Creating a Museum. in the house of birth of. Charles Bukowski. in Andernach, Germany. (concept for 2010)

Transcription

1 Creating a Museum in the house of birth of Charles Bukowski in Andernach, Germany (concept for 2010)

2

3

4

5 Floorplan of Bukowski's house of birth (ground-floor) 1 Wall-Chart: Bukowski and Andernach 2 Wall-Chart: In San Pedro ( ) 3a Wall-Chart: The lost years (the 40s and early 50s) 3b Wall-Chart: Changes (the mid 50s and early 60s) 4 Wall-Chart: Success (the mid-60s and 70s) 5 Wall-Chart: Music and literature in the life of Bukowski 6 Show case with rarities and Original-exhibits 7 Show case with rarities and Original-exhibits 8 Multimedia-station 9 Multimedia-station 10 Big screen / monitor 11 Shelves with books and binders containing facsimiles of manuscripts, letters, etc 12 Shelves with books and binders containing facsimiles of manuscripts, letters, etc 13 Table with Xerox-machine/Scanner 14 Locked rack for items to store 15 public bar / sink etc. 16 Comfortable seating to read books/binders and watch videos, drink coffee and discuss 17 Comfortable seating to read books/binders and watch videos, drink coffee and discuss

6 MISSION STATEMENT The Charles-Bukowski-Society wants to build a museum dedicated to Charles Bukowski in his house of birth in Andernach, Germany in BACKGROUND (why and why now?) "Bukowski's voice is one of the most original and important in modern American literature." said Sue Hodson, the Huntington's curator of literary manuscripts in 2006, when Linda Bukowski, the widow of the author, donated the literary estate to her institute. We totally agree. The Charles-Bukowski-Society is an officially accredited NON-PROFIT-ORGANISATION (NPO) with the aim to contribute to the memory, research, appreciation and spread of Charles Bukowski, the author and the man. The city of Andernach, Germany, where he was born, is supporting us on these efforts. Ten years ago, we were able to realize a memorial-plate on Bukowski's house of birth together with the Mayor and the cultural-office of the city. Now we aim higher and there is a reason for it: Not only will there be Bukowski's 90 th birthday in 2010, which will gather a lot of public interest also in the media. The possibilities to implement a museum in his house of birth have never been better for a long time: The house is fully renovated and the rooms on the groundfloor are standing empty at the moment. Also, the owners of the house, agree to give the rooms for our purpose. the memorial-plate on Bukowski's house of birth But time is running out: The owners of the house want to rent it as soon as possible. Though they like our project, they said, if we aren't able to start implementing at the beginning of 2010 (which would make it possible to open around August 16, 2010), they'd rent the rooms otherwise. This would mean, we won't get a 2 nd chance to go in there for years! Even worse: one of the potential tenants would be a carnival-club. In Bukowski's house of birth!

7 BUKOWSKI-MUSEUM preparative thoughts: a) TARGET-GROUP our target group is devided into 3 sub-cathegories: - the general visitor of a literary museum (not specially interested in or informed about Bukowski before the visit but generally interested in literature/culture/arts) - the regular fan of Charles Bukowski (often not much interested in museums) - the academic with interest in specific research b) The Place The place is a basement in Bukowski's house of birth (5-min-walk from the station, 10-min-walk to the city-centre). We will have three small rooms, all connected. To only fill these small rooms with rare, one-of-a-kind-items and collectibles would lead to people running around, gathering in front of some show-cases behind glass, appreciatory nodding their heads and leaving the place after 10 min. We want them to stay. Here is, what we will have: the content: a) Show-offs (in show-cases behind glass) - Signed, limited First-Editions - Original Manuscripts / letters - Original drawings / paintings by Bukowski - Montfort-photographs and specials (e.g. The Big White Book, proofs, etc) - Replica of the Bukowski-Bust (lent from the Montfort-estate) - etc b) Wall-Charts these will be on the walls all over the place. Big. With information, pictures, details from letters/manuscripts, etc. Possible structure: - Bukowski and Andernach - Childhood and youth - The lost years (the 40s and early 50s) - Changes (the mid 50s and early 60s) - Success (the mid-60s and 70s) - In San Pedro ( ) - Music and literature in the life of Charles Bukowski c) Multimedia-Stations these will play videos and audio-tracks from as many Bukowski-appearances as possible. Video: - Reading 1970 in Bellevue - Reading 1973 in San Francisco - Reading 1978 in Hamburg - Reading 1979 in Vancouver - Reading 1980 in Redondo Beach - The 'Bukowski-Tapes' Documentary 1974: Bukowski

