"It is a great honor for us that Albert Spiegel has entrusted us with these pieces. They are a great addition to our unique collection in the Iwalewahaus," says University President Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible. The Iwalewahaus houses the largest public collection of contemporary African art in Europe.
The artists behind the new works come from Nigeria, mainly from Oshogbo and Ife, and follow in the tradition of Iwalewahaus founder Ulli Beier, who encouraged them to paint in the 1960s and organized appropriate artist training for the group. Among other things, a painting by the artist Middle Art, who depicts his traumatic experiences in the Nigerian civil war in his pictures, has now found its way into the Iwalewahaus.
"This donation is a significant enrichment for the Iwalewahaus. We are delighted to be able to deepen the diversity of the collection. In view of the exhibitions planned for the coming months, Albert Spiegel's donation is invaluable," says Sigrid Horsch-Albert, custodian and acting director of the Iwalewahaus.
In addition to the seven paintings and two batiks, Albert Spiegel has left the Iwalewahaus photographs, slides and reports from the time the art was created. The latter also refer to exhibitions that Spiegel organized in 1975 in cooperation with the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations at various locations in Germany. The contact with the Iwalewahaus came about through Dr. Gisela Janetzke, who was a member of the University Council of the University of Bayreuth from 2012 to 2021. "I am now quite old and will probably have to wind up my large household sooner or later. It is very important to me that these pictures end up in the hands of people or institutions that value them. That's why, in conversation with Dr. Janetzke, I came up with the idea of donating the pictures to the Iwalewahaus," says Spiegel.
Albert Spiegel was born in Tehran in 1940. He studied law in Munich, Mainz and Freiburg and joined the diplomatic service after completing his doctorate - with postings in Nigeria, among other places. Until 2002, he headed the Department of Foreign Cultural Policy at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.
