100 Years of the Kestner Gesellschaft
28 May to 13 November 2016
The exhibition »100 Years of the Kestner Gesellschaft« tells the turbulent history of the institution based on a timeline that will continue to develop over the course of the exhibition. This collection of historical documents, photos, posters, quotations, and films presents milestones in the history of the kestnergesellschaft. Among other things, the eleven directors will be presented, all of whom shared the same dedication and desire to promote contemporary art in Hanover, regardless of the challenges with which they were confronted. The support from the board of directors and the institution’s members has always played an important role. The period of the early 1930s is an excellent example of this: for three years the board of directors of the kestnergesellschaft took on personal risks in order to protect the director at the time, Justus Bier, from Nazi reprisals. Bier succeeded in fleeing to the United States. The kestnergesellschaft, however, which remained steadfast in its ideology, was forced to close in 1936. After the end of the Second World War, in 1948 it was able to reopen on Warmbüchenstraße. In 1997 the renowned institution moved to the former Goseriedebad in the center of Hanover.
Members and friends are invited to contribute their memories and stories about the kestnergesellschaft and to add them to the exhibition. This will begin with the filmed discussion with Angela Kriesel, who talks about the various relations between to the kestnergesellschaft and the Sprengel family. Angela Kriesel herself was a member of the advisory board from 1985 to 2002. Her grandfather August Sprengel was among the institution’s founders, and her father Dr. Bernhard Sprengel was the chairman of the board from 1956 to 1974, and later an honorary member of the board. In the second half of the year, a newly developed work by the artist duo Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr (*1985/*1986, live in Cologne) will be presented. The artists take a documentary approach to institutional and political topics. The work presented in the exhibition can be understood as an artistic reflection of the history of the kestnergesellschaft.
35