Artists’ Libraries – Selected Works from the Collections of the Academy

Date: 03/2019 – 05/2019

Location: Berlin

Client: Akademie der Künste

molitor was responsible for designing, planning and installing the special exhibition “Artists’ Libraries – Selected Works from the Collections of the Academy”. This exhibition displays excerpts from the extraordinary library and archive collection acquired by Berlin’s Academy of Arts (Akademie der Künste), which has recently been made publicly accessible again in the reading room on Pariser Platz.
For many artists, their own personal book collection provides an important working environment, workshop and source of inspiration.

Valuable, one-of-a-kind and rare books selected from over 300 personal libraries are exhibited, including items originally owned by Heinrich Mann, George Grosz, Bernhard Minetti and Christa Wolf.
These private collections often feature hand-written or hand-drawn dedications – personal messages that reflect artistic friendships and networks. In addition to rare first editions and translations into obscure languages, the collections include lavishly designed artist’s books with high aesthetic appeal. Visitors to the exhibition can also discover forbidden and hidden gems, such as literature altered by censorship or self-published works.

Fotos: © Jochen Voos/molitor

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