Day 4 Duisburg and Dusseldorf

A great day looking at art at a new Museum Kuppersmuhle of Modern Art on the inner harbor. The new modern part of the city. A private institution; shows contemporary art from around 1950 to the present. Some wonderful Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter paintings; from the 1960s forward. Pictures attached. It's an old grain elevator building that has been recycled and converted to an art museum. They are under construction now, going to add a glass rectangle on the very top designed by architects Herzoz de Meuron. It will really be a distinctive building when that happens.


From Duisburg, took the train 15 minutes to Dusseldorf and will go to the old city tomorrow to the museum of modern art that has just re-opened after renovation and expansion; was closed for 2 years. Will report back. Ate in a Lebanese restaurant tonight; it is the neighborhood where our hotel (NH) is located. It was very good and I am looking forward to the pastries I brought back to the room with me (after my work here).

Some pictures of the past few days, so you can re-experience my experience.

The small village of Westerholt in Herten.

Day 3 Oberhausen

Back again. Another busy day. Will try not to ramble as much tonight. Had a lazy morning here; wandered the streets looking for shoes; no success. Will keep trying however. But we are learning our way around more and more.

Thomas picked us up at 2 and we went to the Folkwang Museum in Essen. Saw a Rock n' Roll Photography show entitled "A Star is Born: Photography and Rock since Elvis" so began with Elvis, Little Richard, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Queen, to Kiss, you get the picture (ha); lots of memories in those pictures. We missed the 1930s exhibition that showed many of the paintings and sculpture that were in the collection before the war and were forced to be sold; amazing they were able to bring them back. Some are now back in the permanent collection, so we were able to see them. They are reinstalling their permanent collection in a fabulous new building by English architect David Chipperfield. It is such an amazing transformation from when I saw the museum in its reduced state in 2007. Some exceptional details. And while much of the collection was not up, we saw some of the best.

From Essen we drove to Herten, a small village north of Oberhausen. There we met Mr. Buchtal and his wife Elizabeth; he is a math teacher and is involved in the Transatlantic Bridge project from the same school as Antje. They organized this visit to show us what the Ruhr was like before industry came, late 18th early 19th century. It is the site of a former castle that is now a golf resort that is surrounded by a charming village. Dates on some of the houses were from 1804; the church 1806. We ate in a Biergarten under a great tree. Good german food tonight; will need to go to the gym when I get home for sure.

I'll try to post some pictures soon. Off to Duisburg and/or Dusseldorf tomorrow. More to report then.
Good night.
BJ

Day 2 Oberhausen

Here I am again. Finally got through, though not exactly sure how. I'm most definitely not a expert at this. Had a great day today. To Dortmund to visit the LWL-Industriemuseum. All closed on Monday but the Director took us on a personal tour. It is a former coal mine that employed 1000 workers at one point. 1000 feet deep; and operated for about 100 years. I am still amazed about the permanence of these industrial sites and that they turn them in to landmarks, and save them. The buildings are architectural significant; the owners of the mine wanted to impress the workers so the architect used art nouveau decoration, so it's really beautiful, yet heavy industry. This museum is located in Westphalia, the eastern part of the Ruhr, about 60 km from Oberhausen. Definitely worth the visit. They are under construction now and will have the building and a new exhibition prepared in 2 years. A reason to come back to the Ruhr.

Back in Oberhausen we had 1 hour before we met with the Mayor of Oberhausen. Had coffee and a delicious tart, fresh fruits of the season with fresh whipped cream. Yum! Photo opportunities in the council chamber with the Mayor. An abstract mural from 1958 is painted on 3 walls near the ceiling, depicting the major sites of the city. The details of the building, from the 1920s, are all green glazed ceramic; you can imagine why I liked it. The elevator/lift was an original one; in continuous operation with no doors so you had to hop on and off while it was still moving; very strange; gave you an uneasy feeling getting on and off; fun experience though, like a carnival ride.

