The exhibition brings together around fifty works acquired by the Federal Collection over the last five years, giving an overview of contemporary art in Germany. With a striking range of techniques and viewpoints, the works address issues including wartime and the post-war period, reunification, migration, identity, Europe, racism, and freedom.
The exhibition takes its title from Wanderpoetinnen I – Mit der Tür ins Haus fallen (Getting Straight to the Point), a painting by Maximiliane Baumgartner that refers to reform movements of the nineteenth century, and therefore to a key question linking all of the works in the show: How do we want to live together?
Parallel to the exhibition in Nuremberg, new works from the Federal Collection will also be shown at Museum Gunzenhauser in Chemnitz. The two cities applied to become European Capital of Culture 2025, with Chemnitz winning the title. Their joint exhibition project underscores the connecting language of art. At the opening in Nuremberg, Prof. Frédéric Bußmann, director of Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, will give an introductory talk. The show in Chemnitz opens on Saturday, 12 November.
Founded in 1971, Germany’s Federal Collection of Contemporary Art now contains more than two thousand works that may be loaned out by institutions including embassies, ministries and museums. Works are selected by an independent expert commission. In the spring of 2020, following the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic, the German government launched the Neustart Kultur programme, allowing further works to be acquired.
The exhibition is a joint project with the Federal Collection of Contemporary Art and Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM).