Submissions:2018/Kunsthalle Detroit

This submission has been noted and is pending review for WikiConference North America 2018.

Title

Kunsthalle Detroit

Theme (optional)

Inclusion & Diversity

Academic Peer Review option

No

Type of submission

Presentation

Author

butterbeanne

E-mail address

Wikimedia username

butterbeanne

Affiliation(s) (optional)

Abstract

Kunsthalle Detroit was established as a cultural non-profit institution in October of 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. At the time of the rock bottom economy in the city and in America in general, a group of enthusiasts from New York arrived in Detroit to build upon their vision of Detroit as a new international cultural destination of the 21st Century. They were able to purchase a dilapidated building of a bank at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Warren Avenue, "in the dark corner of Detroit", as Detroit Free Press newspaper described it. Until this day, those who saw Kunsthalle's exhibitions, remain the museum's fans and support its Facebook page and presence. The name derived from German "The Art Hal", implying non-collecting institution, simply a space for showing exhibitions of the art works from all over the world. The idea was to define this organization as a "Museum of Light and Multimedia Art", i.e. all and any art based on light medium: photography, film, video, light per se, LEDs, neon, etc. The difficulty of establishing the museum in deteriorated bank building was defined by the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the building, removal of old materials and asbestos, re-wiring, installing all new plumbing system and all other construction issues. Nevertheless, the halls were being open for exhibitions one after another, as repairs proceeded. Inaugural exhibition "Time and Place" opened in June of 2011, coinciding with Venice Biennale opening; 54th International Art Exhibition, 4 June - 27 November 2011. Artistic director: Bice Curiger. Theme: ILLUMInations. Artists included in this exhibitions included: Joan Joans, William Kentridge, Bill Viola, Sebastian Diaz Morales, Ange Leccia, Jasper Just, Tim White-Sobieski, Bettina Pousttchi and others. Kunsthalle Detroit was supposed to be a part of the larger initiative, part of lighting up Detroit's streets, and Detroit Light Festival was planned to be launched in the end of October 2012. It was titled "Luminale Detroit", corresponding with Luminale Frankfurt, a biannual event on advanced light technology and art in Germany.

Following that event two more exhibitions were organized by the Kunsthalle curators: "Light Fiction" in 2013 and "Stainless Steal" (word game, as the show involved installation of stainless steel sculptures stealing attention away from incorporated light art) in 2014. The museum immediately drew attention of the worldwide art community and online and paper press. First season alone, these activities received over 40 mentions or reviews online and in print. The building of the museum was severely damaged by the coldest in the previous 100 years of winters in Michigan, pipes were frozen and broken, plumbing system destroyed, and the building was subsequently sold in 2015. Ever since then the collection and all tangibles are kept in storage facilities but the non-profit exists and every effort is being made to return its status and activities. Regardless of all above stated, it was not possible to initiate a page in Wikipedia and that is the purpose of my presentation: to make this entry visible and viable in North-American Wikipedia.

Length of presentation

15 minutes

Special requests

Projector

Preferred room size

25

Have you presented on this topic previously? If yes, where/when?

No

If you will be incorporating a slidedeck during your presentation, do you agree to upload it to Commons before your session, with a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license, including suitable attribution in the slidedeck for any images used?

Yes

Will you attend WikiConference North America if your submission is not accepted?

Yes

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