Show diversity,
experience education

About us

The world is changing and contemporary art helps us to understand these changes. Like a surface of water that ripples slightly or moves strongly, global currents as well as minimal shifts can be seen, art documents changes that we ourselves experience like a seismograph. 

As a municipal cultural institution, part of the museums of the city of Dresden and a centre for international contemporary art, the Kunsthaus Dresden provides insights into the world's current art scene with changing exhibitions and accompanying events.

The exhibitions and co-operations developed here, educational projects and art projects in other public urban spaces are dedicated to the special current themes of global contemporary art in various artistic forms of expression – from the perspective of very different origins and generations.

Local knowledge, global exchange and experience are important foundations for art, which is why people from different life situations and cultural resonance spaces come together in the projects of the Kunsthaus.

Since the dedication of the Kunsthaus in 1991 as the city's central location for international contemporary art, the building, constructed around 1740 in the bourgeois baroque style, has been open to the latest developments in international and supra-regional art as well as to young contemporary art in Dresden.

The Kunsthaus also initiates artistic experiences and encounters between people on Theaterplatz, Neumarkt and many other locations in the city, for example in the cultural festival Am Fluss / At the River, which was launched in 2016. Zu Kulturen des Ankommens / On Cultures of Arrival. The multilingual mobile library project Babylothek, the lecture series Kunstbegriffe (Art Terms), which began in 2010, and the many projects and workshops organised especially for schools are also invitations to exchange ideas about the developments of our time.

We are part of the network of Museums in the City of Dresden.

9 LTS

Listening To the Stones – 30 years Kunsthaus Dresden

»Listening to the Stones« was the title of the anniversary exhibition at the Kunsthaus to mark its 30th anniversary.

Over the coming months, a digital, constantly growing archive will be created on this platform – dedicated to sustainable anniversary and exhibition documentation, but also to artistic research and in-depth research as part of the Kunsthaus's ongoing (Re)Search & Share programme, which will deal more specifically with the reflection on both human and geological temporalities that are traditionally celebrated with an anniversary, and the past-present and future-oriented orientation of man in his environment.

Web Nachbarschaften David Brandt62Foto: © David Brandt

Sustainability

We are committed to sustainability.

For the exhibition construction, we use a simple, in-house developed and reusable exhibition architecture made of simple and glued spruce wood slats.

We only build what is necessary, the materials are selected for their durability and reused. Wall surfaces are only repaired, repainting is avoided. The texts are only written once and displayed on reusable wall panels. We use paper made from fast-growing and wood-friendly plant material such as grass or sugar cane. Leaflets and other printed products are printed on recycled paper.

Transporting works of art is a necessity. In order to avoid unnecessary or half-empty journeys, we combine art transports or provide the works as additional cargo.

We, the Kunsthaus team, as well as the artists, travel by train when there is no transport. We avoid travelling by air wherever possible. Most of the research, preliminary discussions and dialogue will take place digitally.

We have developed the new digital exhibition format (Re)Search & Share in order to focus on long-term working processes with artists and to be able to work together without packaging and without using petrol or paraffin.

Exhibiting artists generally receive fees for their contributions. Employees are always remunerated for their design, text work or other contributions. For exhibition construction, we work with local artists who support us with their expertise. This is also to counteract the precarious wages in the cultural sector and to offer additional income opportunities.

We always commission regional specialist companies to carry out special tasks.

In catering, we use regional products wherever possible.

Exceptions must be possible if the artwork requires it. We make mistakes, not all processes are subject to our control. However, we do not allow ourselves to be deterred from the fundamental search for good solutions.

We work on topics on a long-term and recurring basis in order to be able to work sustainably in terms of content and to grow and learn together with our audience.

We are grateful for suggestions for improvement and tips of any kind!