2008 - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

In the exhibition “Madonna
meets Mao” in the Kunsthalle
im Lipsiusbau
Page 62: Young visitors looking at “Daphne” in the Neues Grünes Gewölbe
Michael Stipe, vocalist of R.E.M., in the Juwelenzimmer of the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe
A hOsT mUsT bE PREPARED –
imPROViNg OUR VisiTOR sERViCE
WiLL REmAiN AN imPORTANT
TAsk iN ThE FUTURE
Chinese is spoken by more people in the world than any
other language – but despite 2008 even being “China Year”
staff at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister had to apply
themselves to learning Russian. That is because the staff
at the ticket office and information desk in the Semperbau
are overwhelmed with questions in Russian, even more
than in English, French, Italian or other languages. Guests
from Russia have rediscovered their love of the Sistine
Madonna and are coming in droves. Therefore, the ticket
office and information desk staff took part in a course to
polish up their Russian or even learn it from scratch. Not
least thanks to the increased numbers of visitors from
Russia, but increasingly also from Poland and the Czech
Republic, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and also the
Rüstkammer have seen the highest rise in visitor figures
among the museums of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden. In order to welcome our East European neighbours,
an increasing number of publications and information
leaflets are being translated, and the Visitor Service is
now in a position to offer guided tours and audio guides
in twelve languages.
The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden are continually
working on attracting both traditional and new groups
of visitors. In order to encourage new visitors, marketing
Information on the
Gemäldegalerie
Alte Meister is also
available in Russian
activities are increasingly being conducted in Poland, the
Czech Republic and eastwards to Russia; in these countries,
it is intended to attract the attention of school groups as
well as day-trippers, so as to present Dresden’s art and
culture as part of our common European heritage and
identity.
Visitors wish to be invited: sincerely, personally and
spontaneously. This has been demonstrated by the positive
experiences of the young and committed art promoters,
who walked about between the Zwinger and the Brühlsche
Terrasse drawing attention particularly to the special exhibitions
of the “China Year” in Pillnitz. In a charming and
friendly way, they presented information and aroused
people’s curiosity about Chinese garden art, ink painting
and the exhibition comparing China and Saxony, “Golden
Dragon – White Eagle”. But an invitation alone is not
enough. The Visitor Service staff must be prepared and be
able to respond to the various linguistic and other needs.
Therefore, the range of public guided tours in the museums
and special exhibitions has been increased – for example,
at 3 p.m. each day explanations about the precious objects
are now available for individual visitors to the Neues
Grünes Gewölbe. Another new feature introduced at this
museum in the past year was the offer of free headsets for
groups. We must continually monitor the services we have
on offer and respond to criticism and complaints. This will
remain an important task for the museums of the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden in the future, especially if
increasing visitor numbers are expected after the completion
of further sections of the Residenzschloss and the
reopening of the Albertinum.
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