Kunstpavillon Travemünde
For three years, the small glass pavilion at Vogteistraße 21, on the corner of Rose, was a lively meeting place for art in Travemünde. Inga Prasse helped shape it from the very beginning, first as coordinator of a community project and later as the owner of a gallery.
The Beginnings: Art Against Empty Shops
The idea for the art pavilion came from Klaus Splieth of Radio Travemünde at the end of 2021. After the pandemic, many shops in the seaside resort stood empty, and he wanted to bring them back to life through culture. In a former bakery pavilion, artists from Lübeck and all over Germany were given the opportunity to show their work for three weeks at a time. This was made possible by the landlady, who provided the space free of charge until September 2022, and by Lübeck und Travemünde Marketing GmbH, which promoted the project.
From December 2021, Inga Prasse looked after the pavilion. She accompanied the changing exhibitions as gallerist during opening hours, handled press relations and managed the social media presence. She also brought her own art projects to the pavilion, including the “2 Day Exhibition” with Ali Alarm.
Art With and For Children
Bringing children into the pavilion was particularly close to Inga Prasse’s heart. Over two months, she worked with ten children from Stadtschule Travemünde to create acrylic paintings, which were then shown in the pavilion’s first children’s art exhibition. In November and December 2022, this was followed by the participatory exhibition “Unser schönes Travemünde” (Our Beautiful Travemünde), funded by Kulturfunken. On Social Day, she ran the gallery together with children, and later, in the children’s art studio, young talents could try out acrylics and watercolours, pastels and charcoal.
2023 and 2024: The Galerie Kunstpavillon Travemünde
In 2023, a new chapter began as Inga Prasse continued the pavilion as a gallery. It opened on 3 February 2023 with a vernissage attended by Lübeck’s mayor, Jan Lindenau. Instead of short rotations, there were now exhibitions lasting several months, featuring artists working both regionally and internationally. The opening show presented works by Ute Rönnpag-Lohmeyer, Gerd Rehme and Inga Prasse, as well as ceramics by ML Ceramics; later exhibitors included the Swiss artist Mechthild Ackermann and Susanne Kusch. A screen in the pavilion complemented the exhibitions with additional works and interviews with the exhibiting artists.
The pavilion’s impact also reached beyond its own walls: at the end of 2023, it was represented at the Lübecker Weihnachtswunderland (Lübeck Christmas Wonderland) together with the Künstlergemeinschaft Travemünde (Travemünde Artists’ Collective), with Inga Prasse as its spokesperson, offering artworks and free creative activities. And the vernissages became small celebrations for the town. In summer 2024, for example, the lawn next to the pavilion was transformed into a “green beach” under the motto “Beach Party”, where guests could paint, celebrate and linger.
Farewell in October 2024
After three years, the Kunstpavillon closed its doors in October 2024, bidding farewell to its audience with a closing day on 20 October. What remains are many exhibitions, encounters and children’s paintings, and the experience of how much a small space can do for art in a town.
Current exhibitions by Inga Prasse can be found in her bio.
