Museum Mutuals: Keeping it Real – Expanding on “European Realities” and the Practicalities of Co-Producing

This article was first published by the Agency of International Museum Cooperation.

16 September 2025, 3-4 pm CEST, Online

In conversation with Anja Richter (Museum Gunzenhauser – Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany), Kadi Polli (Kumu Art Museum, Estonia), and Maite van Dijk (Museum MORE, Netherlands)

Five years in the making, the exhibition “European Realities”, which was on view at the Museum Gunzenhauser – Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz until 10 August 2025, told a story of European art history in the 1920s that went beyond Western European narratives. As part of the 2025 Chemnitz European Capital of Culture programme, the project highlighted common themes, regional particularities, and often overlooked artistic voices related to art production of the time. Notably, with contributions from regions historically overlooked in museum exhibition practices – such as the Baltics, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia – the exhibition challenged the conventional view of Neue Sachlichkeit as a primarily German phenomenon and opened up a broader pan-European context.

In this session of the new online conversation series “Museum Mutuals”, speakers from the Museum Gunzenhauser and two (of the many involved) partners, the Kumu Art Museum in Estonia, and Museum MORE in the Netherlands will reflect on the curatorial and practical challenges of co-producing an exhibition featuring over 300 works from 22 countries. They will also offer insights into the practicalities of transnational cooperation: aligning institutional timelines, navigating institutional imbalances, and coordinating across different legal and administrative systems. The discussion will emphasise how “European Realities” not only reframed a critical art historical moment but also demonstrates the value of sustained collaboration in shaping a more inclusive European perspective.