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05.02.2018

The beginning of the 10th year of Salvador Dalí in Berlin

Das 10. Museumsjahr von Salvador Dalí in Berlin

Berlin, February 1st 2018. Nine years ago, the museum "Dalí – Die Ausstellung am Potsdamer Platz" inaugurated directly in the city center of Berlin on February 5th 2009. The choice for this historic place in 2009 was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which coincided with Dalí’s year of death in 1989 – an artist who also understood how to break down walls in the minds of the audience with his surreal art. This museum for Dalí is the first privately initiated and guided art museum in Germany which was inaugurated without any use of financial aid by the government or other funding and has been operated continuously in this unique way. Renowned by the Senate, the Deutscher Museumsbund (German Museum Association) and ICOM, the art museum is an integral part of Berlin's thriving museum scene. Also, it is one of the leading art museums in Germany with more than 1.5 million visitors from all over the world. The permanent exhibition and changing special theme-based exhibitions are dedicated to the exceptional artist Salvador Dalí, who today, would probably live in Berlin – the surreal and pulsating cultural metropolis of our time.

For nine successful years already, the museum has been presenting more than 450 original exhibits on more than 1,500 square meters in its permanent show, which gives the most comprehensive insight into Salvador Dalí's virtuoso and experimental work as a master in almost all art techniques. The museum has an access to more than 3,000 works provided by international collectors. With changing exhibits an exciting cross-section of Dalí's life and work are presented in the venue at Leipziger Platz 7.

Even after nine year of Dalí in Berlin, there are still fantastic facets of the genius artist to discover, who, unlike other artists, loved to experiment with almost all art techniques. One of the museum’s birthday presents is the original lithograph "Man of the Year 2000" (1971) which remains permanently in the museum after the successful special exhibition "Salvador Dalí: The 21st Century Dandy". This exclusive show was about Dalí and fashion and was launched in cooperation with the internationally renowned menswear brand SCABAL in summer 2017. The entire team of DaliBerlin give thanks to this family business, because with this donation another wonderful Dalí artwork is permanently accessible to a broad audience. This original motif arose thanks to the unique collaboration between Salvador Dalí and SCABAL for the limited first edition of the fashion magazine SCARAB (1971), which is also on display in the museum. Another new additions to the museum since the last year include ceramic works from the series "La Suite Catalane" (1954) and a ceramic sculpture in which Dalí used his famous painting "Swans Reflecting Elephants" (1937) as source of inspiration and thus created a refined multi-dimensional object.

„Come into my brain“, Dalí once called upon the masses. Visitors are invited to accept this invitation by visiting the museum „Dalí – Die Ausstellung am Potsdamer Platz“, where they can delve into the surreal world of the Spanish artist. Together with Dalí experts, the so-called Dalí_Scouts, visitors can enjoy a guided tour through the exhibition in dialogue. Every day five public guided tours are provided in German and English. The tours start at 12:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m. (English), 3:30 p.m., 5:00 p.m. und 6:30 p.m. (English). The tours give a deep Insight into Dalí's imaginative world of thought, his eccentric life and his artistic work. On the museum’s birthday the tours are included in the museum ticket for all visitors!

However, whoever would like to discover the surreal dream world of Dalí on their own, it is possible to get an innovative multi-media guide which is available in several languages and will be used on their own smartphones. This alternative can be chosen by all museum visitors also and is free of charge on February 5th.

 

For the beginning of the 10th year of Salvador Dalí in the Capital of Culture, everyone is invited to rediscover the Surrealist for themselves. Happy Birthday DaliBerlin!