"The World as Guest in Seligenstadt"
Not
only World Cup referees impressed by the exhibition "Blind Date"
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Blind Date Seligenstadt: visitors in
the prelacy
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In the city of Seligenstadt in Hessen, the six week-long
exhibition Blind
Date set up unusual encounters among works from the Deutsche
Bank Collection. For the first time in the history of the corporate
collection, the most recent acquisitions were presented publicly,
juxtaposed with highlights from the collection in sets of uncommon pairs.
The city’s former Benedictine Cloister provided a spectacular backdrop for
the show. But it wasn’t only international art stars like Jeff
Koons or Takashi
Murakami that had their "Blind Date" at the prelate of the historical
ensemble in the early summer.
Entries
into the guestbook
Even FIFA
discovered the special charm of this unique environment. In the weeks
prior to the Soccer World Championship, FIFA invited the international
elite of referees to a reception and dinner in the freshly renovated
abbey. The soccer referees, judges, and their assistants arrived in three
busses. The visitors from 20 countries enjoyed their evening undisturbed,
as the exclusive event was reserved to invited guests. Accompanied by an
expert guide, they strolled through the idyllic cloister garden, the
summer refectory, and the freshly renovated rooms of the abbey in the
evening light.
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Contemporary art meets baroque
painting in one of the prelacy's splendid rooms
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Here, the soccer dignitaries were able to forget the stress
of the days leading up to the World Cup and immerse themselves in Blind
Date’s contemporary art. In the rooms of the prelate, over 160
guests experienced the highlights and recent acquisitions of the Deutsche
Bank Collection together with baroque paintings and trompe l’oeil ceiling
works. The referees also enjoyed signing the guest book under the slogan
"The World as Guest in Seligenstadt." The Dutch referee Mario van der Ende
expressed his thanks with the following words: "Een perfekte rustplaats in
hectische weken – a perfect place to rest in these hectic weeks." Many
other visitors had already filled the book with small drawings and
commentaries like "a great experience" or "unique, singular, and
spectacular!"
Entries
into the guestbook
Some
guests discovered common denominators among the epochs in the show: "‘Art
at the Workplace’ – in those days that of the monks at the center of
culture – nowadays, the bankers in the financial center: a Blind Date
between centuries." What particularly impressed the public was the
experiment of showing current positions before the baroque backdrop of the
Benedictine cloister: "showing the acquisitions of the ‘new dukes’ in the
rooms of the ‘old dukes’ – the old and new designs – a fantastic
combination." And even the youngest visitors to the show, such as seven
year-old Carl, were impressed by the show in the cloister, who
immortalized himself with "I found the whol think really great."
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