Profiling the Institution
Different institutions ask for different profiles. A specialized museum for contemporary art, like Migros Museum in Zurich, works with completely different audiences than a general museum, like Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. And a Kunsthalle specialized on contemporary art like Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel works with very different conditions and dimensions than a general Kunsthalle, like Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn.
Rein Wolfs, who was the first Director of Migros Museum and who was Exhibition Director at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, is just leaving his job as Artistic Director at Kunsthalle Fridericianum and starting as Director at Bundeskunsthalle. He will deliver a talk on questions about difference and diversity, on questions about responsibility and sociopolitical relevance and on questions about profiling and balancing. The specialized contemporary art-world and the feuilletons are asking for high-profile cutting edge; the general audience and economical necessities ask for something different. How to cope with this tension? How to profile the institution?