Presentation by Dr. Susanne Altmann

24th December, 2014
KU Art+Design invited Dr. Susanne Altmann to talk on her curatorial practices. Born in Dresden she lives and works in her native city as an art historian, free-lance curator and writer. Her current research project on Women Artists from South Asia brought her to Nepal. Her presentation was divided into three sections. Firstly she spoke intensively on her curatorial works based on Feminists artists from East European countries while secondly she presented on the artists whose works are motivated my socio-political issues. Her third section focused on her public art ventures ranging from Germany to African countries where she collaborated with various artists and community people.

Biographical Information (courtesy: www.goethe.de)

From 1991 to 1997 she studied art history and philosophy in Dresden and at the New School for Social Research in New York City. In 1998/99 she worked at the Dia Center for the Arts in NYC; in 2004 she received a research grant at the University of Oxford. There she carried out “Art in Transition – A study investigating economic conditions for contemporary art in former communist countries of Europe” (Green College, Reuters Foundation Programme). Altmann publishes extensively on art in the post-Communist countries, public art, and contemporary feminist art; her published work includes a large number of essays and monographic catalogue contributions, for example on Nancy Spero, Magdalena Jetelova, Franka Hörnschemeyer and others.

Since 2010 she has served as artistic director of the International Summer Academy for Visual Arts in Dresden. She also holds a lectureship in English at the Hochschule fur Bildende Künste in Dresden (in the Erasmus / German Academic Exchange Service Programme). She previously taught at Universität Dresden (1999–2001), the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe (2001–2004) and the Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau (2003–2007). In 2005 she planned and organized the German-Polish conference “Mechanismen des Vergessens/ Mechanizmy Zapominania” (“Mechanisms of Oblivion”) for Büro Kopernikus, Kulturstiftung des Bundes) in Dresden and in 2006 she edited the conference proceedings. From 2007 to 2009 she published the magazine hub.zur kunst at the Kunstverein Leipzig (with S. Mühlenberend and M. Berninger). Since 2000, Susanne Altmann has worked as a regular correspondent and author for art: Das Kunstmagazin with a focus on Eastern European and critical art.

Susanne Altmann has been and is a member of numerous advisory boards and juries, for example: Kunstkommission für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum der Landeshauptstadt Dresden (chairwoman, 2000–2004), Jindrich Chalupecky Prize for Contemporary Czech Art (chairwoman, 2008–2010), advisory board on the visual arts at the Saxon State Ministry of Science and Art, specialized advisory board of the Kulturstiftung des Freistaats Sachsen.

Exhibitions (selected):

  • “Nancy Spero: The Rebirth”, Festspielhaus Hellerau Dresden (2012)
  • “Double Vision: Videoarbeiten von Sonia Balassanian & Almagul Menlibayeva”, Motorenhalle Dresden (2012)
  • “A woman’s work is never done”, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City (2011)
  • “Entdeckt! Rebellische Künstlerinnen aus der späten DDR”, Kunsthalle Mannheim (2011)
  • “Dalibor Martinis. Data Recovery. Videoarbeiten 1976–2011”, Motorenhalle Dresden (2011)
  • “Zellinnendruck. Künstlerzeitschriften und Künstlerbücher der DDR”, Neues Museum Nürnberg (2010)
  • “Lines on the Move – The Drawing Biennial” for the Norwegian Drawing Art Association (with Stefan Schröder); Momentum Hall, Moss (2010)
  • “Über Tage. Kunstprojekte für das Lausitzer Seenland” (with projects by Katerina Seda, Joanna Rajkowska, Antje Schiffers & Thomas Sprenger, Rupprecht Matthies and others) (2007 to 2009)
  • Marion Ermer Prize, Oktogon der Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden (2003/ 2005)
  • “Let’s Talk about Sex: Sexualität und Körperlichkeit in der Gegenwartskunst” (with Charles Atlas, Birgit Brenner, Ann Sofi Siden, Nancy Spero, Hannah Wilke and others), Kunst Haus Dresden (cooperation with the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden) (2001)
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