Open Access
Press information
OPEN ACCESS is an exhibition project with a deliberately experimental character. The aim is to carry forward the ideals of the Hamburger Kunsthalle's first director, Alfred Lichtwark, who attached great importance to museum education and art appreciation, while updating them for the 21st century. Through this exhibition format, the museum hopes to strengthen its role as a place for active exchange with Hamburg’s residents, a place where their personal questions and concerns are addressed. 12 people responded to the invitation to participate in the project. All of them came to Hamburg from different countries at different points in time and ended up staying. They form the exhibition team together with the Director of the Kunsthalle, Christoph Martin Vogtherr, who has lived in Hamburg since the autumn of 2016. In six workshops, the team engaged intensively with the works in the Kunsthalle. This resulted in 13 perspectives on the collection, grouped together under five major themes: Dialogue, Empowerment, Freedom, Community and Respect.
The OPEN ACCESS exhibition is set up in a way that evokes the special character of the project. On the way to the galleries, visitors pass by 13 photo portraits of the Hamburg residents who designed the exhibition. Text and photographic documentation gives insights into the step-by-step process of putting the show together. For the first time, these texts are also available to visitors in an alternative, easy-to-read, language. In two films, the protagonists recount their impressions and experiences during the six workshops and describe what the
project OPEN ACCESS means to them personally. The five themes Dialogue, Empowerment, Freedom, Community and Respect are explored in five different galleries. The team of Hamburg residents selected the works displayed in each gallery from the Kunsthalle’s collection, basing their choices on their own personal thoughts and viewpoints, which are likewise
documented in the presentation. The resulting 13 Perspectives on the Collection offer visitors new ways of looking at art while serving as a springboard for their own considerations.
With OPEN ACCESS, the Hamburger Kunsthalle wants to open a dialogue on current issues affecting the city’s diverse and intercultural society, inviting all citizens to participate. The exhibition kicks off an inquiry into the museum as a public place and as a place for the public. Art education and outreach have been key priorities for the Hamburger Kunsthalle ever since its first director, Alfred Lichtwark, formulated the museum’s mission. Lichtwark, who achieved international recognition for the innovative methods he developed in this field, already succeeded in launching a fruitful dialogue between the museum and the heterogeneous Hamburg society. OPEN ACCESS is accompanied by an extensive programme of events. Every second Sunday starting on 14 May 2017, for example, a »guided tour with public talk« will be offered, with two members of the exhibition team taking part in each tour. On 29 June 2017, expert speakers from art museums and the field of art and culture education as well as Hamburg politicians will take part in a round table. They will discuss personal art appreciation and the question of how a European art collection can remain attractive and productive for a transcultural society. The entire OPEN ACCESS project will be documented in a comprehensive brochure that will come out at the end of the exhibition and will be available in the Museum Shop as well as online via www.freunde-derkunsthalle.de.
Exhibition team: Mostafa Akhtar, Ali Awudu, Khalil Balbisi, Heide Kadula, Mehdi Moudafi, Nursima Nas, Vadhiliya Insani Putri, Halyna Roshchyna, Mahran Saeed, Quentin Scornet, Delphine Takwi, Christoph Vogtherr, Hosein Youssofi
Project team at the Kunsthalle: Prof. Dr. Christoph Martin Vogtherr (Director), Marion Koch, M.A. (Art Educator) and Wybke Wiechell (Head of Department Learning & Visitor Experience)
With the kind support of Freunde der Kunsthalle and Hubertus Wald Stiftung.