8 - Documentary 1976: Bukowski in East-Hollywood - Documentary 1978: It's good to be back - Documentary I'm still here - Documentary born into this Audio: - several private readings Reading 1973 in San Francisco - Reading 1978 in Hamburg - Reading 1980 in Redondo Beach - Private Reading 1990 in San Pedro ('Run with the Hunted uncensored') d) Big Screen/Monitor showing silent scenes from the Bukowski-Videos in no particular order e) Library this will be the biggest and most complete Bukowski-library in Europe, suitable for the use by general readers/fans as well as academical researchers. Contents: - All available books by Bukowski in German - All available books by Bukowski in English - All available books on Bukowski in English/German (all secondary literature that is) - Facsimile of letters, manuscripts, appearances in magazines etc. (we are aiming at copies of the enormous collection of binders from Abel Debritto) the setting: a) working-places tables where visitors can sit, write, make notes and consume the contents from the multimedia-stations. There should also be a Xerox /Scanner (to avoid 'vanishing' from our library). b) comfortable seating one of the important things will be, the opportunity to just sit in a relaxed way and easily read through the Library. This will keep people interested and stay in the museum for hours. Sofas (Couches), easy-chairs, coffeetables to put down books/binders as well as cups/glasses. c) beverages together with the need for comfort goes the possibility to drink something. We're not talking about a fully stocked bar we're talking about a minimum: One sort of coffee, tea, water, white wine, red wine, beer will do. This requires a minimalistic kitchen (water, sink, etc) we can have this at the place.

9 FINANCIALS all prices listed below are only estimations. The currency would be EUR, to get an idea of the USD-prices, you'd multiply by 1.5 Implementing I. Inventory single total 1 Sofa 500,- 500,- 3 Easy-chairs 300,- 900,- 1 Coffeetable 250,- 250,- 1 Small Coffeetable 50,- 50,- 2 Workingtable 150,- 300,- 3 Chairs 100,- 300,- 1 High Shelf for Library 350,- 350,- 1 Middle-High Shelf for Library 200,- 200,- 4 wastebins 20,- 80,- 1 Table for Xeroxmachine/Scanner 100,- 100,- 1 Rack (lockable) for items to store 500,- 500,- Clothing hooks 20,- 20,- Doormat 50,- 50,- II. Beverages single total 1 Refridgerator 500,- 500,- 1 Sink 500,- 500,- 1 Cashpoint 100,- 100,- 2 Senseo-Coffeemachines 50,- 100,- Glasses, Cups, etc. 200,- 200,- III. Elektric/Elektronic/Computer single total 1 Computer (incl. Software) 1.000, ,- 2 Multimedia-Stations 2.000, ,- 1 Xerox-copy-machine/Scanner 500,- 500,- 1 Mobilephone 150,- 150,- 1 Big-screen/monitor 1.500, ,- Sound 1.000, ,- Lighting 1.000, ,- Web-site (implementation) 1.000, ,-

10 IV. Safety single total Safety-bars on 5 windows 700, ,- Safety-lock for door 600,- 600,- V. Exhibits single total 5 Wall-Charts 300, ,- Library (this price is only possible with donations) 2000, ,- Documents (original manuscripts, signed firsts, etc) 8000, ,- Audio/Video 3000, ,- VI. Work on the building 5.000,- T O T AL - Implementation ,- Annual Cost monthly annual Rent (inkl. Nebenkosten) 500, ,- salary for the keeper (ca. 4 h a day / 5 days a week) 1.000, ,- Insurance 1.500,- Travelling-Cost (20 x Bamberg Andernach) 5.000,- Marketing, PR 4.000,- Communication 80,- 960,- Web-site (administration) 150,- TOTAL per annum ,- _ TOTAL - Implementation and first 3 years ,-

11 Compared to most museums out there, the amount of money we need is ridiculously low. Still we don't have it. The city of Andernach is able to give 10,000.- EUR and we may find sponsors for additional 20,000.- EUR only. WE NEED YOU!!! Of course, Bukowski does not NEED a museum but he does DESERVE one. Let's Do This! Contact CHARLES-BUKOWSKI-GESELLSCHAFT c/o Roni Am Sendelbach Bamberg (+49) roni@bukowski-gesellschaft.de