The Swiss-German expression "Weisch no?" is a familiar invitation to look back together. Personal memories become shared stories that create a sense of community and connection. Whether historical events, technical innovations or cultural phenomena such as music, fashion, design and games - the exhibition shows how memories shape our identity and connect us with one another. The Art Foyer becomes a place where works of art meet everyday objects and stories from past decades. This combination creates an exciting interplay between aesthetic reflection and lived reality.

Works of art as a time capsule

Paintings and drawings from past decades that reflect the social, political or cultural themes of their time and make them tangible meet contemporary art that deals with memory, time and identity. The focus is on the question of how art preserves, interprets and revives memories - a dialog between past and present. With works by Francis Baudevin, Ernst Baumann, Hans Berger, Beni Bischof, Christoph Draeger, Klodin Erb, Marc Elsener, Hans-Rudolf Fitze, Clare Goodwin, Sven Hoppler, Thomas Huber, Ernst Leu, Zilla Leutenegger, Lutz & Guggisberg, Rudolf Maeglin, Stephan Melzl, Hans Obrecht, Alfred Heinrich Pellegrini, Steiner /Lenzlinger, Gustav Stettler, Hans Stocker, Studer / van den Berg, Christian Vetter, Bernard Voïta, Uwe Wittwer, Peter Wüthrich and Teres Wydler

Cheers to the memories

Nostalgic reminiscing can increase well-being and strengthen a sense of community. "Weisch no?" is an invitation to pause and remember the little and big moments in life: the French fries in the garden pool, the Panini picture that was missing for the album, or the trendy shoulder pads of the 80s. Rubik's cube, Monchichi, cassette player, Tigerfinkli, the telephone with dial, the old games consoles - these and many other objects are more than just objects. They are small time capsules which, together with the works of art on display, tell stories and evoke memories of unforgettable moments. The exhibition in the Helvetia Art Foyer offers space for personal and collective memories - and for the realization of how much the past shapes our present and future. An audio guide complements the exhibition.

Opening hours Helvetia Art Foyer: January 8 to May 7, 2026, Thursday from 4 to 8 pm (except April 2, 2026). Admission free Helvetia Art Foyer, St.Alban-Anlage 26, 4002 Basel. Further information at www.helvetia.ch/artfoyer

Known for striking buildings such as bridges and railroad stations, Zurich-based architect Santiago Calatrava is designing this year's art edition of the NZZ. His work is characterized by organic forms and moves in the field of tension between architecture, art and nature. "My method consists of making a lot of sketches and drawings. Working in series takes you where you didn't want to go," explains Calatrava in an interview with Roman Bucheli, deputy head of the features section at the NZZ.

Calatrava, who is originally from Valencia, describes his current adopted home of Zurich as a city that became an artistic revelation for him: "The sobriety in Zurich, the silence and at the same time the light in this city by the lake, it all meant a liberation. I breathed more easily again. Here I experienced the dawn of a new art, because I have always understood architecture as art."

Exclusively for the art edition, Calatrava has created a series of 25 watercolors and a limited edition of two lithographs for the NZZ, which will be available in the newspaper's store from Saturday.

The 14-metre-high highlight of the current campaign is located at Rautistrasse 30 in Zurich and was created by Rivella together with Wand und Family. The mural features a Rivella yellow bottle and two striking graffiti characters created by Basel-based urban artist Ontwan. It is intended to link the Rivella brand world with urban street art and set an example for more color and creativity in everyday life.

Accompanying the artistic realization was a collaboration with the commercial publishing team from 20 minutes a series of video reports. "Street Art by Rivella" provides insights into the creation of the artwork, portrays the Basel artist and sheds light on the role of street art in the Swiss cultural landscape.

In keeping with the brand claim "Make it colorful.", Rivella is also supporting the Swiss street art scene beyond the current campaign: In the line-up of the Street Art Festival Chur 2026, Rivella is enabling up-and-coming Swiss street artists to create their own mural. The festival will provide a wall for the Rivella rookie or rookies.

Responsible at Rivella: Francesco Camenzind (Brand Manager), Andrea Murer (Social Media Manager); Marianna Länsitalo (Head Brand Management Communication & Digital), Angelika Leemann (Co-CMO). Responsible for Wand: Andreas Arnold (CEO), Fabian "Bane" Florin (Creative Director), Anton "Ontwan" Böhme (Artist), Tom Brunner (Directing, DOP); Responsible at 20 minutes: Miki Karrer, Benjamin Quirico (concept & text), Mirjana Elmer (project management), Dominik Kerschenbauer, Sarah Kmochova (video production), Robin Bruni (host), Luana Barra, Jan Löning (social creators). Agency: Family.

