Steffen Siegel spoke of a "happy day for Essen" at a press conference of the Museum Folkwang. This referred not only to the inclusion of the "Foundation for Photography and Media Art with Archive Michael Schmidt" into the museum – due to its photographic collection, it is one of the most important art institutions in NRW.
Siegel, a photography professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts, also spoke about the new momentum of the "Center for Photography Essen" network that has existed since 2019. In this alliance of four, the university, the Historical Archive Krupp, the Museum Folkwang, and the Ruhr Museum Foundation have united. In the next two years, the city of Essen plans to provide special funding for projects of the center. An association based in the SANAA building at the UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein will coordinate the activities in the future. Steffen Siegel chairs the group.
Thomas Weski, curator of the Schmidt Foundation, explained that the legacy of Urberliner Michael Schmidt, who grew up in Kreuzberg, will now be maintained and researched in Essen, among other things, because Schmidt had been closely associated with the Folkwang Museum throughout his life.
The long-term loan that the museum receives for free is set to remain with the institution until at least 2039 – an extension is already being considered, as Director Peter Gorschlüter stated. He is pleased that the more than 15 photographic estates that Folkwang is already managing will now receive such prominent additions.
The transport of the archive, which has been scientifically excellently cataloged, as Gorschlüter emphasized, is set to take place this autumn. The move will not be a trivial matter: the collection includes not only the five central bodies of work by the photographer but also all negatives, 2,000 prints with artistic character, and over 20,000 contact, working, and test prints. Also included are dummies for book projects, correspondence, personal documents, and the private library of Michael Schmidt. To adequately manage the archive in Essen, two new positions will be created.
At the press conference, there were repeated questions about whether this coup was a kind of retaliatory move against Düsseldorf. As is well known, both Essen and Düsseldorf had applied for the location of the future German Photo Institute – the state capital ultimately won the race. Both Peter Gorschlüter and Steffen Siegel, chairman of the newly founded photography association, denied that Essen and Düsseldorf were competitors in terms of photography education. Instead, they see themselves as allies, as an alliance that aims to give photography a strong position within the art scene with united efforts.
