Dada, Surrealism, Fluxus and more: the “Archiv der Avantgarden – Egidio Marzona” (ADA) opens its doors in the historic log cabin on the banks of the Elbe in Dresden.
The collector Egidio Marzona donated around 1.5 million objects to the Dresden State Art Collections (Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden/SKD) in 2016. On 5 May, the “Archiv der Avantgarden – Egidio Marzona” (ADA) will move into its new home in the specially converted log cabin, a historic building on the banks of the Elbe in Dresden. According to SKD, the comprehensive collection “will be housed in a mighty cube that floats freely above the exhibition level” in the “equally progressive and aesthetically bold design by the Spanish-German architecture firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos”. The result will be an architecturally exceptional location that creates a flexible space for research, exhibition and discussion.
The first exhibition entitled “Archive of Dreams. A Surrealist Impulse” from 5 May to 1 September is dedicated to the reinterpretation of the archive: “from an ‘outdated’, obsolete 19th century concept of the archive to a so-called activating archive”. With around 350 works of art, documents and publications from the 20th century, the project reflects “fantasies and longings, but also the nightmares of artists from various avant-garde movements such as Dada, Surrealism, Cobra, Fluxus and Pop Art”. In November, the second special exhibition will open, which is dedicated to the extensive collection of visionary, mostly unrealised architectural designs.
