Chris Dercon

Private museums like the Menil Collection in Houston, the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence or the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek have existed for a long time, but over the past decade, many more private museums have been founded all over the world. In Athens, Jakarta, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Milan and Paris, major collectors have built, or are planning to build, large new museums. These projects are often greeted as generous initiatives that combine the presentation of an individual collection with innovative architecture, and offer contemporary art great visibility. Sometimes they are also seen as competitors for beleaguered public institutions, as both structures vie for funding and visitors. Given this current panorama of growing private initiatives, The Private Museum of the Future, published by the same editors of 2015's successful Museum of the Future, tackles this central issue in museology and contemporary society.

For the Haus der Kunst in Munich, the question of how to deal with its own past arose directly after the end of the Second World War, when the building once again served as an exhibition space . This richly illustrated volume spans the key historical dates during which a social and political development took place, at whose beginning stood the ideology of the National Socialists and whose end marked the start of Germany's transformation into a democratic state. In this time period, it was not only the orientation of the Haus der Kunst's content that changed; as a result of the cultural-historical upheavals of this time, the basis for the building's development as an international exhibition venue was also laid. Today the Haus der Kunst plays a formative role in the discussion of relevant positions in contemporary art. It documents the historical developments within the context of political and cultural transformations, as well as their international parallels and references. Large exhibitions that were influential for the topography of the art of the twentieth century such as the World Exposition in Paris in 1937, the biennials in Venice, and the first documenta in 1955 provide the coordinates for the international dimension of the Haus der Kunst's story.

This is the definitive book of the building. With magnificent new photography and texts, it describes the entire gallery, the ideas behind its conception and construction, the way in which it was designed and built, as well as the impact it has had on London, the UK and beyond.

Christoph Schlingensief (1960-2010) was a German film and theatre director, actor, artist and author. Starting as an independent underground filmmaker, Schlingensief later began staging productions for theatres and festivals, which often were accompanied by public controversies. Edited by his friends and associates Klaus Biesenbach, Anna-Catharina Gebbers, Aino Laberenz and Susanne Pfeffer, Christoph Schlingensief is an overview of the artist's works that includes over 500 pages of photographs from Schlingensief's films, plays and projects. In the preface the publication, the editors write: "Just how far ahead of his time Christoph Schlingensief was with regard to artistic, political and social themes and subjects is evident only in retrospect ... He still challenges and overwhelms viewers with his overflowing images, his deliberate confusion of fact and imagination, and the sociopolitical volatility of the issues he tackles."