In conversation with Anja Richter (Museum Gunzenhauser – Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany), Kadi Polli (Kumu Art Museum, Estonia), and Maite van Dijk (Museum MORE, Netherlands)

Five years in the making, the exhibition “European Realities”, which was on view at the Museum Gunzenhauser – Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz until 10 August 2025, told a story of European art history in the 1920s that went beyond Western European narratives. As part of the 2025 Chemnitz European Capital of Culture programme, the project highlighted common themes, regional particularities, and often overlooked artistic voices related to art production of the time. Notably, with contributions from regions historically overlooked in museum exhibition practices – such as the Baltics, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia – the exhibition challenged the conventional view of Neue Sachlichkeit as a primarily German phenomenon and opened up a broader pan-European context.

In this session of the new online conversation series “Museum Mutuals”, speakers from the Museum Gunzenhauser and two (of the many involved) partners, the Kumu Art Museum in Estonia, and Museum MORE in the Netherlands will reflect on the curatorial and practical challenges of co-producing an exhibition featuring over 300 works from 22 countries. They will also offer insights into the practicalities of transnational cooperation: aligning institutional timelines, navigating institutional imbalances, and coordinating across different legal and administrative systems. The discussion will emphasise how “European Realities” not only reframed a critical art historical moment but also demonstrates the value of sustained collaboration in shaping a more inclusive European perspective.

Speakers

Anja Richter, born in 1981 in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz), has been the curator and director of the Museum Gunzenhauser in Chemnitz, Germany, since 2014. She studied art history, African studies, and Egyptology at the University of Leipzig. She previously held positions at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, as well as served as an advisor to the General Director of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Richter has contributed to numerous exhibitions on 20th and 21st-century art, with a focus on Expressionism, Neue Sachlichkeit, and contemporary art. 

Maite van Dijk, is the general director of Museum MORE, with locations in Gorssel and Ruurlo, Netherlands. She previously served as the senior curator at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where she oversaw the 19th-century painting collection and curated major international exhibitions, including “Jean-François Millet: Sowing the Seeds of Modern Art” (2019), “Gauguin & Laval in Martinique” (2018), and “Munch : Van Gogh” (2015). She also acquired key works by artists such as Camille Pissarro, Edvard Munch, and Gabriele Münter for the museum’s collection. Van Dijk studied art history at the University of Amsterdam, where she earned her PhD, and gained experience at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and through traineeships in New York and Paris. Since 2022, she has chaired the Visual Arts Advisory Committee of het Cultuurfonds (the Dutch Cultural Fund).  

Dr. Kadi Polli is the director of Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn, Estonia. From 2002–2013 she served as Director of the Kadriorg Art Museum in Tallinn. Her main field of research is Baltic German art and visual culture, the history of collecting art, women’s artistic practice and education. She has initiated and curated many exhibitions focusing on German, Baltic German and Estonian art, including the current permanent exhibition at the Kumu Art Museum, “Landscapes of Identity: Estonian Art 1700–1945” (2021, co-curated with Linda Kaljundi). She has written numerous articles, compiled exhibition catalogues, and contributed to the multi-volume work “Eesti kunsti ajalugu” (The History of Estonian Art). She is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Ostpreußisches Landesmuseum Lüneburg and the board of trustees of the Böckler-Mare-Balticum-Stiftung. 

Museum Mutuals is a series of conversations reflecting on international cooperation between museums across various disciplines and shared museological practices. Each edition of the series will delve into a specific theme or case study of collaboration between a German museum and its international counterpart. We’ll have an hour to chat about challenges, opportunities, and unexpected exchanges – from A for Agreements to Z for yet another Zoom meeting.