Petition against the closure of Museum Morsbroich
Support the petition against the closure of Museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen
CIMAM wishes to express its support to the Museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen by sharing the petition against its closure and encouraging CIMAM members to sign. The suggestion to suspend the exhibitions and activities of the Museum and the sale of its collection has been made by the business consultants KPMG to the City of Leverkusen as a saving measure. The campaign informing on this unfortunate situation has been reproduced in full below.
Context
The auditor’s report for Leverkusen suggesting the suspension of exhibition activities at Museum Morsbroich and the dissolution of the art collection in order to “optimize museum operations” makes for incredibly cynical reading!
The KPMG advisors, whom the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung credits with a “fundamental lack of cultural-political expertise”, recommend that the museum be closed as a savings measure – in other words, wholesale cultural abolition. Another measure mentioned by KPMG is to analyse the art market with a view to potential revenues in case of a sale of the collection and the related gradual “liquidation of the museum’s holdings” so as to save storage costs.
“This proposal is alarming!” (Gerhard Richter)
In an open letter to the Lord Mayor of Leverkusen, Gerhard Richter justifiably warns against viewing a public art collection as a monetary investment which can be plundered depending on the cash flow situation. He demands that consideration be given to the importance of such an art collection as part of a municipality’s cultural heritage and memory.
Museum Morsbroich
Museum Morsbroich, opened in January 1951, was the first museum of contemporary art to be inaugurated in the still young Federal Republic of Germany.
With their museum, the citizens of Leverkusen made a clear statement of divergence from the barbarism of the National Socialists. Leverkusen was thus at the forefront of a cultural movement aimed at exhibiting the formerly proscribed art of the modern era and engaging, together with young artists, in the democratic reconstruction of the country.
Since then, Museum Morsbroich has held its ground as one of the major venues for the artistic avant-garde in North-Rhine Westphalia, and can now look back on a rich history of important exhibitions. In recent years, the work of the museum has garnered it numerous awards.
Museum Morsbroich is perceived above and beyond the region’s borders as a place of societal engagement with contemporary art, and as the cultural flagship of the City of Leverkusen.
For this reason: MUSEUM MORSBROICH MUST BE SAVED!
The cultural heritage is part of our identity, not a negotiable balance-sheet item! In times of cash shortages, culture must not be sacrificed irretrievably!
Rally behind Museum Morsbroich with your vote and send a signal to the responsible politicians that you want this outstanding museum to be saved!