20.5.2022
12 a.m. – 11:59 p.m.
BETWEEN PASSION AND MISSION: International Symposium on the public relevance of privately founded art institutions

Venue: Philara Collection

Birkenstraße 47a

40233 Düsseldorf

20 May, 10:30am–7pm

21 May, 9:30am–1pm

What does socially relevant art patronage look like in the 21st century? Internationally and throughout Germany, there is a growing number of privately supported exhibition ­houses and collections. Based on the four regional institutions in the Rhineland Independent network (Julia Stoschek Foundation, KAI 10 | Arthena Foundation, Langen Foundation, Philara Collection) and in cooperation with the Master‘s programmein Art Mediation and Cultural Management at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, we will examine the potentials, societal expectations and social responsibilities of private collecting and exhibition practice on the 20th and 21st May 2022 at the Philara Collection.

The conference combines academic lectures with contributions from international collectors and donors who will discuss their various institutional and funding models. In addition to a review of the historical development of private collecting, the conference will present recent research results on the current significance of private art funding. For example, what influence do transnational collector networks have on art market developments, artist bio­graphies and the programmes of public institutions? Where do private institutions complement public offerings, expand the cultural infrastructure and enable social participation? What opportunities and responsibilities arise from these considerations for the future? The conference will examine these and other questions from different perspectives and explore possibilities for creative cooperation and future-oriented synergies.