Annual Report 2010 - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

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Elements of the advertising campaign for
the anniversary Exhibition: a large banner
on the Georgentor …
StAte oF tH e ARt SI nCe 1560 –
MARKetI nG I n tH e An n IVeRSARY
YeAR
… a banner extending from top to bottom in
the stairwell of the residenzschloss …
It is amazing to think that William Shakespeare and Galileo
Galilei were both born in 1564, four years after the
foundation of the Kunstkammer in Dresden’s Residenzschloss.
Four hundred and fifty years of the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen are an unimaginably long time, and so
it was with great pride that this impressive anniversary
was celebrated in 2010. It is hoped that in the coming
years this long history will continue to make its presence
felt. The slogan “Zukunft seit 1560” (State of the Art since
1560) was chosen because looking forward towards the
future has always been the driving force behind the collecting,
the investigation and the preservation of objects
in Dresden. “Zukunft seit 1560” was the logo used in connection
with all activities during the anniversary year. The
Golden Sea Unicorn made by Elias Geyer (c. 1600, Grünes
Gewölbe), which dates from the early years of the Kunstkammer,
was taken as the overall leitmotif. This ancient
and precious mythical creature symbolises both the dynamism
of tradition and the sense of history, which have
always been inherent in the visions of the future that have
inspired Electors and later museum directors.
The Anniversary Exhibition was characterised by the tension
between yesterday and tomorrow, and this was the
major theme in the publicity campaign. How was it possible
to draw attention to the profusion of objects and
… and advertising on Dresden trams
works of art on display? How could both the historical
dimension and also the modernity of the museums be
emphasised?
Golden silhouettes alternating with the real historic objects
and works of art were used as the campaign motif
and appeared not only on posters, leaflets and billboards,
but also on trams, company vehicles, wine bottles, in films
and in the online game on the Internet.
The anniversary year could only succeed thanks to the
combined efforts of many people. Partners in the city and
in the countryside lent their support to the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen in their publicity work and took on the
450th anniversary as their own project. As representatives
of the many partners in the tourist industry, the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden would like to thank the
company Dresdner Marketing Gesellschaft who publicised
Dresden on posters all over Germany reading “Dresden.
Kommen Sie Kunst genießen – 450 Jahre Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden” (Dresden. Come and enjoy art –
450 years of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden).
These back­lit posters demonstrated the good relations
between this cultural institution and the tourist industry
in Dresden and indeed in the whole of Saxony.
Restaurants, shops and firms adjusted their business activities
to take account of the anniversary of the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden, hotels allowed banners to be
hung on their facades and billposting companies provided
further advertising surfaces. They all contributed to the
success of the anniversary, which attracted many additional
guests to the Saxon capital and brought the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden record numbers of visitors.