Looking Out at the Great Western Sea the Changing Cultural Region of the North Sea

02. April 2023 to 14. January 2024

In 2022 the MKdW enjoyed great success presenting an exclusive selection of top-quality paintings and contemporary photographs at the exhibition Northbound. Connected by the Sea at the Musée océanographique de Monaco. Back on Föhr, this show will now be supplemented with impressive works for its audience here.

 

The new presentation of the collection invites visitors to set out to sea on a visual voyage along the North Sea coast. It shows the role the sea has always played and still continues to play for the cultural links between the island of Föhr, northern Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. Artists like Peder Severin Krøyer, Max Liebermann, Emil Nolde, Mila Teshaieva and Anja Jensen direct our gaze to the sea, a fascinating habitat that stands for depth as well as breadth but is nevertheless threatened by the intrusions of humankind. Their works vividly illustrate how the coasts and sea have changed, and they sensitise us to the beauty of this exceptional natural realm and the need to do everything we can to preserve it.

 

 

The Föhr Reef

For the first time in 11 years, the MKdW is presenting a large part of the Föhr Reef. Initiated by the Australian twin sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim, the crocheted coral reef was created as a collective artwork in 2012. More than 750 people contributed to the crossborder German-Danish project, including the Land-FrauenVerein Föhr and the Strikkecafé of the Museum Sønderjylland in Tønder, Denmark.

The Föhr Reef is a satellite of the international art project Crochet Coral Reef by the Wertheim Sisters and their Institute for Figuring, which is dedicated to the aesthetics of mathematical and scientific theories. At the same time, the crocheted reef is an ecological statement to draw attention to the globally threatened marine ecosystems.


 

The exhibition is sponsored by:

      

 

Our new app – go on a trip with the MKdW!

The exhibition is additionally linked with the launch of the new app MKdW on tour, which invites users to digitally and physically rediscover the island of Föhr and the coasts of the countries along the North Sea.

 

MKdW ON TOUR

Christine und Margaret Wertheim
Föhr Satellite Reef
Christine und Margaret Wertheim
Föhr Satellite Reef

Part of the worldwide Crochet Coral Reef project by Christine and Margaret Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring, Foto MKdW

Georg Anton Rasmussen
Ein norwegischer Fjord im Sommer
Georg Anton Rasmussen
Ein norwegischer Fjord im Sommer

n.d., © Museum Kunst der Westküste

Arne Kavli
Figuren auf einem Stein an der Küste
Arne Kavli
Figuren auf einem Stein an der Küste

1916, Museum Kunst der Westküste, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023

Carl Ludvig Thilson Locher
Ruhige See am Hafen
Carl Ludvig Thilson Locher
Ruhige See am Hafen

n.d., © Museum Kunst der Westküste

Emil Nolde
Meer mit Segelbooten
Emil Nolde
Meer mit Segelbooten

 n. d., © Nolde Stiftung Seebüll

Hendrik Willem Mesdag
Het atelier van Sientje Mesdag-van Houten in de Haagse duinen, 1885–95,
Hendrik Willem Mesdag
Het atelier van Sientje Mesdag-van Houten in de Haagse duinen, 1885–95,

Foto: Simonis & Buunk

Max Clarenbach
Wattenmeer bei Wyck
Max Clarenbach
Wattenmeer bei Wyck

1921, © Museum Kunst der Westküste

Joakim Eskildsen
Skagen XIV, 2008
Joakim Eskildsen
Skagen XIV, 2008

Pigmentdruck, 110 x 130 cm
Museum Kunst der Westküste, Alkersum/Föhr