Milein Cosman Centenary Events
The ongoing Covid-19 crisis has caused many events originally planned for Milein Cosman’s centenary in 2021 to be re-scheduled. This page is being regularly updated with the latest information as it is received.
Bundestag, Berlin, Germany
Exhibition, 6 April – 20 May 2022
This exhibition features Milein Cosman’s drawings of the members of the first post-war German cabinet, all of whom she was commissioned to draw in 1949 by the magazine Heute. These historic drawings have only recently been acquired by the German Bundestag’s Art Collection and this will be their first public showing as a collection. Also on display will be a selection of Cosman’s drawings and prints now held in the Akademie der Kunste, Berlin. For further information and to read more about Milein Cosman’s historic trip in 1949, see here.
Hampstead School of Art, London, UK
Hampstead School of Art, London, UKExhibition, 15 December 2021 – 21 February 2022
Hampstead School of Art presents an exhibition celebrating Milein Cosman’s life and work, to mark the centenary of her birth. Milein Cosman lived in Hampstead for over 70 years, first on Christchurch Hill, then Willow Road, and finally Frognal Gardens. A range of her drawings, prints, illustrated books, sketch books, and a sculpture of her husband Hans Keller will be included in the exhibition, along with a talk about her extraordinary life and prolific output. Further information here.
the view from Cosman’s house in Willow Road
Royal College of Music, London, UK
Exhibition opening 5 October 2021 and concert on 9 December 2021
The Royal College of Music Museum houses the largest single collection of Milein Cosman’s drawings and prints of musicians, containing over 1,300 individual works. The collection has been fully digitised (the catalogue is available online here). A permanent exhibition of Milein Cosman’s work has been prepared as part of the RCM’s major redevelopment of its Museum, which re-opened to the public on 5 October 2021, with Milein Cosman’s work on display in the Lavery Gallery. A memorial concert commemorating both Milein Cosman and Hans Keller is to be held in the Amaryllis Fleming Hall on 9 December 2021, preceded by a special reception at which the Trust will donate to the Royal College Museum a further collection of Milein Cosman’s drawings of musicians.
Salzburg University, Austria
Exhibition and performances (dates to be confirmed)
In 2017, the Milein Cosman Dancers Collection was established as a department of the Music and Migration Collections at Salzburg University (Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg) in Austria. Since then, the department has built a detailed finding aid for the complete collection, which is publicly accessible online. The complete collection has been professionally digitized and is scheduled for online publication with the digital repository dhPLUS, the university’s principal tool for digital humanities activity. Head of Department Nils Grosch is collaborating with the Salzburg Museum der Moderne regarding a future major exposition project. Activities planned by the department itself for early 2021 are a small exhibition in the Unipark department, and collaborative performances inspired by Cosman’s drawings.
The international annual ‘Song, Stage and Screen’ conference, to be held in Salzburg in 2021 at the music and dance studies department, is also featuring some of Cosman‘s drawings in its public presentations (see https://song-stage-screen15.sbg.ac.at).
Stadtmuseum, Düsseldorf, Germany
Exhibition, 10 October – 28 November 2021
In 2021, Milein Cosman and her great friend from childhood, Ilde Schrader, would have celebrated their 100th birthdays. They met at school in Düsseldorf in 1927, and while they were separated from 1937 until after the war, they remained close throughout their lives, with both of them becoming artists. While Milein’s journey took her to England, Ilde’s took her to Italy. In this joint exhibition their lives are illustrated by some of their artworks, along with several related and moving mementos.
Further information available here.
