A discussion between Hans-Heinrich Grosse-Brockhoff, former State Secretary, and Prof. Dr. Susanne Gaensheimer, Director of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen took place with invited, renowned guests from the NRW art scene on Tuesday, 3 July 2018 in the Sky Office in an impressive setting at Hogan Lovells, Board Room (22nd floor).
The Kunstsammlung NRW has had a new director since September 2017. Perhaps a good time to talk to Prof. Dr. Susanne Gaensheimer, who is considered one of the most distinguished experts on contemporary art, about her new place of work.
In Frankfurt, she directed the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst with great success and further expanded its excellent reputation as one of the top addresses for contemporary art. As curator of the German Pavilion at the 2011 Biennale, she is remembered for her courageous decision to exhibit Christoph Schlingensief posthumously in the German Pavilion after his unexpected death.
Here in Düsseldorf, she now directs a house that the FAZ art critic Eduard Beaucamp once called the “secret national gallery” because of its internationally outstanding collection of classical modern art. The Kunstsammlung NRW has always been a beacon in the German museum landscape, shining far beyond the state’s borders.
In Hans-Heinrich Grosse-Brockhoff, she met an interlocutor who, first as head of the State Chancellery and later as State Secretary for Culture in the NRW state government of Jürgen Rüttgers, was used to thinking on a large scale. Like no other, he has shaped the Kunstsammlung NRW and the art landscape in NRW.
With new people usually come new ideas. Some of these ideas and plans were revealed during this highly interesting and entertaining evening.
Many thanks to all who contributed to the success of this evening.