Haus Konstruktiv's last major exhibition is currently running at Unterwerk Selnau before the museum moves to the Löwenbräukunst site in May 2025.

It is therefore the last opportunity to see constructive-concrete art in the impressive halls of the historic industrial building, which was home to the museum for over two decades.

To remind people of this last chance, Ruf Lanz has replaced the yellow areas in concrete art with Post-it notes. People like to use these sticky notes to remind themselves of important things they don't want to forget or miss.

The campaign was conceived as a tribute to the Swiss-American artist Fritz Glarner and his Rockefeller Dining Room from 1963/64. This is one of the centerpieces of the Museum Haus Konstruktiv collection.

The agency has been working for Museum Haus Konstruktiv since 2015. The campaigns have received numerous awards - including a Cannes Film Lion, the Evergreen Award from the Art Directors Club Switzerland for many years of creative consistency and, most recently, Culture Gold at the Swiss Out of Home Award 2024.

The current campaign sticks on printed and digital posters, in advertisements and on social media.

Responsible at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv: Sabine Schaschl (Director and Chief Curator), Andreas Durisch (President of the Foundation Board), Ladina Hurst, Pascal Schlecht (Marketing and Communications). Vhe responsible at Ruf Lanz: Catherine Martin (Art Direction & Visual Composing), Markus Ruf (Creative Direction & Text), Sherif Ademi (DTP), Gian Marco Juon (Head of Consulting). External partners: RTK Media Technology (Lithography).

On the "Friday Beyeler" evening, annabelle presents the highly personal body stories from the successful "Bodybuilding" section in the middle of the "Matisse - Invitation to a Journey" exhibition. Twelve selected nude photographs will be shown, accompanied by personally intimate texts in which the women portrayed talk about their relationship to their bodies. "Bodybuilding" focuses on the female body - naked, unretouched, impressively photographed by Sara Merz.

The women's faces are never visible, the focus is entirely on their bodies. Since the launch of the section in March 2021, 65 readers have already had their photos taken and shared their stories, each one different from the next, dealing with beauty, pregnancy or illness, strength, sexuality, gender reassignment or organ donation. Bodies are objects of scientific and artistic study, bodies are potential and handicap, bodies are worshipped, coveted and criticized, often most harshly by ourselves. In the Bodybuilding section, annabelle traces the complex nature of individual and social body images. Physicality also plays a central role in the work of Henri Matisse.

"It is exciting to relate today's perspectives on the body to the artistic and male perspective of Henri Matisse," says editor-in-chief Barbara Loop. "Friday Beyeler" is a series of events organized by the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel. Every Friday evening from September 6 to November 29, 2024, visitors will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the current exhibitions and exchange ideas with other art enthusiasts on a variety of topics. The evening program will be designed in collaboration with interesting personalities and collectives from the worlds of art and culture: as changing hosts, various voices on Matisse will provide inspiration for shared art experiences.

Marina Abramović is one of the most influential and famous artists of our time. For decades, her art performances have explored physical and mental boundaries in an unmistakable way. The Kunsthaus Zürich is now honoring her work with the first retrospective in Switzerland, from the end of October 2024 to mid-February 2025.

Together with the Zurich agency Sir Mary, an unusual campaign was developed that goes far beyond exhibition communication and poster design. The activation campaign calls on art fans from all over the world to figuratively "steal" the artworks of world star Marina Abramović.

Tutorials for three of Abramović's best-known performances are intended to make plagiarizing even easier under the artist's approval. These tutorials are at the heart of the activation campaign and run animated across all digital channels. The campaign is also flanked by classic channels such as (D)OOH, advertisements and flyers.

As most of the performances are primarily dependent on their visibility, users are encouraged to film their own interpretation of the performances and post them publicly with the hashtag "#StealMarinasArtwork". In this way, Marina Abramović's works are expanded to include a previously unseen perspective, in keeping with the spirit of the retrospective. A dedicated landing page serves as a campaign hub with all relevant information.

The most authentic and convincing performance thefts will be included in the official selection of the Kunsthaus - and have the chance to win an exclusive and signed portrait of Abramović, shot by Swiss star photographer Michel Comte.

The idea of the provocative campaign is to become a kind of interactive, collective art performance that addresses controversial topics such as intellectual property rights and public access to art. And in keeping with Abramović's life's work, it arguably poses more questions than answers.

The campaign has been running since the beginning of October 2024 on Instagram, TikTok, OOH, DOOH and ads. The deadline for all performances is the end of November 2024.

