Swiss pavilion

The Swiss pavilion houses Switzerland's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.

Background

The Venice Biennale is an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Often described as "the Olympics of the art world", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater.^[1]

Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in venues throughout the city.^[1]

Organization and building

The Swiss pavilion was designed by Swiss architect Bruno Giacometti as part of a design competition and was constructed in 1952. It has multiple rooms linked by courtyards.^[2]

Between 1990 and 2009, Switzerland also used the San Stae church as exhibition venue. From 1932 until 1952 Switzerland had another pavilion, designed by Brenno Del Giudice on the island Sant'Elena.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2012, Pro Helvetia has assumed responsibility for the Swiss contributions to the Venice Biennale.^{[citation needed]}

Representation by year

Art

1920 — Group exhibition
1926 — Group exhibition
1932 — Paul Bodmer, Numa Donzé, Augusto Giacometti, Karl Otto Hügin, Reinhold Kündig, Martin Lauterburg, Ernst Morgenthaler, Alfred Heinrich Pellegrini, Karl Geiser, Hermann Haller, Hermann Hubacher, Johann Jakob Probst, René Auberjonois, Maurice Barraud, Hans Berger, Abraham Hermanjat, Albert Carl Angst
1934 — Cuno Amiet, Hermann Haller
1936 — Aldo Patocchi, Emilio Maria Beretta, Max Uehlinger
1938 — Victor Surbek, Hermann Hubacher, Hans Berger
1940 — Louis René Moilliet, Johann Jakob Probst, Alexandre Blanchet
1942 — Karl Walser, Otto Charles Bänninger, Max Hunziker
1948 — Fritz Pauli, Franz Fischer, René Auberjonois, Albert Schnyder
1950 — Alfred Heinrich Pellegrini, Ernst Suter
1952 — Hans Fischer, Max Gubler, Johann Jakob Probst
1954 — Cuno Amiet, Carl Burckhardt, Paul Speck, Marcel Poncet
1956 — Hans Aeschbacher, Walter Bodmer, Johannes Burla, Eugen Häfelfinger, Walter Linck, Bernhard Luginbühl, Robert Müller, Erwin Rehmann, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Louis Weber, André Gigon, Hansjörg Gisiger, René Monney, Antoine Poncet, Léon Prébandier, André Ramseyer, Serge Brignoni
1958 — Max Bill, Richard Paul Lohse, Camille Graeser, Theodor Bally, Wolf Barth, Walter Bodmer, Theo Eble, Fritz Glarner, Leo Leuppi, Louis René Moilliet, Wilfrid Moser, Max Rudolf von Mühlenen
1960 — Otto Tschumi, Varlin, Robert Müller
1962 — Albert Schilling, Paul Speck, Louis René Moilliet
1964 — Zoltán Kemény, Bernhard Luginbühl
1966 — Johannes Itten, Walter Linck
1968 — Fritz Glarner, Hans Aeschbacher
1970 — Peter Stämpfli, Walter Vögeli, Jean-Edouard Augsburger
1972 — Richard Paul Lohse, Willy Weber
1976 — Max Altorfer, Claude Loewer
1978 — Raffael Benazzi, Roland Hotz, Jean Lecoultre
1980 — Peter Steiner, Wilfrid Moser, Oscar Wiggli
1982 — Dieter Roth
1984 — Miriam Cahn
1986 — John Armleder, Aldo Walker
1988 — Markus Raetz
1990 — Olivier Mosset
1993 — Christoph Rütimann
1995 — Peter Fischli & David Weiss
1997 — Urs Frei, Helmut Federle
1999 — Roman Signer
2001 — Urs Luthi, Norbert Möslang, Andy Guhl
2003 — Emmanuelle Antille, Gerda Steiner, Jörg Lenzlinger
2005 — Pipilotti Rist, Ingrid Wildi, Gianni Motti, Shahryar Nashat, Marco Poloni (curator: Stefan Banz)
2007 — Yves Netzhammer, Ugo Rondinone, Urs Fischer, Christine Streuli (curators: Urs Staub, Andreas Münch)
2009 — Silvia Bächli, Fabrice Gygi (Commissioner: Andreas Münch, Curator: Urs Staub)
2011 — Thomas Hirschhorn/"Chewing the Scenery" (Curator: Andrea Thal)
2013 — Valentin Carron (Curator: Giovanni Carmine)
2015 — Pamela Rosenkranz (Curator: Susanne Pfeffer)
2017 — Carol Bove, Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler (Curator: Philipp Kaiser)^[3]^[4]
2019 — Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz (Curator: Charlotte Laubard)
2022 — Latifa Echakhch, Alexandre Babel (Curator: Francesco Stocchi)^[5]
2024 — Guerreiro do Divino Amor (Curator: Andrea Bellini)^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Russeth 2019.
^ Volpi 2013.
^ Andrew Russeth (March 8, 2016), Philipp Kaiser Will Curate Switzerland's Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale ARTnews.
^ Andrew Russeth (November 2, 2016), Carol Bove and Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler Tapped for 2017 Swiss Pavilion in Venice ARTnews
^ José da Silva (17 December 2021), Venice Biennale 2022: all the national pavilions, artists and curators The Art Newspaper.
^ Alex Greenberger (12 January 2023), Guerreiro do Divino Amor Picked to Represent Switzerland at 2024 Venice Biennale ARTnews.

Bibliography

Russeth, Andrew (April 17, 2019). "The Venice Biennale: Everything You Could Ever Want to Know". ARTnews. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
Volpi, Cristiana (2013). "Switzerland". In Re Rebaudengo, Adele (ed.). Pavilions and Garden of Venice Biennale. Rome: Contrasto. p. 193. ISBN 978-88-6965-440-4.