The Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of Arts) is a German cultural organisation for the state of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, based in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Purpose

The Academy is a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a corporation, government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government ...

to promote the arts in Saxony, make proposals for its promotion and maintain the traditions of the Saxon cultural area ("die Kunst zu fördern, Vorschläge zu ihrer Förderung zu machen und die Überlieferungen des sächsischen Kulturraums zu pflegen", Founding Act of 1994). Situated between the older academies in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, the academy tries to enliven the intellectual and artistic richness of the East German cultural area, while simultaneously meeting the challenges associated with demographic, social and cultural changes. In immediate vicinity of the new member states of the European Union and historical leadership of Saxony in the Central and Eastern European cultural area, the Academy feels obliged to accompany the political unification culturally and artistically.

History

The initiative for the establishment of the academy came from a group of founders, which after 1990 included the publicist and essayist Friedrich Dieckmann, the sculptor Wieland Förster, the musician

Ludwig Güttler Ludwig Güttler (born 13 June 1943) is an internationally known German virtuoso on the Baroque trumpet, the piccolo trumpet and the corno da caccia. As a conductor, he founded several ensembles including the chamber orchestra Virtuosi Saxoniae. Hi ...

, the actor

Frederick William Young Sir Frederick William Young (5 January 1876 – 26 August 1948) was an Australian agent-general, barrister, liberal/conservative politician and member of the South Australian House of Assembly. Young was born in Blyth, South Australia and re ...

and the art historian

Werner Schmidt Werner George Schmidt (January 18, 1932 – March 29, 2024) was a Canadian politician, teacher, and school principal. Political career Schmidt was vice-president of Lethbridge Community College when he was chosen to succeed Harry Strom as lea ...

. After preparation of foundation law and the statutes, the Saxon State Parliament adopted on 27 May 1994, the "Gesetz über die Errichtung der Sächsischen Akademie der Künste" (Law on the establishment of the Saxon Academy of Arts). It was constituted on 29 February 1996 with 30 founding members. As of October 2018, the academy has 172 members from Germany and abroad. The academy is organised in five sections,

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and language, and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

Awards

Hans-Theo-Richter-Preis

The Hans-Theo-Richter-Preis (Hans Theo Richter Prize) for art was founded by the widow of and has been award biennially, endowed with 20,000 euro. * 1998

Max Uhlig Max Uhlig (born 23 June 1937 in Dresden) is a German painter. He won the Hans Theo Richter-Preis of the Sächsische Akademie der Künste The Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of Arts) is a German cultural organisation for the s ...

, Dresden * 1999

Jiří Kolář Jiří Kolář (24 September 1914, Protivín – 11 August 2002, Prague) was a Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. His work included both literary and visual art. Life Kolář was born in Protivín on September 29, 1914, in a work ...

, Prag * 2000 Paula Ribariu, Bukarest und Werner Wittig, Radebeul * 2001 Peter Graf, Dresden * 2003

Thomas Ranft Thomas Ranft (born 1945, in Königsee) is a German painter. He won the Hans-Theo-Richter-Preis of the Sächsische Akademie der Künste The Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of Arts) is a German cultural organisation for the s ...

, Chemnitz * 2005 Lutz Fleischer, Dresden * 2007

Wolfram Adalbert Scheffler Wolfram Adalbert Scheffler (born 1956 in Karl-Marx-Stadt) is a German painter and artist. He won the Hans-Theo-Richter-Preis of the Sächsische Akademie der Künste The Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of Arts) is a German cul ...

, Berlin * 2010 Dieter Goltzsche, Berlin * 2012 , Berlin * 2014 , Radebeul * 2017

Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas (born 3 August 1953) is a South African artist and painter based in the Netherlands. Early life and education Dumas was born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Kuils River in the Western Cape, where her father ha ...

, Kapstadt/Amsterdam

Gottfried-Semper-Architekturpreis

The prize for architecture is named after

Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper (; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in ...

and has been awarded biennially, endowed with 25,000 euro. * 2007: * 2009: , Freiburg im Breisgau * 2011: Frank Zimmermann, Cottbus * 2013: Louisa Hutton and Matthias Sauerbruch (

Sauerbruch Hutton Sauerbruch Hutton is an international agency for architecture, urban planning and design. It was founded in London in 1989 and is now based in Berlin, Germany. The practice is led by Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton and Juan Lucas Young. Arch ...

) * 2015: Undine Giseke

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sachsische Akademie der Kunste Culture of Saxony Arts in Germany Organisations based in Dresden Academies of arts