Host Nation Update, Oct. 7, 2022
Award: Museum of the Year – Why Stuttgart’s art museum is the best
The good news is already written on the glass façade: The Kunstmuseum Stuttgart is the “Museum of the Year 2021”. This Thursday, the prize will be officially awarded and celebrated with free admission this weekend. Director Ulrike Groos is jubilant: “This is the lifetime achievement Oscar.”
The prize is awarded by “AICA” an international association of art critics who want to strengthen art criticism. The German section has around 200 members, including not only independent journalists, but also museum people, curators and art historians who work in the art business and also organize exhibitions themselves, but also write about art in specialized publications. The prize has been awarded annually since 2004 and is not endowed. The most recent recipient was the Bauhaus Museum in Dessau.
The award is given to museums that adhere to the classical task of “collecting, preserving and making accessible” and do not “abandon the aspirational character of art,” according to AICA statutes. The prize aims to honor museums that are committed to the “traditional” profile of the museum and do not follow the “mainstream” and are “unadjusted to private as well as public influence on museum policy.”
The jury particularly emphasized the fact that the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart repeatedly puts on exhibitions that transcend the “conventional boundaries of art genres” – such as “I Got Rhythm” in 2015, when it was about art and jazz, or a show that examined the role literature plays in the work of Dieter Roth. It was also mentioned positively that historical positions from the collection were shown on the one hand, but also contemporary art. The promotion of female artists was also praised – such as Johannesburg-born Candice Breitz, whom the art museum presented in a solo show.
Admission is free for visitors from October 7 to 9. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Oct 7)
Harvest in Leinfelden-Echterdingen – How the cabbage survived the heat
The farmers are reasonably satisfied. The cabbage heads are shapely and stand neatly. However, some effort has been necessary for this. It was too hot and too dry for the nationally known Filderspitzkraut, which is grown on a total of nine hectares in the city area, and then there was that annoying Sahara dust.
The also had a hard time with the pests. But one of the things that has helped is a special trick: to sow all kinds of colorful flowers “with the aim of bringing in beneficial insects,” such as ladybugs to combat aphids.
All in all, people in Leinfelden-Echterdingen and the surrounding area will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets for their favorite vegetables this year. Among other things, the intensive irrigation has driven up costs, and the heat wave throughout Europe has also led to crop failures. However, the quality of the cabbage in the Filder region is good, and the vegetables are juicier than expected; a wonderful “Filder superfood”!
With the start of the cabbage season, preparations for the traditional Krautfest have also entered the hot phase. Twice the popular big event has been cancelled because of the pandemic, but now it looks “very, very good that it will take place again, live and in color,” says Benjamin Dihm, the First Mayor.
After a two-year break, the 44th Krautfest will again be celebrated traditionally on the third weekend in October in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, i.e. on October 15 and 16. On Friday before fest starts with various warm-up events. Planned for the weekend are all kinds of events by the clubs, catering and music, open Sunday, cabbage head lifting, planing competition and much more. The complete program will be published in the Kraut-Zeitung in the official bulletin of Leinfelden-Echterdingen and surrounding communities from October 7 on. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Oct 7)