The Georg Kolbe Museum warmly welcomes Alexander Farenholtz as the new co-executive director of the Georg Kolbe Foundation. He succeeds André Schmitz, who is retiring from the board after many years of dedicated work for the Foundation, but will remain closely associated with the museum. Alexander Farenholtz was unanimously elected by the Board of Trustees of the Georg Kolbe Foundation last week as Co-Board Member, alongside Dr Kathleen Reinhardt.
Fig. above: The board of the Georg Kolbe Foundation: Alexander Faernholtz and Dr. Kathleen Reinhardt, Georg Kolbe Museum.
Alexander Farenholtz (*1954) grew up in Hamburg and Stuttgart. After his first professional positions, he was appointed managing director of documenta GmbH in 1989, among other things for the realisation of documenta 9 under the artistic direction of Jan Hoet. In 1993, he moved to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Art as Head of the Minister’s Office and in 1996, together with Tom Stromberg, he took over the management of the cultural programme of the world exhibition EXPO2000 in Hanover. At the beginning of 2002, he was appointed founding director and administrative director of the Federal Cultural Foundation. He held this office alongside Hortensia Völckers as Artistic Director until reaching retirement age in January 2020. Following the resignation of the Director General, he temporarily took over the management of documenta 15 once again in 2022 for the duration of the exhibition.
Dr Kathleen Reinhardt, director of the Georg Kolbe Museum, comments: “In Alexander Farenholtz, the Georg Kolbe Foundation and the museum have gained a committed and experienced cultural manager who has played a significant role in shaping the changing cultural landscape in Germany over the past decades. I am very pleased about the election of the Board of Trustees and look forward to the coming years of cooperation, in which the Georg Kolbe Museum will devote itself more critically to its own institutional history and show international positions in Berlin with exhibitions on the relationship between historical art movements and contemporary approaches.”
Alexander Farenholtz on his election: “The Kolbe Museum shows the fresh impetus with which the house, under the new direction of Kathleen Reinhardt, has set out on the path of further programmatic internationalisation on the one hand, and critical reflection on its historical roots on the other. I am happy to be infected by this élan, which is also supported by a remarkably active circle of friends and a lively audience. I thank the Board of Trustees for their trust, and I look forward to our time together.”
WHERE?
Georg Kolbe Museum
Sensburger Allee 25
14055 Berlin
