Rudo Spemann Prize 2021: winners Freytag, Müller, Akinci announced
22.10.2021
In memory of the outstanding writer and calligrapher Rudo Spemann (1905-1947), the Klingspor Museum awards the Rudo Spemann Prize every two years. Almost the entire estate of the calligrapher is part of the museum's core collection. The jury has now announced the winners for 2021.
The prize was first awarded in 1954. It is aimed at trainees in the field of type design. The aim is to maintain awareness of the expressiveness of handwriting and to recognize this accent of type design in the mirror of artistic forms of expression. This year's task was "I want to make myself heard - my appeal today, my appeal to tomorrow".
The jury was impressed by the differentiated style of the submitted works. "They all made a visibly intensive effort to fulfill the task of staging a personal statement in a credible, individual and professionally written artistic manner," said the jury. The three winners were selected from 34 entries
Award winner
Ole Freytag was awarded first prize. "I think it is time to believe. But I am nervous that the answer is right in front of me. All this pain..." - Ole Freytag has written his view, attitude and concern with verve on a wide cape. White on black, the lines are tightly woven into a cocoon in which the writer - hood up - is completely concealed. Protection from the environment is combined with an appeal for commitment to it. The student of communication design at the University of Wismar won first prize in the Rudo Spemann competition with his cape.
Second prize: Lisa Müller, also from Wismar University of Applied Sciences, shows off writing in a textile context. Her neatly embroidered cloth - household cloths from the 19th and early 20th century were the inspiration - for a message that significantly goes beyond the scope of needlework: "No means no." The inviolability of a woman's dignity is unmistakable. Whether one recognizes an additional level of meaning in the "ss" is up to the viewer.
Third prize: The leitmotif of the work by Deniz Akinci, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences Wiesbaden, is the statement: "Yes, I am German." Vehemently put on paper in black pen strokes, it explains the view that living here in this country must mean belonging. And that the people here have to share this country with all those who are equally important inhabitants in their own way.
The Rudo Spemann Prize 2021 makes it emphatically clear that writing based on personal opinions, thoughts and feelings is as relevant as ever.
The prize-winning works will be presented on 12.11.21 at the annual general meeting of the Friends of the Klingspor Museum and will be on display in the museum the following week.