Kunst- und Kulturzentrum der StädteRegion Aachen, Cultural center and museum in Monschau, Germany.
The Kunst- und Kulturzentrum der StädteRegion Aachen, now the Fotografie-Forum der StädteRegion Aachen, occupies a building erected around 1870 at Austraße 9 in Monschau's old town, opposite the Aukloster. Renovated in 2002 with monument protection in mind, it holds cabinet-like exhibition rooms on three floors; the former artists' studios are gone, replaced by photography displays and a collection of some 500 works.
The center was founded in 2002 following a decision by the district council in October 2001 to create an artistic hub for the Aachen region. It was established with the goal of making local and regional art accessible to a wider public.
The house shows four to five photography exhibitions a year, drawing up to 35,000 visitors, with works by Anton Corbijn, Elliott Erwitt, Vivian Maier, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Lebeck. Many shows are curated exclusively for Monschau or seen nowhere else in Germany. Since 2021 a biennial photo festival is held in the StädteRegion Aachen.
The building at Austraße 9, opposite the Aukloster and a two-minute walk from the market square, is open six days a week with free admission. Exhibition rooms are divided into small cabinets across three floors, and the house is not wheelchair accessible.
The residency that supports a regional-themed project was first awarded in 2021 to Donata Wenders, who explored Monschau's cloth-making trade; her resulting exhibition ran until 19 December 2021. The grant is now awarded annually, and in November 2023 the forum's support association presented its first photography prize, to Barbara Klemm.
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