Saudi Arabia roams through Berlin museums
Berlin's Pergamon Museum will be closed for at least another four years. Saudi Arabia is interested in individual exhibits and other items from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. Initial contacts have already been made. The German government is open - under certain conditions.
Saudi Arabia apparently wants to exhibit works of art from Germany in its own museums and has already made enquiries to the German government. As reported by "Der Spiegel", the head of the museum commission, Mona Khazindar, held talks in Berlin the week before Christmas. The delegation of art experts visited various institutions of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), including the Pergamon Museum, the State Library, the plaster mold shop, the Picture Gallery, the Collection of Classical Antiquities and the Museum of Islamic Art. A dinner was then held with representatives of Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth and the Federal Foreign Office.
A spokesperson for Roth said that the Saudi Arabian Museum Commission was interested in "broad cooperation in the cultural, especially museum sector", "ranging from joint exhibitions, curatorial cooperation and loans to the digitization of archive and library holdings". However, the meeting was not about specific works of art. The talks were still in the early stages.
Roth received her Saudi counterpart Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud at the Chancellery in the summer, the magazine reports. The spokesperson went on to say that cooperation must promote mutual knowledge and understanding and be suitable for promoting the freedom of art and culture. These are "necessary framework conditions for a possible cooperation between the SPK and museums in Saudi Arabia".
The Pergamon Museum is currently being restored and will be closed until at least 2027. The north wing of the building and the central wing with the famous Pergamon Altar have been without public access for ten years. Section A with the Pergamon Altar should be accessible again in 2027. The second section B will remain closed until at least 2037. This means that the entire Pergamon Museum can be explored again in 14 years at the earliest. The total costs could amount to 1.5 billion euros.
SPK President Parzinger Parzinger points to the "Pergamon Interim" with the Pergamon Panorama by Yadegar Asisi as an alternative. "The small Pergamon frieze, the Telephos frieze, is on display there in its entirety, and you can also see large parts of the sculptural furnishings from the Pergamon."
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Saudi Arabia is actively pursuing partnerships with Germany's cultural institutions, including the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, as revealed in discussions with Claudia Roth at the foreign office in Berlin. Claudia Roth and her team emphasized that any collaboration with Saudi Arabia's museums should promote mutual understanding and respect for freedom of art and culture.
Source: www.ntv.de
