The Ukraine war, the climate crisis and then this artificial intelligence. All problems that ultimately lead to the question: will people soon somehow do away with them? We need solutions and in the comic you could call for Superman. Here we only have Scholz, Habeck and the “Last Generation”. Although, there is still art. And with “Art saves the world!?” was actually the title of the latest issue of the SZ Kultursalon. “What can and what must museums do for the future?” was the subtitle of the event that took place in the Freising Diocesan Museum. The head of the local culture department in Munich/Bavaria, Susanne Hermanski, had invited Eike Schmidt and Christoph Kurzeder. One has been director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence since 2015, the other has been in charge of the Diocesan Museum since 2012.
The two experts are experts on what a museum is and what it can achieve. But in the end they found the question of whether art could save the world a bit too big. “Art must make art,” said Eike Schmidt, referring to Dostoyevsky. It shouldn’t be “propaganda,” and in the end it might succeed in saving the “individual people who perceive it.” And that alone is “fantastic,” says the museum director, whose appointment eight years ago was a major political issue in Italy. Schmidt is the first non-Italian to direct the museum in Florence, and also only the second non-Florentine. He said jokingly: A Sienser or Pisan as leader would be “a much bigger scandal” in Florence.
Host Christoph Kurzeder with Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt and Susanne Hermanski (SZ).
(Photo: Marco Einfeldt)
Incidentally, it is not yet clear whether the native of Freiburg will still be in charge of the Uffizi at the end of the year. His contract expires in November and how things will continue is usually decided at very short notice in Italy. He is currently assuming continued employment, Schmidt said at the subsequent get-together, where he was very much in demand as a conversation partner. That he came to little Freising at all as a busy man bordered on a miracle. Because this one day was the only one free in his schedule. And then there was the mediation work of Christoph Kurzder, who was in Florence recently because of a request for loans, among other things.
But whether art will save the world, that was the question. And then the visibly good-humoured Kurzer quoted a woman from his team. She would have said: No, art, it cannot save us, but it sweetens our downfall. A statement that the museum director added: “The enjoyment, the joy, that’s an awful lot.” In any case, there was no sign of fear or even a desire to perish that evening. Although at least fear can have positive sides. “Timor Domini Principium Sapientiae”, this biblical quote is written on the wall in the high atrium chosen as the venue. Translated: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”.
The actor Axel Milberg with his wife Judith, who paints herself, in the museum’s permanent exhibition.
(Photo: Marco Einfeldt)
An “archangel” wrapped under a cloth developed a slightly sinister presence
Pleasure, on the other hand, had in a certain way brought the guests here in the first place. Because “Damned Lust! Church. Body. Art” is the name of a current exhibition in the Diocesan Museum. A surprising and quite courageous exhibition that asks about the contradictions between religion and sexuality, church teaching and reality. The parallel show “City of Refuge II” by Berlinde De Bruyckere is also impressive. An “archangel” created by her, veiled under a cloth, stood directly behind the audience and developed a slightly sinister presence there. Kurzeder also spoke about these and other angel figures by De Bruyckeres. These are not “super beings”, but rather beings that sometimes seem helpless themselves.
“It hurts me”. That was his first reaction to these angels. And there you came to the point that Kurzeder considers to be crucial in art: that it touches you. Apparently James Turrell also succeeds with his “Chapel for Luke”. The light installation by the US artist, which can also currently be seen in the Diocesan Museum, has become a magnet for visitors. “Finally we have snakes here, too,” said the trained theologian, who grew up in the Ebersberg district, in the direction of Florence. Although it’s over with the snakes today. You only have to wait a few minutes today, says Schmidt, and not up to four hours as before. Because people no longer just come at peak times, but throughout the year.
The artist Beate Passow was also among the guests – she will soon be exhibiting in the Diocesan Museum.
(Photo: Marco Einfeldt)
Nevertheless, the Uffizi Gallery still has more than a million visitors a year. Since Corona, a third has been under 25, which, according to Schmidt, they have achieved through social media campaigns. The amazing thing: After they had performed their “TikTok dances”, most would stay longer in the museum. How come? Because that is “anchored in the human being”. What was meant was the search for beauty and meaning. The young people would realize that there is more. In addition to an aesthetic level, this also means a historical, theological and emotional level. And like Kurzer, he said: The emotional comes first.
In the Uffizi, with more than 80 percent of religious art and probably even more in the Diocesan Museum, religion naturally also plays an important role. Which prompted Susanne Hermanski to ask about art as a “substitute religion”. Both museum directors agreed that the spiritual is part of art. And while Schmidt made an excursion to Mark Rothko and the Nazarenes, Kurzer once again referred to Turrell’s light chapel. It shows: “You are actually close to each other.” On the other hand, in view of current debates in a church museum, isn’t art also something like a “fig leaf”? Kurzer replied quickly: Why? “We’re tearing away a lot of fig leaves with the current exhibition.”
Fashion designers Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof (right).
(Photo: Marco Einfeldt)
Or to put it another way: “We face the discourse,” said Kurzeder. The role of art in this? She “throws us back to being human” and can “express a lot of spiritual things,” especially in material things. That’s what Eike Schmidt said when asked whether “sticking to the analogue” in digital times was also a reason for the “success of the houses”. Well, a certain amount of this is also thanks to the dedicated directors who mingled with the guests after the discussion. This time, for example, the actor Axel Milberg, who was the first Kultursalon guest years ago, was one of them. Or the artist Beate Passow, who will soon be exhibiting in the Diocesan Museum. Incidentally, the next Kultursalon will take place in the Pinakothek der Moderne. However, the exact topic has not yet been decided.