“I don’t believe in the uniqueness of the artist or the individual work. I believe in phenomena and people who bring ideas together”, announced Marcel Broodthaers in 1968, while presenting what was categorically, for him, the ideal art institution. Here, the artist – who exerted a strong influence on the practice of curating – is laying particular emphasis on artists as the unifying principle between the art system’s individual protagonists, with the exhibition space or museum standing as the true scene of action. After the continuous revolutions in art and artists at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries formed new standards, exhibition practices also underwent a fundamental change after the 1960s. Exhibiting art, especially contemporary art, faces the continuous challenge of constantly shifting requirements and parameters. What are the characteristics of a good exhibition? How does a museum collection fit together with temporary exhibits? And how can intellectual histories, contexts and themes be brought together, in an exciting – almost sexy – way, to produce a Kunsthalle of the future? Two experienced curators, from two different generations, discuss the questions mentioned above.
Kasper König (*1943) was the director of the Ludwig Museum in Cologne between 2000 and 2012. He lives and works in Cologne and Berlin. He curated shows including the Skulptur.Projekte Münster (since 1976), Westkunst in 1981, and In-Between Architecture for the EXPO 2000 in Hannover.
Thomas D. Trummer (*1967) is the director of the Kunsthalle Mainz. He lives and works in Mainz.