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Art from the GDR in the World - Work at the ZfK

Topic: Institutions and Organizations
Periods:
  • 1974
The art historian Hans-Jörg Schirmbeck worked at the Zentrum für Kunstausstellungen der DDR (ZfK) in the Fine Arts Department between 1974 and 1990. He conceived and organized exhibitions of art from the GDR for foreign countries.
Interview with Hans-Jörg Schirmbeck in Potsdam, 07.12.2022

The Zentrum für Kunstausstellungen der DDR (ZfK) was founded in 1973. The institution held international exhibitions within the GDR and was also responsible for presentations of art from the GDR abroad.
Hans-Jörg Schirmbeck, together with four other art historians, was responsible for the conception and planning of exhibitions abroad in the Fine Arts Department. The exhibition topics were specified by the Ministerium für Kultur, but Schirmbeck describes the conception of the exhibition and the selection of the represented artists usually opened up the some freedom.
In the video interview, Hans-Jörg Schirmbeck talks about the work of the Zentrum für Kunstausstellungen der DDR, in particular the Department of Visual Arts. The changes in cultural foreign policy, his travels to India and Mexico, among other places, as well as the expansion of the art collection of the Zentrum für Kunstausstellungen der DDR are reflected upon.

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