DRESDEN.- Tulga Beyerle is to be the new Director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum [Museum of Decorative Arts] in Schloss Pillnitz, where she will head one of the leading museums of regional and international applied arts.

In response to the appointment, Hartwig Fischer, Director General of the SKD, declared, ‘I am particularly pleased to welcome Tulga Beyerle as the new Director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. In Ms Beyerle we are gaining a outstandingly competent, highly regarded figure in the field of design history. We are sure that she will apply her considerable wealth of experience to great effect in Dresden, and that under her leadership the Kunstgewerbemuseum will develop dynamically over the coming years.’

Tulga Beyerle (b. 1964) studied Industrial Design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She has curated exhibitions for the Museums of Applied Arts in Vienna and Cologne, the ExperimentaDesign Biennale in Lisbon, and the Wien Museum, Vienna. Most recently, Ms Beyerle served as director of the annual Vienna Design Week, which she co-founded with Lilli Hollein and Thomas Geisler in 2007.

Ms Beyerle, who takes up her new role on 1 January 2014, also expressed her delight. ‘My appointment as Director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum is not only a wonderful challenge and an immense pleasure, but also a great honour. I see it as my task to lead the Kunstgewerbemuseum into the 21st century and to establish its position firmly on the international map, while continuing to respect the rich heritage and wealth of the existing collection. A major objective here is further enhancement of the already outstanding reputation of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.’

Ms Beyerle takes over from Dr Peter Plassmeyer, Director of the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, who has been temporary acting director for the past four years.

The Kunstgewerbemuseum, housed in the Baroque pleasure palace of Schloss Pillnitz, is one of the 14 museums of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Here, magnificent objects and opulent rooms associated with the electors and kings of Saxony are preserved and displayed. Gilt thrones, furniture made of silver or colourful lacquer and other sumptuous furnishings they commissioned, as well as pieces produced by virtuoso craftsmen in Saxon court workshops, bear witness to the luxury and elegance enjoyed by these rulers. Objects on display include elaborately painted and cut glass from the court wine cellars, exquisite textiles such as damask, embroidery and lace, and pieces selected from the royal collections of Italian majolica, Delftware and German stoneware.

Other highlights – ranging from a mediaeval antependium to 20th-century furniture – trace five centuries of the history of regional and international applied arts, including the age of modern industrial design. In this journey through time, numerous examples of Dresden Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) and machine-made furniture produced by the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau are particular highlights, clearly demonstrating Dresden’s role as a cradle of modernist design. Works created by Piero Fornasetti, Shiro Kuramata, Ron Arad and Dale Chihuly, among many others, represent the world of contemporary design.