The Dresden State Art Collections are hosting the ‘Martin and Harriet Roth Lecture’ on Thursday, 16 January 2025, 6 p.m., in the atrium of the Albertinum. The cultural journalist and art critic Stefan Koldehoff will speak on the topic of ‘The last place of the utopian – museums between freedom and responsibility’.
Image above: Stefan Koldehoff, Foto: Sarah Koldehoff.
Since 2018, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) has organised the annual Martin Roth Lecture. The museum association commemorates its former Director General Martin Roth (1955-2017), who shaped not only the SKD but the entire museum world, with lectures by important protagonists from the cultural scene. Since 2022, the lecture series has been continued under the title Martin and Harriet Roth Lecture to also commemorate his wife, the renowned art historian Harriet Roth (1964-2021).
This year’s keynote speech will be given by the renowned cultural journalist and art critic Stefan Koldehoff (*1967), who began his journalistic career in various print and broadcast media after studying art history, German studies and political science. He has been chief culture reporter at Deutschlandradio since 2023. Stefan Koldehoff has published numerous non-fiction books on the art market, Nazi-looted art and art forgery. With his expertise and his ability to present complex topics in an understandable and accessible way, Stefan Koldehoff is one of the most influential voices in the German cultural sector.
In 2008, together with Martin Roth and Gilbert Lupfer, he published the anthology ‘Kunst-Transfers: Thesen und Visionen zur Restitution von Kunstwerken’. Published by Deutscher Kunstverlag, the publication followed the conference of the same name, which took place in Dresden on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the return of museum treasures from the Soviet Union to East Germany in autumn 1958 and the 10th anniversary of the Washington Conference. The topic of provenance research is just one of many that connected Stefan Koldehoff with Martin Roth throughout his life. In August 2017, ZEIT published an obituary of Martin Roth by Stefan Koldehoff.
At a time when these institutions are being severely jeopardised both politically and financially, he will focus on the cultural and social significance of museums and art galleries.
WHEN?
Thursday, 16 January 2025, 6 pm.
WHERE?
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Taschenberg 2
01067 Dresden
