Shangri-La The Museum Beyond the Bridge

by Boehncke, Heiner; Danicke, Sandra; Flagmeier, Renate; Klemp, Klaus; Meyer, Roland; Schneider, Cosima; Schneider, Klaus; Wagner K, Matthias

• ISBN13: 9783868331660
• ISBN10: 3868331662
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2017-10-01
• Publisher: Modo Verlag

Summary

Visitors were forewarned, a hand-written sign announcing: “The museum testifies to the thousand year history, work and labour of our ancestors. The exhibition extends for over 5000 m².” From the outset, it was a utopian undertaking. Not without reason does the lama monastery Shangri-La from James Hilton‘s novel Lost Horizon serve as namesake to this museum. Pietro Benzi (1931 – 2014) maintained the project from 1965 onwards. He collected what they no longer wanted, what had become antiquated or gone out of fashion: 2.7 million everyday objects, many of which were household effects, religious kitsch, knick-knacks, shoes and plastic toys. This photographic essay takes the viewer on a journey inside his unsystematic collection.

Author Biography

Heiner Boehncke, Prof. Dr., is professor for comparative literature and general literary studies at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Sandra Danicke, Dr., studied art history at the Goethe University Frankfurt, where she did her PhD on the subject of medieval church design in 1999. Renate Flagmeier, M.A., did her training in art studies and Romance literature in Berlin and Paris (M.A.), completing her degree at the Technical University of Berlin in 1986. Klaus Klemp, Prof. Dr. phil., is professor of design history and design theory at the Offenbach University of Art and Design, and design department director at the Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt. Roland Meyer has worked as an academic staff member at the Institute for Design History and Theory at the University of the Arts Berlin. Cosima Schneider, Dipl. Des., studied visual communication at the Offenbach University of Art and Design. Klaus Schneider is an artist who works with painting, installation and photography. Matthias Wagner K is an exhibition coordinator and author.