2_0_DiscoverGermany_Issue30_September2015:Scan Magazine 1
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Discover Germany | Special Theme | Cultural Highlights in Germany
‘Twixt the green sea and the azured vault Amid the Wadden Sea of Schleswig-Holstein sits Föhr, an extraordinary isle on the lee sides of its sister islands Sylt and Amrum. In the centre of Föhr the gentle visitor may find a gem. Opened in 2009 the Museum Kunst der Westküste fosters high-cultural life that allows visitors to savour the art as it guides children and teenagers into the realms of human cultural capacity. On display are well-known names such as Munch, Nolde, Liebermann and Feddersen. The exhibitions cover art from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway and form a veritable Museum of the Art of the West Coast. TEXT: BENEDIKT MEININGER | PHOTOS: MUSEUM KUNST DER WESTKÜSTE
The first glance at the exhibition of the young museum makes it obvious that numerous artists tried to capture the sea. Thus the museum manages to create an anthology of North Sea west coast art. The topics depicted in the pieces deal with bucolic life and toil ashore and at sea as well as the splendour and dangers of the sea. Furious tantrums of Neptune battering ships off the Norwegian coast are followed by calm sunsets on Danish shores. “Our attractive and
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ever-changing exhibitions include works from the period of 1830 to 1930 alongside contemporary international works,”says Prof. Dr. Ulrike Wolff-Thomsen, the director of the Museum Kunst der Westküste. “Our house shows around eight exhibitions annually,” she continues. Currently three special exhibitions present their impressive reach: Until September you may experience Hans Peter Feddersen’s paintings of the playful games of wind and clouds, air and light. Moreover, you
Top: Museum Kunst der Westküste. © Gerhard Kassner Above: Anna Ancher, Mondklarer Abend am Leuchtfeuer von Skagen, 1904 Peder Severin Krøyer, Drei Fischer ziehen ein Boot, 1885 Max Liebermann, Zwei Reiter am Strand nach links, 1910 (cut-out)
can see NewYork born Nan Hoover’s catches of time, nature and light and a solemn photographic appraisal of post-Tsunami Japan by Denis Rouvre until January 2016. The exhibitions delve into the intimate relationship of human life at sea in a museum that provides “the personal atmosphere only a foundation museum is able to unfold,” Professor Wolff-Thomsen states. The museum welcomes its younger visitors as a modern pedagogical beacon into the handson creation of art as well as the ability to appraise art. Children may experience one of the many workshops or enjoy the bottle post swap meet in the conceptual ‘BlauRaum’. To account for gastronomic needs, Professor Wolff-Thomsen recommends the Museum restaurant Grethjens Gasthof as another “must” in this blessed spot. www.mkdw.de