Constantinos Vasiliadis – My days in Dresden
08.10.2014
Hello everyone from Dresden!
A few days before I participated in the ITP programme, I was informed that I had been chosen to be the “Dresden fellow” of the year. With the Dresden fellowship, beside the funding to participate in the ITP, I would have the opportunity to go to the Staatlische Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) in Germany.
After the ITP was over, it seemed that it had not finished for me, as I experienced a smaller “ITP” in the days that followed!
So here I am! I arrived in Dresden on Sunday the 5th of October and I am leaving tomorrow! Here I had the opportunity to meet the Director General, Professor Dr Hartwig Fischer, colleagues from the conservation department and to visit some of the 14 museums of the SKD. I can say that I am astonished by the variety and the abundance of the collections and I really suggest you put a visit to Dresden in your travel plans!
With Reiner Thiel, conservator of sculptures, I had the opportunity to discuss issues concerning our job and to walk around the collection and the storerooms. I also enjoyed a nice tour through the historical centre of Dresden, with him explaining to me the history of the Museum Network. He also shared with me his passion for the armoury when visiting the relevant collections in the Royal Palace. We also visited together with Hans Effenberger the amazing collection of casts and moulds, of almost all known monuments and sculptures of different periods from all over the world.
With Professor Ursula Krak, head of the conservation department, and Astrid Nielsen, sculptures department, I visited the conservation studios and spoke with conservators about their work. I would say that it looked smaller than the WCEC, but only in size!
The last day we said goodbye over a really nice lunch. All the people I’ve met here welcomed me, and I really feel that I have some new friends and colleagues in Dresden. Therefore I would like to express my appreciation to the ITP and the Dresden Museum for giving me this opportunity!
Costas Vasiliadis
Senior Conservator,
Acropolis Museum