Back tracking a bit to yesterday; didn't mention the dignitaries who spoke, all of whom warmly welcomed The Westmoreland, one of which was the Mayor. Another was the United States Consulate representative, Bernd Herbert, who made a point to greet me in English (appreciated) and spoke about the importance of the partnership and benefits of this collaboration for both of our institutions. There was a moment of silence for those who were killed at the Love Parade in Duisburg on Saturday. A real tragedy; over 1 1/2 million kids went to this techno music concert; they expected only 300,000. And things got way out of hand, and a panic stampede occurred. We were on the train with many of the young people who were headed to the concert, but shortly after our train arrived in Oberhausen, they stopped the trains entirely to keep more people from trying to go. Really sad.

Last night had dinner at a Polish restaurant here, where we ate classic German food. Funny. With our Spanish visitors from the Basque region, French visitors from Le Creusot museum, and Thomas, Dr. Hauser, and Milena Karabaic. Interesting as only one of the Spanish group spoke English, one spoke German, so there was a lot of translating going on. I definitely need to learn another language. You feel very deficient in a group like that. But we had a good evening, and communicated the best we could. Tonight David and I ate in a Thai restaurant that was very good. So we're having a real variety of food.

Thomas is taking us to Essen tomorrow to see the competed Zollverein which I am anxious to see completed. We hope to see the Folkwang museum as well; time permitting. Never seems to be enough time. So my adventure continues. Will report back.
Goodnight for now.
BJ

Regions of Vulcan 1 - 25 July 2010

Regions of Vulcan 2 - 25 July 2010

Feuerlander: Regions of Vulcan opening

Despite fits and starts, I think I am finally going to be able to do this. Some operator error, but more problems with finding the hotel's hotspot than anything. Perhaps because of lack of sleep; who knows. So I don't think my earlier post today ever posted. It is out in cyber space somewhere. The opening ceremony was nice; musical interlude; full of remarks, in German, French, and English, me. And FIRE! Pots of it outside the museum with a worker in his flame retardant gear stoking it. So we could not only see it but smell it too. Made it very real inside. Large and receptive crowd; exceptional exhibition. Have good film of the exhibition spaces to share (once I figure out how to do that). Saw old friends from previous visits (Milena Karabaic, Bernd and Margie Hubert, Rita Muller) and met many new ones. Thomas said he needed more walls; and I understood completely. There are never enough wall when you want to show great art. 203 pictures; 11 countries are partnering in the exhibition, and some of those partners are here, from France, Spain, and Poland. The exhibitions are in 2 different locations. A number of the artists whose work is in the contemporary section at the LVR-Industriemuseum were here today, and very proud. The historical section is in the Peter Behrens building, an impressive Bauhaus style building from 1926 that also holds their storage depot, where 1000s of objects live before going on display. The majority of the Westmoreland's 29 paintings are in this section, divided into 13 areas. They are hung well, making wonderful relationships to (within each section. An especially moving juxtaposition was our Mildred Olmes hanging with a painting from Belgium that was like a Madonna and Christ. Cynthia Cooley and Ron Donoughe's paintings are in the contemporary section. Thomas and his team seriously outdid themselves with such an ambitious undertaking. I hope many will have the opportunity to see all of these works together, a reality that will not happen again.

Being picked up for dinner in 1/2 hour, so need to put my feet up. So all for now. Signing off from Oberhausen.
BJ

Arrival

My first blogging effort; not easy to get into the hotel system, but after some perseverance, I made it. Travel had its moment, with weather delays in US and a 'Love Parade' in Duisburg, we finally arrived in Oberhausen. Met with Thomas and our colleagues from Le Creusot last night; we are both here at the Best Western because we could not reserve a room at the NH Hotel because 'Paul' the world cup predicting octopus lives there, and I understand has many Spanish visitors this weekend. We move there tonight, so will have a chance to see him firsthand. Maybe a picture is forthcoming. So I'm off to the opening ceremony for Feuerlander; being picked up at 10. Be back later and fill you in on the day.

