7 May – 14 August Berlin Germany
Furniture Exhibition of Erich Dieckman
A solo exhibition featuring works from furniture designer and former Bauhaus teacher Erich Diekmann is being held in Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) for the first time in 30 years. The exhibition pays tribute to Diekmann for experimenting with shapes and materials while developing modular furniture using geometric forms. It features 120 pieces of furniture, graphic work, drawings, design and contemporary works based on his approach to design and can be viewed both in Berlin and in Halle.
As a Bauhaus student, he designed his first wood and rush wickerwork chair in 1923. In 1930 he developed modular furniture for workspaces, living areas and bedrooms for the interior design programme. Photographs provide background information on these pieces’ construction, placement and impact in a space. Even though Diekmann was primarily drawn to geometric forms, he explored curvilinear models to produce bentwood, tubular steel, and wicker furniture. All this and more are available for viewing at the exhibition.
Other pieces include 1600 works acquired from his estate by the Art Gallery. They include his composition studies, designs for furniture, and watercolour drawings of furnished settings. The drawings give the viewer a peek into the designer’s mind and the creative process from the initial idea to the final functional ready-to-use product stage.
In a section of the exhibition called ‘Living like Diekmann’ furniture pieces are expressed as sustainable, artistic and beneficial for the 21st century by artist Margit Jäschke and designer Stephan Schulz. His furniture was then restaged in similar living spaces.
In another section, ‘A New View of SITTING’ students from the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Halle drew inspiration from Dieckmann’s oeuvre into the present for their semester projects.
The exhibition was on view in Halle (Saale) until 27 March 2022, after which it is being shown in an expanded version at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin.
