Kathi Loch takes over as director of the Museum für Sächsische Volkskunst and the Puppentheatersammlung, run by Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
05 January 2022Kathi Loch wird neue Direktorin des Museums für Sächsische Volkskunst und der Puppentheatersammlung der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Kathi Loch is taking over as director of the Museum für Sächsische Volkskunst and the Puppentheatersammlung, run by Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD). Taking up the post with immediate effect, she succeeds Igor A. Jenzen, who retired in December after decades of work with the SKD.
The doctor in theatre studies will then be heading two important collections held by the museums association: on one hand the Museum für Sächsische Volkskunst (Saxon Folk Art Museum) with its varied holdings ranging from Ore Mountains carvings to historical toys, and on the other hand the Puppentheatersammlung (Puppet Theatre Collection), which is among the largest of its kind in the world and will be moving to a new site in 2023: “Kraftwerk Mitte”, the Dresden centre for the arts, culture and the creative industries.
Kathi Loch was already entrusted with the task of planning and organising the relaunch of the Puppentheatersammlung at its new location in June 2019, when she was made project manager. Prior to that, from 2010, she was an artistic director, and later the head artistic director, at the tjg. theater junge generation Dresden, helping to plan and carry through its move to the same site. Previously, she worked as an artistic director at the Theater Altenburg Gera, focusing particularly on puppetry.
Kathi Loch studied at the Gießen Institute for Applied Theatre Studies (ATW) and took her doctorate at the Freie Universität Berlin on the subject of “Things on the stage”.
Barbara Klepsch, Saxon State Minister for Culture and Tourism: “I am delighted that in engaging Kathi Loch, we have secured a director with a high level of professional expertise. Her experience as an artistic director makes her a valuable addition, not only for the new exhibition at the Puppentheatersammlung. Her new, different perspective also offers an opportunity to add fresh impetus to the collection at the Jägerhof, making visitors all the more aware of this beautiful place and the collection itself.”
Marion Ackermann, Director-General of Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden: “Kathi Loch’s excellent profile outshone a strong pool of applicants. As an artistic director, she presented concepts for the two museums that promise – even guarantee – to thoroughly invigorate them. At the same time, her ideas show great respect and care for the legacy bequeathed to her in the plans for the Jägerhof developed under her predecessor Igor A. Jenzen. Ultimately, the Puppentheatersammlung will be opening its doors to a wide audience at Kraftwerk Mitte in 2023. I look forward to the museum’s new location and the future presentation of this unique collection.”
Kathi Loch: “Twice the joy, twice the challenge: my new position at the Puppentheatersammlung means I can continue the task I have applied myself to intensively for more than two years – the move and relaunching the collection. At the same time, I am taking on the Museum für Sächsische Volkskunst, a well-appointed museum that I plan to tend and cultivate with the help of the team there. In all these efforts, I want to stay true to a vision that drove its founder Oskar Seyffert more than 100 years ago: the idea of creating living (museum) spaces that connect the present and past as a source of new inspiration for the future. Spaces that balance tradition and innovation and are accessible and inclusive for everyone. I am counting on our visitors’ curiosity and look forward to having a host of exciting encounters and connections, first at the Jägerhof and soon also at Kraftwerk Mitte.”
