2009 - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

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Under the banner of the
”Transformed Gods”: The tram stop and
entrance to the Japanisches Palais, ...
... the Young Friends enjoy a
party in the inner courtyard of the
Japanisches Palais
and reinforce their relationship with Dresden in the future.
Foreign guests of a special kind were the Spanish gods in
the Japanisches Palais. What sounds like a Babylonian
confusion was a highly successful collaborative project in
association with the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.
In the exhibition “Verwandelte Götter“ (Transformed Gods)
the antique sculptures of gods belonging to the Prado’s
collection were on display along with Dresden antiquities
in the Japanisches Palais, after the exhibition had previously
been on view to much acclaim in the Prado. The exhibition
in the Japanisches Palais thus built upon a great
tradition, since in the past this palace was the home of the
antiquities collection. The palace is situated in an idyllic
location beside the River Elbe – not in the historic city
centre but separated from it by the river, which for many
Dresden residents and their guests tends to be seen as a
separating rather than a connecting factor. This outstanding
exhibition was therefore intended to focus the attention
of art enthusiasts onto this building through advertising
and through cooperative partnerships with transport
services crossing the Augustus Bridge, from bicycle rickshaws
to trams. All local residents were sent reminders
about the museum in their immediate neighbourhood -
they found invitations in their letterboxes and information
leaflets in their shops, and some people who were travelling
to work early on the day of the opening must have
rubbed their eyes in disbelief, for countless gold balloons
were lining the way between the Residenzschloss and the
Japanisches Palais. For four weeks in the summer additional
programmes in and around the palace attracted
more guests to the Neustadt side of the river. Including
the daily workshop courses, guided tours, group tours and
talks, a total of 471 events took place during the summer.
In 2010 the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden will
again be holding a guest exhibition in the Japanisches
Palais. The show “Triumph der blauen Schwerter“ (Triumph
of the Blue Swords) will be celebrating the tercentenary of
the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory and recalling an illustrious
bygone age: that of the beginnings of the Japanisches
Palais, when August the Strong dreamed of establishing
a Porcelain Palace there in which he could indulge
his passion for ‘white gold’.