K20 KUNSTSAMMLUNG NRW

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What`s on in Düsseldorf with pictures or without pictures

The laying of the foundation stone on 28 February 2008 renewed interest in the extension of K20 which is currently underway. Since June 2008 the existing building has been renovated and furbished in order to comply with the extension's technical standards and to fulfil international cooperative demands and also conservational and technical requirements.

The first request for an essential extension to the museum, which opened on the Grabbeplatz in 1986, came from the Kunstsammlung's founding director, Prof. Dr. Werner Schmalenbach. His successors, Prof. Armin Zweite and Dr. Marion Ackermann , carried on with this task.

The renovated and extended K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen will be opened by Marion Ackermann on 10 July 2010 in the existing K20 building where the collection will be on display.

On 11 September 2010 she will present the K20 extension in connection with the Beuys retrospective.

In 2006 a feasibility study for a public hall, the extension of K20 and the expansion of the parking garage between Ratinger Straße/Ratinger Mauer and Paul-Klee-Platz was developed by the Government of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Düsseldorf. They agreed to work together on this project which has such great significance for urban development.

In 2004 the firm Dissing & Weitling was commissioned to draw up appropriate preliminary plans. The museum which opened on the Grabbeplatz in 1986 was originally designed by these architects from Copenhagen. Their plans are the basis for the construction of Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen's extension. Due to this consistency, a uniform appearance can be guaranteed for the museum, both on the inside and the outside.

During the past fifteen years, the construction of an extension has not only been repeatedly discussed, it has also been considered and even promised by the various State Governments.

Time has shown that this more than necessary measure must be taken in order to do justice to the roles and functions of the State Collection.

On the one hand, the Foundation and State's important art treasures must be made sufficiently available to the public in an ideal way. On the other hand, the regular presentation of exhibitions, which do not only appeal to the public but are also based on sound research, should be able to take place in an adequate setting. This should be possible without having to keep large parts of the collection in storage, not only temporarily, but in some cases for many years.

K21 with its small cabinets did not improve the situation in K20. These circumstances were clear to all those involved when the redesign of the former Ständehaus (House of the Estates) was agreed upon and initiated. Thus, the Cabinet Decision of 21 March 2006 reinforced the agreement which was reached between the Stiftung Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Minister President who was in power at that time, the State Chancellery and the responsible ministry in early 1995: to start with the extension of the museum on the Grabbeplatz after completing the reconstruction of the Ständehaus (House of the Estates).