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The Artforum reports that Chris Dercon will remain director of Munich’s Haus der Kunst for another five years: “Why does the international networker want to stay in Munich? Dercon explains that he wants to secure the architectural future of the massive Haus der Kunst, foreseeing possible alterations on top of some much-needed renovations. “Of course, we don’t need more space,” said Dercon. “But a polyvalent use of the east wing is conceivable. We have contracted studies of the entire building from architects who value the museum, in particular Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron. The goal is not architectural designs but a public debate about the future of the Haus.”

According to Wikipedia the building that currently houses the Haus der Kunst was constructed from 1934 to 1937 as the Third Reich’s first monumental propaganda building. The museum, then called “Haus der deutschen Kunst” (House of German Art), was opened in March 1937, showing the Entartete Kunst exhibition, and was subsequently used as a showcase for what the Third Reich regarded as Germany’s finest art. After the end of World War II, the museum building was first used by the American occupation forces as an officer’s mess; in that time, the building came to be known as the “P1″, a shortening of its street address. The building’s original purpose can still be seen in such guises as the swastika-motif mosaics in the ceiling panels of its front portico.

Of course Dercon could consult Rem Koolhaas, who has had his share of dealing with controversial buildings (from the Hermitage to the new CCTV headquarters). But before they start exorcising the building he first should read Structures of Memory, a recent study by Jennifer A. Jordan. The book describes how some places are forgotten by all but eyewitnesses, whereas others become the sites of public ceremonies, museums, or commemorative monuments. Remembering leaves its marks on the skin of the city (or buildings), and the goal of the book is to analyze and understand precisely how. Perhaps it will help to strike a balance between remembering and forgetting.

Go to website Artforum
Go to website Haus der Kunst (in German only)
Read more about Structures of Memory

Egypt said Sunday it would ask museums abroad to temporarily send back some its most precious artifacts including the Rosetta Stone and bust of Nefertiti to be put on display here.

The country’s chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, said the Foreign Ministry would send letters this week to France, Germany, the United States and Great Britain requesting that the ancient artifacts be loaned temporarily to Egypt.

Hawass has previously demanded that many of the artifacts be returned permanently to Egypt, claiming some of them were taken illegally.

Read full article (International Herald Tribune, April 30, 2007)