Role models versus modes of rule: the foundation of GfZK, a public-private museum in Leipzig

Franciska Zólyom

Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 2023, vol. 31, issue 1, 83-94

Abstract: The history of founding GfZK – Museum of Contemporary Art in Leipzig reflects both immediate post-1989 euphoria and the conflicting interests and social fears of that time. In the summer of 1989, a group of West German art enthusiasts (patrons, collectors, and entrepreneurs) travelled to Leipzig to meet the East German art historian Klaus Werner. The latter put forth the idea of establishing a new museum in his town, which the West German colleagues accepted and a plan was set in motion. Still, without its own building, the GfZK organized remarkable exhibitions and projects in public spaces throughout the 1990s. At the same time, concerns evoked that the “imported” novel artistic positions would devalue local art production and that, through their money, the private patrons were gaining disproportionate influence to shape public taste and the concept of art. From today’s perspective, both assumptions can be debunked. Through its financing in a public–private partnership, GfZK has embodied a unique museum model in the eastern German states, and the model has proved to be exceptionally productive even beyond the founding years.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/25739638.2023.2182506 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cdebxx:v:31:y:2023:i:1:p:83-94

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/cdeb20

DOI: 10.1080/25739638.2023.2182506

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe is currently edited by Andrew Kilmister

More articles in Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().