The Hochschule für Künste Bremen mourns the death of Hans-Joachim Manske

The Hochschule für Künste (HfK) Bremen mourns the loss of its longtime friend and supporter Hans-Joachim Manske, who passed away in May 2022. He was 78 years old.

"With Hans-Joachim Manske, our university loses an important supporter who promoted the HfK through his ideas and visions and left a lasting mark on it," said Professor Roland Lambrette, Rector of the HfK. "Our entire university community is especially grateful to him for his outstanding commitment to young artists," said Professor Lambrette.

Hans-Joachim Manske's dedication to Bremen's cultural sector has decisively enriched the city community. He was instrumental in ensuring that Bremen's City Hall and the Roland statue are now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. He was also head of the department for fine arts, monument preservation and state archaeology at the Senator für Kultur from 1974 until his retirement in 2009, for which he curated the "Kunst im öffentlichen Raum" (English: Art in Public Space) program, among other things. The promotion of artists by the Department of Culture was particularly important to him. Manske initiated many projects that were of great importance to the Hochschule für Künste. In 1977, he conceived the Bremen Förderpreis für Bildende Kunst, which annually awards one position of young Bremen art with 6,000 euros and a solo exhibition. He was also one of the co-founders of the Gesellschaft für aktuelle Kunst (GAK). In 1981 he was one of the initiators of the Barkenhoff Foundation, and in 1989 he was involved when the renowned Roland-Preis für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum was initiated. In addition, Hans-Joachim Manske directed the Städtische Galerie Bremen until his retirement. As early as 1984, Hans-Joachim Manske had conceived the Programm der sozialen Kunstförderung, a unique nationwide support program for Bremen based artists that was jointly launched by the Senator für Kultur and the Senator für Soziales until 2004. "We owe Hans-Joachim Manske a debt of gratitude for his life's work. Our deepest sympathy goes to his relatives," said Professor Lambrette.