Another milestone in the history of Dresden’s Residenzschloss: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (the SKD) are installing the “Kunstkammer Gegenwart”, a new cabinet of contemporary art, in what was previously the Fürstengalerie. From December 2023, the important repository of knowledge and art at the Residenzschloss will thus include an archive of contemporary works. The main exhibits from Schenkung Sammlung Hoffmann (the Hoffmann Collection Donation) will be joined by others from the Kunstfonds, Kupferstich-Kabinett and Albertinum, along with the affiliated Günther and Annemarie Gercken Foundation. The Fürstengalerie’s holdings will remain on show in the Residenzschloss.
The concept behind “Kunstkammer Gegenwart” aims to reconcile a museum’s two important tasks: storing works of art, and exhibiting them. By focusing on different aspects every year, this cabinet of art should offer insights into the vast troves of contemporary art at the SKD. The SKD succeeded in engaging the internationally renowned designer Konstantin Grčić to create a new, innovative viewable storage facility to present that art. His design includes a demonstration workshop, where the public will be able to watch conservators and restorers handle some of the modern, fragile materials used in contemporary art. At the same time, a progressive education approach is to be developed hand in hand with Technische Universität Dresden and Dresden University of Fine Arts (HfBK) and presented to the public.