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 held throughout Venice. The Biennale's parent organisation also runs regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music and theatre. Outside 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 in the Giardini – are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in venues throughout the city. Organization and building The Swiss pavilion was designed by the Swiss architect Bruno Giacometti following a design competition and was constructed in 1952. It features multiple rooms linked by courtyards. 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. As of 2012, Pro Helvetia has assumed responsibility for the Swiss contributions to the Venice Biennale. 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) 2019 — Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz (Curator: Charlotte Laubard) 2022 — Latifa Echakhch, Alexandre Babel (Curator: Francesco Stocchi) 2024 — Guerreiro do Divino Amor (Curator: Andrea Bellini) References Bibliography External links Official website Swiss Institute for Art Research reference overview of Swiss participation