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At the vernissage of the exhibition “Warning: contains life. Notebook, Bullet Journal, Diary” in the Klingspor Museum, there is great interest. © christoph boeckheler*
In the current exhibition in the Museum of Book and Writing Art in Offenbach, everything revolves around private notes. Just one attempt of many to bring the place closer to the people.
Your own diary is a guardian of the deepest secrets, a witness to everyday banalities and memorable experiences. Sometimes even protected by a padlock, what is written in this little booklet is usually for your own eyes only. But in the current exhibition at the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach, it is precisely these once personal items that are being turned into public exhibits. Since mid-July, visitors to “Warning: contains life. Notebook, Bullet Journal, Diary”, taking a look at other people’s written and sometimes also recorded thoughts. The question of where the boundary between private and public can be drawn and when an everyday object becomes art is reflected in each of the exhibits.
Collages and artist books can also be seen in the current exhibition. © christoph boeckheler*
For museum director Dorothee Ader, the opening of the exhibition clearly shows people’s desire to get involved in museums. In a so-called open call, they were asked to send in their notebooks and diaries. Almost 200 books found their way to the museum in Offenbach. The artist books, pocket calendars and diaries did not only come from the Rhine-Main region. Written works, for example, were also sent in from Canada, India and Finland and can now also be seen in the exhibition. For the museum director it is clear: “Museum and people reach each other and can show a sustainable relationship.”
Whoever strolls through the exhibition can discover written and fully drawn paper in all corners. At first glance, trivial things such as dentist appointments appear just as much as the processing of innermost thoughts and feelings in poetic form. Bullet journals, i.e. self-designed books in which, for example, to-do lists and personal or professional goals are written down, can also be admired in the exhibition. This type of notebook is not only about collecting your own thoughts, but also about putting them down on paper in a creative way. These lists are often provided with small drawings and all kinds of calligraphic art. Here it becomes clear: Drawing and writing by hand on bound or glued paper sparks a creative process that seems to appeal to many people.
Many of the exhibits were collected through an “open call”. © christoph boeckheler*
In addition to this current exhibition, the permanent exhibition “Klingspor permanent” can still be seen in the museum. If you want to learn more about the art of books and writing, you’ve come to the right place. Visitors get insights into the history of the museum and its namesake Karl Klingspor. In addition, everything revolves around the six focal points of the collection: writing, press printing, painter’s book, artist’s book, illustration and poster.
For museum director Dorothee Ader, it is important to create a place with the Klingspor Museum that, despite all the necessary digitization, also creates an archive for books and calligraphic art in its physical form. 80,000 units from 1900 are collected in the museum archive. According to Ader, digitizing this is of course also part of it, but it is “a lengthy process”. There are also numerous contemporary artists who make artist books, print graphics or design typefaces. “With all the digitization, there is probably a primal human need to touch things,” says Ader.
Also offers for school classes and day-care centers
But the museum is more than just a place for exhibitions and archiving. It should also be a meeting place. The offers for school classes and daycare groups are particularly well received. “When I’m walking down the street in Offenbach, I’m often greeted by children and young people who know me from the museum,” says Ader. Some even come back as interns or mini-jobbers.
According to museum educator Monika Jäger, it is important to the team when offering workshops to link the artistic impressions that the children and young people gather from encountering the works from the museum with their own world of experience. “In every offer, works from the collection are first shown with reference to the workshop content and discovered together,” says Jäger. This is followed by a practical unit in the museum’s educational area. It is directly connected to the exhibition room. “With this spatial location, we want to convey to all visitors that practical work plays a central role in the museum,” explains Jäger.
Museum as a meeting place
The place should also have an effect on the urban community, at least that’s what museum director Dorothee Ader hopes. One attempt at this is the so-called “Book Bar”, which takes place every Friday between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the museum rooms. “We would like to share this beautiful house and invite the people of Offenbach to use it for themselves,” describes Ader. Since admission to the museum is free on Fridays, guests can view the exhibition or listen to the changing range of readings, lectures or small concerts. Or simply use the place as a meeting place. A book club of students, for example, comes regularly to these dates. “A museum is a public space and it should be used as such,” Ader is convinced.
The exhibition “Warning: contains life. Notebook, Bullet Journal, Diary” can be seen in the Klingspor Museum until October 29th. More information about opening hours, workshops and guided tours at www.offenbach.de/klingspor-museum
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