From Flotsam to a Work of Art

A find with consequences. When Volkmar Wywiol, the owner of Mühlenchemie, stumbled over an empty flour sack washed up on the beach in Dubai in 1998 there was no way he could guess the consequences this encounter would have. But he could not get the idea of the flour sack as part of our international cultural heritage out of his mind, and so the collection grew and grew until it comprised over 3,600 flour sacks from more than 140 countries. This was due above all to the enthusiasm of Mühlenchemie’s customers and employees; it was their many contributions that ultimately raised the flour sack to the level of a real art form, with a museum of its own.

But the FlourWorld Museum is more than just an exhibition building. It is the first institution to study flour sack motifs for their cultural significance and reveal their symbolism. Much of this pioneering work was carried out from the start by the cultural historian and curator of the museum, Angela Jannelli.