Open Depot
The Open Depot serves to give visitors an insight into the museum’s collections by means of changing presentations. The shelf filled with sculptures is modeled on the storage system of the museum depot and thus conveys an idea of that place that remains hidden from the public. The space is also used for educational and art mediation work. Various workshops are held here, inviting visitors to engage artistically with Kolbe’s art and the themes of the exhibitions. School classes and kindergarten groups collaborate here; the results of their workshops and projects are presented at irregular intervals.
Apart from works of art, the Georg Kolbe Museum also houses the artist’s archive. Kolbe systematically preserved his artistic and written legacy and had his works photographically documented. The photographs currently on display in the Schaudepot (Open Depot) come from the extensive archive, which includes several thousand vintage prints and glass negatives. The presentation changes with each new exhibition. In this way, Georg Kolbe’s sculptural work can always be viewed from new angles. In addition to selected portrait busts of Georg Kolbe, the shelf also presents works by the sculptors Renée Sintenis, Milly Steger, Emy Roeder, Marg Moll, and Jenny Wiegmann-Mucchi from the museum collection: they are among the first generation of women who were able to make a living from their work as freelance artists in Germany and found recognition among art critics and the public. In addition, the complex process of bronze casting is illuminated using various plaster models from the archive.