The Grassi Museum of Applied Arts in Leipzig is celebrating its 150th anniversary and is thanking its donors and patrons with a special exhibition. The show "Danke. Merci, Grazie. Hartelijk Dank" will present a selection of recent acquisitions from November 9, said museum director Olaf Thormann on Wednesday in Leipzig. Two other special shows this year are dedicated to the future of design and one of the world's largest private collections of chairs.
In 2023, the museum recorded more than 1900 new acquisitions worth 1.9 million euros. The majority of the exhibits were donations, while 166 new acquisitions were purchased. The Grassi Museum's collection now comprises around 230,000 objects from the fields of arts and crafts, design, graphics, books and photography, said Thormann. Around 5,100 of these are presented in the three-part permanent exhibition.
Last year was one of the most successful years ever for the museum. "Not only did we catch up after the slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but we also achieved our best visitor numbers in ten years," said the director. A total of 92,059 guests were counted. Only in 2013, when a show on shoe design was an absolute crowd-puller, did the museum attract even more visitors with around 95,000.
The Grassi Museum of Applied Arts opened its doors in 1874. The anniversary will be celebrated with a weekend of festivities at the end of May. Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth is also expected to attend. The museum is also planning a program with live music, a sales auction and a 1920s party for its guests. Museum director Thormann also plans to present other prominent new acquisitions in Leipzig around the anniversary.
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