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Anja Schindler

Mirror of the World

09.03.2024 - 31.08.2025

For one season, the artist Anja Schindler (* 1963 in Bremen) enriches the historical tour of Gottorf Castle with 20 installations. After several years of preparatory work and numerous visits to the site, she has developed her artworks in dialogue with the history of this castle, its collections, and its garden. The result is a highly captivating journey from today to the heyday of the Baroque Gottorf court.

From the mid-17th to the early 18th century, the residence of the dukes and duchesses of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf was a center of knowledge, fine arts, music, and garden art renowned throughout Europe. In particular, the precious library, the rich art and curiosity cabinet, the terraced garden with its legendary plant collection, and the walkable giant globe attracted admirers. With Anja Schindler, a contemporary artist has now dared to trace the treasures and curiosities once collected here and lost after 1720: She aims to translate the atmosphere of that time into her own contemporary visual language. To this end, she interprets Baroque ideas in the form of artistic interventions at the original locations.

Once, the aim of the art and curiosity cabinets was to bring the whole world into one room, to explore and understand it. The assembled objects reflected the (then known) cosmos. Now, through Anja Schindler’s works, a new “Mirror of the World” is being created. Past, present, and future engage in a dialogue. Our visitors are invited to embark on a journey of discovery along the brightly blue-lit art installations spanning two floors, to marvel and admire.

Anja Schindler, Installation Gotische Halle Schloss Gottorf, 2024

The first major installation can be found in the Gothic Hall. With her installation, Anja Schindler ties in with the former use of this room: Created around 1500, the hall was used as a court library in the 17th century. A large and extremely precious collection of books was stored here. The zodiac signs on the ceiling of the room still bear witness today to the former arrangement of books according to areas of knowledge. A special treasure of the library was the Gottorf Codex. This is a four-volume plant and flower atlas from 1649/59 with 1180 plant illustrations. Anja Schindler recalls this with her plant drawings preserved in oil on old documents and the fruits and plant parts preserved in jars. Many of her drawings have delicate threads hanging out, making them appear organic and symbolizing the "connectedness of all things" (Anja Schindler).

Anja Schindler, Installation Bauernstube Schloss Gottorf, 2024

From the mid-17th to the early 18th century, the Gottorf Art and Curiosity Cabinet was housed in the adjacent rooms. Duke Friedrich III and Adam Olearius, his court librarian and advisor on all scientific matters, founded this once famous collection. For almost 300 years, it has no longer been in Gottorf but in Copenhagen. Such an encyclopedic and universally designed collection of precious, curious, and rare objects from art, science, and nature - often originating from distant countries - was a special prestige project. The Baroque princes and scholars also hoped to gain insights into nature and life here. Art and curiosity cabinets are also considered the precursors of today’s museums. Anja Schindler interprets this collection of objects and knowledge about the world with a wealth of diverse treasures, inviting viewers to gain their own insights.

Anja Schindler, Detail einer Installation Plöner Saal Schloss Gottorf, 2024

Anja Schindler’s Gottorf works are characterized by the recurring theme of her engagement with plants and their remnants. In the 17th century, the garden located north of the castle, the now reconstructed Baroque garden, enjoyed great fame. In the midst of the Thirty Years’ War, Duke Friedrich III commissioned his court gardener Johannes Clodius with this facility from 1637, which his successor Duke Christian Albrecht expanded splendidly by four terraces from 1660 onwards. The garden was particularly special because of the botanical rarities collected here. It formed the lively counterpart to the Duke’s art and curiosity cabinet. Both arose from the pronounced scientific interests of Friedrich III and Christian Albrecht as well as from Baroque collecting passion. Anja Schindler was inspired by the species once planted there and brought them into the castle in dried and blue-transformed form: Some of the precious faience vases and flower plug boxes of the 18th century from the museum collection thus temporarily regain their historical function and at the same time transform into contemporary sculptures.

Anja Schindler is fascinated by the rich history of the former Gottorf residence, one of the cultural centers of Northern Europe in the 17th century. With her installations, she bridges the gap between the Baroque era and today, reminding us of this court where emphasis was placed not on war, but on arts and sciences.

Galerie
Anja Schindler, Installation Barocksuite Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Installation, 2024, Barocksuite Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Installation Blauer Saal Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Installation, 2024, Blauer Saal Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Detail einer Installation Gotische Halle Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Detail einer Installation, 2024, Gotische Halle Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Installation Gotische Halle Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Installation, 2024, Gotische Halle Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Installation Gotische Halle Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Installation, 2024, Gotische Halle Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Detail einer Installation Lapidarium Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Detail einer Installation, 2024, Lapidarium Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Installation Schlachterturm Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Installation, 2024, Schlachterturm Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Installation Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Detail einer Installation, 2024, Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de
Anja Schindler, Installation Blauer Saal Schloss Gottorf, 2024
Anja Schindler, Installation, 2024, Blauer Saal Schloss Gottorf. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, www.bildkunst.de

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