Dr. Anne Fleckstein to become Director of Akademie Schloss Solitude on February 1, 2024

Dr. Anne Fleckstein has been appointed to the post of Director of Akademie Schloss Solitude. The 47-year-old is moving from the German Federal Cultural Foundation in Halle to Stuttgart and will take up her post on February 1, 2024, as announced by State Secretary Arne Braun on Friday (September
22) in Stuttgart.

Statement from Arne Braun: »Anne Fleckstein is an excellent person to lead the Akademie. She has many years of experience in working with artists and internationally oriented, transdisciplinary funding programs. She sees itself as an enabler who seeks to offer fellows from all over the world optimal working conditions. Her international network and her experience of contemporary artistic discourses, particularly those concerning the Global South, are extremely valuable. Anne Fleckstein advocates the close connection of the Akademie to the art scene, both in the state capital Stuttgart and across Baden-Wuerttemberg as a whole.«

Statement from Anne Fleckstein: »I am delighted to have been chosen to lead this unique institution, with which I have been professionally associated for many years, in the capacity of Director and, together with its outstanding team, to contribute to its further development. Under my leadership, it is essential that Akademie Schloss Solitude is and remains one thing above all: A liberal, protected space for creative and cultural artists and researchers from all over the world. Uniting art and science and networking fellows in Stuttgart and Baden-Wuerttemberg is another particular concern of mine. I cannot think of a better place than Akademie Schloss Solitude for this kind of ›liaison work‹.«

Anne Fleckstein, born in 1976, has been responsible for the TURN program at the German Federal Cultural Foundation in Halle since 2015. Her prior appointments include Head of Press and Public Relations at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle and stints at the French Embassy and the Goethe-Institut. She wrote her dissertation on the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Unanimous Vote by the Selection Committee
In order to find a new Director, the Foundation Board of Akademie Schloss Solitude set up a Selection Committee. The Committee included external experts in addition to the members of the Akademie’s Foundation Board, namely Marc Gegenfurtner, Prof. Florian Hölscher, Dr. Tomislav Medak, Prasanna Oommen-Hirschberg and Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg. Suitable candidates were identified and invited to interview in a three-stage process via public advertisement and direct contact using an application procedure facilitated by the recruitment agency Odgers Berndtson. After extensive deliberation, the Selection Committee voted unanimously in favor of Dr. Anne Fleckstein.

The Foundation Board of Akademie Schloss Solitude accepted the recommendation of the Selection Committee and unanimously decided to appoint Anne Fleckstein to the post of Director of the Akademie. Dr. Fleckstein will commence her work at Akademie Schloss Solitude in an advisory capacity with effect from mid-November 2023, prior to beginning her five-year term as Director on February 1, 2024. The Solitude directorship had been vacant since January 2023, after Dr. Fleckstein’s predecessor, Elke aus dem Moore, announced that she would be devoting her attention to new professional tasks.

Media advisory:
State Secretary Arne Braun will introduce future Director Dr. Anne Fleckstein to the media at Akademie Schloss Solitude on October 10.
A separate invitation will be issued accordingly.