Responsible at Kunsthaus Zürich: Alex Hefter (Head of Sales and Services), Priska Amstutz (Head of Communications & Marketing), Marie-Hélène Thornton (Marketing Manager), Sara Nenzi (Digital Products, Social Media). Responsible at Sir Mary: Adrian Merz (Executive Creative Director), Thomas Berger (Design Director), Michael Messer (Copywriter), Michelle Müntener (Content Creator & Illustration), Jacqueline Willimann (Senior Account Manager), Daniel Zuberbühler (Managing Partner), Florian Beck (Chief Creative Officer), Luca Zurfluh (Edit & Animations), Reto Hüttenmoser (Animations).

Due to renovation work, the main building of Vaudoise Insurance is currently shrouded in large scaffolding. The Vaudoise Art Commission is using this for an art installation by Nigel Peake. The architect, designer and visual artist, who was born in Ireland in 1981, has exhibited his works in Europe and the USA. Richnerstutz installed Peake's artwork "On and Around" on the tarpaulins and scaffolding for the insurance company - in record time. It took just ten days from print approval to the finished installation.

Plan, produce, assemble

The implementation required close collaboration with Vaudoise, Nigel Peake and the architectural firm Itten+Brechbühl, which was commissioned with the renovation, Richnerstutz writes in a press release. The company was responsible for planning, sampling, precise measurements, drawing up the plans and visualizations, as well as production and installation. "The mega format of over 2,300 square meters required both a mechanical and manual process. The work consists of individual, five-metre-wide panels that have to be joined together precisely so that the transitions are just right," explains Marc Mühlemann, Key Account Management & Marketing, Suisse Romande at Richnerstutz.

A monumental synthesis of the arts

The assembly of the gigantic work of art also proved to be a challenge. Richnerstutz welded the printed material together in strips and equipped it with fastening options all around. "The assembly was carried out in the third dimension, which required a lot of imagination when planning and assembling so that everything really fits," says Marc Mühlemann. The result speaks for itself: "On and Around" is a total work of art and invites you to marvel. The interweaving of lines, colors and structures creates a dialogue that is constantly renewed between the architecture, the city and the surrounding landscape.

Swiss Post connects people. In the past and today. At least that is its claim and mission. The exhibition in Chur explores these different aspects of transmission and exchange. Social processes are to be reflected "in a world that has become fragile", the museum wrote on Thursday.

To this end, works of art were brought together in an associative sequence: works from the Swiss Post collection and those from the museum collection were juxtaposed. Since a federal decree to promote Swiss art and an ordinance of 1924, Swiss Post has collected over 450 works in 100 years. It also sponsored events for artists in Switzerland and was committed to art in architecture.

No postal exhibition without stamps

But art can also be more low-threshold. The postage stamp, the smallest format of a work of art, is also included in the exhibition. Over the past 100 years, Swiss Post has repeatedly commissioned artists to design stamps.

Campaigns were also launched using special stamps. Such as the "Stop AIDS" campaign in 1994, for which Niki de Saint Phalle designed a stamp. Her original design can now be seen in Chur.

During the three months of the exhibition in Chur, the various services provided by Swiss Post will be on display in nine cabinet rooms. Dialogue is the common thread running through the exhibition - whether it's about art on buildings, postcards or Postbus travel.

Diana Pavlicek, Head of Art Engagement at Swiss Post, was quoted in a press release as saying that Chur was chosen as the starting point for the exhibition series thanks to the linguistic diversity of the canton of Graubünden and its geographical location with its historically significant connections across the Alps. "Fragile. The Swiss Post Art Collection" is on display at the Bündner Kunstmuseum until August 25. The next exhibition will open in Bellinzona on September 13. (SDA)

In an interview with features editor Benedict Neff, Ugo Rondinone explains what attracted him to the New Zurich Newspaper into an art object: "The daily newspapers are less and less interested in art. Gallery exhibitions are no longer discussed. Museum policy is not debated with any perseverance. The opportunity to create colorful pages for the NZZ-I'm not going to miss out on the opportunity to fill a newspaper with readers. It turns a newspaper into portable public art."

As a gay man, Rondinone saw his lifetime limited by the AIDS crisis, as he says in the interview. Time and transience, mortality and infinity, the present and timelessness, but also the existence of man in contrast to that of nature occupied him from then on. His work has made him one of the most important contemporary artists - or, as he says, an "artist of light" who wants to open windows and doors with his work. His work celebrates life, its seasons and rhythms, its plants and stones.