Feuerländer OPENS on SUNDAY

Only a few days left...see the first photos of our exhibition
http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/oberhausen/Ausstellung-Feuerlaender-id3272260.html

Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan - opens 25 July 2010

Westmoreland Chief Curator Barbara L. Jones to take part in opening ceremony for Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan. Check back as Barbara will blog about her experience in Ruhr Valley - 2010 European Culture Capital.

The Westmoreland's "Born of Fire" Industrial Scenes featured in International Exhibition

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s Born of Fire: The Valley of Work exhibition will be part of Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan, a large-scale international exhibition, to be presented at the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen, Germany from July 25 through Nov. 28, 2010, as part of the Ruhr Region's designation as the 2010 European Capital of Culture. Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan comprises nearly 200 works of art illustrating the development of the mining, iron and steel industries in Europe and the United States from around 1780 to the present. Barbara L. Jones, Chief Curator at The Westmoreland, will travel to Germany to participate in the opening festivities of the exhibition and will write about her experiences on this blog.

Read the new release.

In the quest of historical similarities and differences of the industrial areas Pittsburgh and Ruhrarea

Summary of project results of 11th grade students of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium

What does the cultural capital have to do with industrialization? Which historical similarities and differences can be found in the comparison of the Ruhrarea and Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh)? This is the questions an eleventh grade basic course in history dealt with the last couple of weeks. Implemented to a sequence of lessons on the history of the USA, students of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium researched, copied, excerped and evaluated their results in small projects.

Following is a blue sheet of „small" project topics student dealt with in groups:

- Historical preconditions of industrialization and a comparison of the chronology of both industrial areas (Ruhrarea & Pennsylvania) - created by Leon Braun, Lars Binder, Felix Frühauf, René Gängler, Christian Happe, Sebastian Ratsch, Tristan Wagner and Ben Weiß

- Harkort and A. Krupp versus Carnegie and Rockefeller: What do these industrialists have in common? - created by Steffen Bertram, Manuel Gomez Garcia, Phillip Kemkes, Anton Müller, Simon Steinborn, Björn Teßmer and Erik Zemlock

- How did Germany and the USA deal with the social questions and their solutions related to industrialization? - created by Dana Hülsemann, Kathrin Kempkes, Marit Matten and Anselm-Leander Wancke

- An especially incisive cesura was the structural change in both industrial areas. How did the Ruhrarea and Pennsylvania come to terms with the new situation? - created by André Eitzer, Jörg Glowka, Michael Hußmann, Maurice Kontorowitz and Arian Kühsel

The Project results do not only show similarities, but significant differences as well. Subsequent is a very short and pointed summary of the results:

The historical conditions for the development of industrialization in Germany and the USA differed very much regarding political circumstances and mentalities of citizens. At the beginning of industrialization, Germany was coined by sectionalism and could only develop positively after abandoning it. The emancipation of the colonies from its mother country and the ending of the civil war set totally different prerequisited in the history of thought of the American people than in Germany. Rockefeller acted aggresively against strikes, Carnegie on the contrary was a prime example of a philanthrope. A. Krupp and Harkort were far more in favor of their workers than Rockefeller. The solution of the social questions during industrialization turned Germany into a welfare state, the American system only now shows approaches of social security (general health care) for all American citizens. Why were such different solutions to the social question found on both sides of the ocean? Culture, infrastructure and education are the criteria of the comparison of the industrial areas Pittsburgh and Ruhrarea. Are there more universities and bridges in the Ruhrarea or in Pittsburg? Answers to these questions can be locked up in our folder at the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium or at the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen.

A special thank to Dana Hülsemann, Kathrin Kempkes, Marit Matten and Simon Steinborn which presented the project results at the transatlantic bridge day.

Steffi Melcher (subjects: History, Psychology and German)