Welcome to the Salon!
The International Gathering of Decorative Painters, aka the “Salon” welcomes all interested parties from May 16th to 19th in the Museum der Arbeit in Hamburg-Barmbek.
What can visitors expect?
Decorative painters from all over the world will show their techniques live on site, and present the diversity of this craft in an extensive exhibition on the theme “Work and Technology in Hamburg.”
Nowadays people like to talk about wall painting, murals, interior design, wall design – all of this has its origin in decorative painting: until the 1950s a fixed term for design in the painting trade with schools all over Europe. The oldest existing one is the Institut Van der Kelen in Brussels, where many of today’s decorative painters have been trained, but there are newer, smaller, often privately-run academies, e.g. in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, France, the USA and Germany.
Visitors can look forward to a unique exhibition on the ground floor of the old factory. All international influences can be seen at the Salon: Japan, the USA, Italy, France, England, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, BeNeLux, Austria or even Azerbeidjan – a wide variety of techniques and approaches – shaped by exchange, travel, and one’s own culture.
The organizer Friederike Schulz has been a member of the Salon since 1998. As host she is responsible for the exhibition and events in 2024. An absolute highlight of every salon: on the 1st floor of the old factory, painting is done on site. Live works of art are created, and visitors can follow the creation of marble and wood imitation, trompe-l’oeil painting, ornaments, and murals; an opportunity to look over the shoulder of the experts and learn a trick or two.