The feature section of the current art issue of the New Zurich Newspaper sheds light on the artist's work and life. In addition to an interview, readers can expect a portrait by feature editor Philipp Meier.

In addition to the art edition, Ugo Rondinone has created two works exclusively for the NZZ: a series of 27 unique sculptures of his famous "Mountains" and a screen print from the series "The Sun" in a limited edition of 150 pieces.

Last Thursday, around 350 visitors attended the four-hour "Blitz exhibition" in the former generator hall of the Matte power plant in Bern. All of the works were available to purchase as part of the exhibition and are also reproduced in a unique, limited-edition magazine. The large-format magazine and a printed cotton bag, limited to 400 copies, could be taken home free of charge.

Responsible at Studio Thom Pfister: Thom Pfister (Curation, Design, Creative Direction), Marianne Schoch (Project Management, Brand Consultant), Roland Zenger (Art Direction), Ursula Rytz (Senior Consultant), Daniel Hackiewicz and Sharon Moor (Graphic Design). Artists: Adrien Sgandurra, Aglaja Brix & Florian Maas, Alina Günter, Anoush Abrar, Andreas Samuelsson, Andrea Devia-Nuño, Anni Katrin Elmer, Ania Augustynka, Basil Stücheli, Carmen Mitrotta, David Willen, Dean Elliott, Diana Scheunemann, Elena Kuznetsova, Emily Eldridge, Filipa Peixeiro, Frederike Wetzels, Gian Paul Lozza, Ilka & Franz, Jill Senft, Julien Chavaillaz, Ladina Bischof, Lucia Strub, Marie Wolf, Markus Burke & Gundi Schillinger, Mathilde Karrèr, Maurice Haas, Maurizio di Iorio, Michael Brunn, NastPlas, Phillip Kaminiak, Sebastian Ariel Curi, Thomas Stöckli, Véronique Hoegger, Vincent Gapaillard. Print: Vögeli Druck, Papyrus Schweiz (magazine), Atelier Margrit (screen printing cotton bags) Uldry (fine art prints), Lettra Design Werbetechnik (printing & finishing of posters). Background music: Benedikt Sartorius. Catering: Trallala Wines & Sicula.

The five-member collective took up its management role at the Museum of Contemporary Art on December 1, as the Migros Culture Percentage institution announced on Wednesday. The joint work at the museum will in future be characterized by flat hierarchies, as the press release states. Or: the museum is "setting an example for contemporary management structures".

The five people form the museum management on an equal footing. Catherine Reymond is responsible for administration; she has already managed the museum on an interim basis for the last two and a half years. Tasmin Baghdadi is responsible for the programs, Michael Birchall for the exhibitions, Patrick Ilg for communications and Nadia Schneider Willen for the museum's collection.

Transformation process

Since June 9, the museum has been thinking about how the requirements of a museum could change and which management structures could take this into account. The result of this transformation process is now this new management structure, i.e. a departure from the classic indendance model. The Museum für Gegenwartskunst is also complying with an expanded definition of a museum proposed by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 2019.

The Museum of Contemporary Art was founded in 1996 as an institution of the Migros Culture Percentage. It sees itself as a forum for the examination of art and its social responsibility. The exhibitions are intended to appeal to a broad public and admission to the museum is free. (sda)

In order to promote the dialog between digital culture, business, science and society and to network with each other, the Professional Days will take place for the first time. On Friday, interested parties will receive up-to-date information on the new art market: discussions will focus on how blockchain, NFT, AI and Metaverse will change the art market.

On Saturday, panelists will discuss the current impetus from creative technologies and cultures around AI and Metaverse and their impact on corporate and institutional strategies.

Extensive program

Starting Wednesday, the exhibition venues will again open daily from noon to 7 p.m.: Wasserkirche, Museum für Gestaltung on Ausstellungsstrasse, Schule für Gestaltung, Silo Löwenbräu as well as the Immersive Arts Space (3 p.m. to 7 p.m.) in the ZHdK Toni Areal. In addition, performances and conversations will take place.

On Thursday Mirror Engine will perform together with the collective Packungsbeilage at the Wasserkirche. On Friday, DA Z presents the new edition of Disrupted Scenes, which was first staged on the Opera House stage last year. The audiovisual deconstruction of baroque music themes with acoustic as well as electronic media in collaboration with Siena Licht Miller (vocals), Bálint
Dobozi (music) and Visual Artists will delight the audience also in the water church.

Finally on Saturday follows the ZH Jam / Rave with Bang goes, Brvna and Styro2000. More information is available here.