Collecting with Heart, not Money in Mind
Not only water, but also extreme openness rained upon us yesterday as we were invited into the home of a private collector. Part of the "Discovering Salzburg" tours, we had the pleasure to be led through the spacious rooms of what can only be called a castle. The collector couple had even prepared themselves beforehand and willingly gave information on their treasures, a colorful mix of contemporary and traditional works.
Their passion became tangible as they would spare most of the facts and instead told with beaming faces why they bought a certain painting, photograph or sculpture. As they sum it up themselves, "Collecting is not a planned action for us. We see something we like - and it always has to be the two of us - and we buy it. It's not a calculated decision, but one from the gut, driven by passion." They add that, when they moved to their new residence 2 years ago, they were excited about a more minimalistic lifestyle, looking forward to having bare walls. "Then we went to our depot and were so happy to rediscover our treasures we hadn't seen while living in a hotel for a year. So, up they went." says the collector while motioning towards their heavily decorated walls. " We love our art, we don't need facts and dates and biographies of the creators, or estimates on how much they will be worth down the line. We simply want to enjoy it, to live with it." In that, they succeed with ease.
We would once again like to thank the collectors for opening their home to us, it was a great pleasure for everybody. The next exploration will take place on Tuesday, the 26th of july. We can only hope to receive a welcome as nice as we did yesterday. mp
Neither Intellectual Nor Pig - Hubert Scheibl
The class and their teacher will be holding an open day in the Saline at Hallein on the 30th of July, presenting their works. I for one will be there to take a look, and to maybe catch some more of the tunes the artist played today once the talk was over. mp
An Artists' Playground
Wether it be landscape paintings he leaves at so-called cruising spots after photographing them there or a broad study of the Düsseldorf Neanderthal valley and all the artists that came to paint it in the 19th century, he always looks for the connections, fusing the images with their surroundings, crafting elaborate exhibitions that invite to take a closer look and then step back to view the whole, as a whole.
After this riveting presentation, the students, especially the ones of his class "Landschaft / Landscape", were seen enthusiastically returning to their work, all the while pondering what they had just listened to. Under these stars we can look forward to an interesting finissage, this much is already certain. mp
It has begun!
Last night at the Festung Hohensalzburg, a crowd made up of students, teachers, staff and our valued supporters listened attentively as Hildegund Amanshauser and Gunda Cancola, representing the artistic side, and Heinz Schaden and David Brenner, representing the official side, declared the summer academy opened. Where the ones sketched out the weeks that lie ahead, focussing on events like our Global Art symposium and the lunch talks that are starting today, or presented figures on our stipendiaries, the others concentrated on more jovial aspects such as people finally coming to the opening for the art instead of the food.
After this lovely opening under the old trees of the fortress, we are now excited for all the lunch talks, vernissages, discussions and other events to follow. I can already tell it's going to be a fabulous 6 weeks.
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Ready to go
Everything is prepared. We are very much looking forward to the beginning of the first courses at this year's summer academy on Monday with Sabine Bitter/Helmut Weber, Milena Dragicevic, Peter Friedl, Matts Leiderstam, Senam Okudzeto, Hubert Scheibl and Mladen Stilinović.
