially Abstract and Expressionist works. "Entartete Kunst" (Degenerate Art) was also the title of the 1937 exhibition organized by the Nazis at Munich's Haus der Kunst.
As the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports, Meisner made the reference during the inauguration of the art museum Kolumba at the Archbishopric of Cologne. "Let's not forget that there is an irrevocable connection between culture and worship," said the cardinal. "Where culture is divided from worship, from the worship of God, worship ossifies in ritualism, and culture degenerates. Culture loses its middle ground."
Like many on hand for the inaugural speech, North Rhine-Westphalia's culture secretary, Hans-Heinrich Grosse-Brockhoff, found the cardinal's use of the Nazi term "appalling." "It shows that he has absolutely no access to art and culture," said Grosse-Brockhoff, who added that the cardinal's critique of Richter's window for the Cologne Cathedral already demonstrated that discussions about art with Meisner are not productive. "And I say that not only as the secretary for culture but also as a Catholic."
GENERALI CHANGES DIRECTOR
Sabine Breitweiser, the director of Vienna's Generali Foundation, is leaving her position after almost twenty years. As Der Standard reports, a fusion between the Generali and the BAWAG foundations is the reason for Breitweiser's departure. On January 1, the two foundations will be known as the "Foundation(s)quartier" and will both be located at the Generali's current address. Although each will maintain its own program, Breitweiser does not want "to carry through with the solution," according to the paper. In contrast, BAWAG director Christine Kintisch has accepted the move.
According to the managers of both institutions, the fusion is intended to function as a "flat-sharing community." While maintaining their individual identities, the foundations will use a common infrastructure that should enrich each other's programs. The managers are said to have found a "fair solution" to sharing costs and function of the future common space, now used entirely by Generali. The managers will be Alfred Zellinger, of BAWAG, and Wolfgang Steinwendner, of Generali. For his part, Steinwendner has expressed hopes that the trend will lead to a "quality competition" between them.
STÄDEL TO EXPAND
Frankfurt's Städel museum has initiated a major expansion plan. According to Der Standard, the museum intends to add three thousand square meters (32,291 square feet) of space for exhibitions and collections. As Städel director Max Hollein notes, the museum's current space—five thousand square meters (53,819 square feet)—is insufficient. Eight international architects have been invited to participate in a competition for the design. The winning plan—which will be announced in January—should also include updates for the current building, which lacks some key features, such as climate control and an entrance for visitors in wheelchairs.
VIENNAFAIR COOPERATES WITH FIAC
Viennafair—which focuses on middle- and eastern-European contemporary art—will be cooperating with Paris's FIAC fair. As Der Standard's Thomas Trenkler reports, Viennafair enjoyed a successful third edition last April, with an almost 20 percent increase in attendance. Due to the rise, fair organizer Reed Exhibition has decided to dissolve the current advisory board, which is made up of Viennese gallerists.
A more international board will be named this fall with representatives from eastern Europe, Germany, and western Europe. Additionally, two or three representatives from FIAC—which is also run by Reed Exhibition—will be invited to join the board. According to the report, the old board of Viennafair already agreed to cooperate with FIAC, although it is not clear what form this cooperation will take. Reed Exhibition manager Matthias Limbeck believes that the "partnership agreement" between the two fairs will allow Vienna to profit from FIAC's international network.
PROBLEMS WITH SHANGHAI POMPIDOU
Plans to open a branch of Paris's Pompidou Center in Shanghai by 2010 are not going smoothly. As Le Monde's Brice Pedroletti and Michel Guerrin report, despite the success of the recent ShContemporary art fair, the project is running up against "the realities of China." The new Pompidou branch was due to be built inside a former French prison in the Luwan district of the city in financial cooperation with the Hong Kong real estate group Shui On.
But by the time the plan was unveiled, in October 2006, by former French minister of culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, there were already setbacks in Luwan. As Pedroletti and Guerrin write, Luwan "first had to convince the city, but above all the central Chinese government, whose permission is necessary." It's unclear whether that permission will come, given China's restrictions on foreign cultural institutions.
Faced with the setback in Shanghai, the Pompidou's president, Alain Seban, is now investigating other options—another site, another city—and is currently in discussions with the central government in Beijing.