Discover art through a variety of experiences
With its digital strategy, Kunsthalle Mannheim is opening up new fields of activity and communication channels. The aim of this strategy is not only to make Kunsthalle Mannheim accessible worldwide, but also to appeal to a younger, tech-savvy audience. Whether you’re using the Kunsthallen app when you’re on the move, or exploring the collection wall in the atrium of the new building, art is in effect everywhere and the exhibition space has no limits.
“The experience of original art in exchange with others is something that no smartphone can or should replace,” explains Dr. Ulrike Lorenz, director of Kunsthalle Mannheim. “But we aim to use technology to prepare and guide our visitors—not only with background information, but with experiences, experiments, games, online courses, and other unique opportunities.”
Journey through the cosmos of the collection
The multiyear “Sammlung Online” project is a part of Kunsthalle Mannheim’s digitalization efforts. The main goal is to make all the treasures in Kunsthalle Mannheim’s collection available to everyone around the clock. Audio clips, videos, and concise blocks of text—appropriate for all audiences—draw vibrant connections between paintings and sculptures, and between contemporary installations and works from the past: What inspired this artist’s working concept? Why did that artist use those particular materials in her or his work? What historic event does the painting treat? What does the restoration process reveal about a sculpture?
This digitally enhanced journey through the Kunsthalle’s collection is accessible to all, entertaining, and provides an in-depth examination of individual works of art. You can access the online collection everywhere, and the digital offer is simple to access and intuitive to use. The body of knowledge can be explored by following various paths, both guided and independent: You can search according to subject or artist, epoch or style. Or you can begin with the history of the Kunsthalle’s collection and exhibitions.
The website and the original works in the museum form an indivisible whole. However, only in Kunsthalle Mannheim itself—face-to-face with the original—can you experience the true fascination of this unique combination.
You’ll be able to discover it for yourself from late 2017, when Kunsthalle Mannheim reopens and the online collection goes live.
Graphics online. Now on kunsthalle-mannheim.de
As part of the “Sammlung Online” project the Graphic Collection of Kunsthalle Mannheim is now online and contains around 30,000 light-sensitive works. These works—not the originals, but rather the digital versions—are now being gradually brought to light in high-resolution images. These are accessible online and around the clock. The first 1,500 masterpieces are already live, and more are being added every month.
The sensitive artworks can usually only be displayed for a few weeks, before being returned to a dark warehouse for years. The graphic works must go through a slow and closely monitored process before they can appear online in a split second: After the fragile sheets of paper have been carefully lifted from the large portfolio folders and archive boxes, they are meticulously photographed. The aim of this process is to convey not only the quality of the pencil, charcoal line, or the watercolor tone, but also to convey the look of the paper and how it has aged.
Go behind the scenes and spend 40 seconds in the Graphic Collection
Visit our website and find out more about the digital strategy of Kunsthalle Mannheim.
With support of BW-Stiftung