Elisabeth Claus as chairwoman of the Neue Kunstverein e.V. in Aschaffenburg

About Elisabeth Claus

Elisabeth Claus manages the Neuen Kunstverein e.V. in Aschaffenburg (NKV) since 1991. Hitherto she curates all exhibitions with passion and made the art association her mission in life. In 1948, Mrs. Claus was born in Pfarrkirchen, Germany and moved to Wuerzburg for her studies. She studied literature, history, art history, sociology, political science, psychology and education which evolved to a Bavarian civil servant. After teaching at a High School in Wuerzburg for six years, she decided to relocate to Cairo in 1977. She worked as an editor of the only German-language monthly magazine in Egypt. As a freelance journalist, among others, she wrote for Cairo Today and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Mrs. Claus organized exhibitions of contemporary art and, in cooperation with the GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation), campaigned for development projects in Arab countries with a focus on Bedouin women. Mrs. Claus also represents the strengthening of women in our society in her art association. She integrates female artists either equally or dominantly in her exhibition program. As a female curator she would like to support her comrades as much as possible, in an art market in which the majority of men operate. When she returned to Germany from Cairo in 1989, she continued teaching at High Schools, this time in Aschaffenburg. There she quickly discovered that there was no art association in town. According to Mrs. Claus, art associations are very meaningful and civic engagements which she wanted to bring to life in Aschaffenburg. Through her experience abroad she knew that art associations are a great German invention for which many other countries envy us (In the ADKV, the working group of German art associations "[...] 300 art associations from 242 cities and municipalities are organized. The art associations of ADKV have over 100,000 members and their exhibitions are seen by over a million visitors a year”). In 1991 Mrs. Claus founded the association with a number of supporters and committed citizens who helped her to build a very special place of art in Aschaffenburg. Right before, she had written for an art magazine which developed a large network. Many of these connections have resulted in numerous exhibitions from which the NKV highly benefited. The early days of the NKV were very exciting. Mrs. Claus was new in town and met various people. At first it took a lot of persuasion as the director of the art association, but she was lucky to always find good supporters among the population. In particular, she received aid from local politics, in particular from Mayor Klaus Herzog. Since her retirement in 2003 Mrs. Claus has been committed exclusively to the NKV and hopes "that the art association will continue to do well, that it will continue to receive a lot of civic engagement and if I have to give it to other hands, that it will continue well".

Michelle Hewett, born September 12, 1995 in Flensburg
Studies: Literary, Cultural and Media Studies
Internship: 2020 at studio Thomas Kellner
Special interests: Movies, Literature, Culture, Travelling
Goals: To live in America one day