# Museion (Bolzano)

The Museion (from the greek μουσείον, meaning the temple of the muses) is the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Bolzano, in South Tyrol, Italy.
It was founded in 1985. Since 2006 it has been managed by the Museion Foundation, founded by the Autonomous Province Bozen and the Museion Association. On 24 May 2008 the Museion opened to the public its new venue, built by the KSV - Krüger Schuberth Vandreike architects in the center of Bolzano.

## Collections

The Museion currently holds 4500 works of art, both from international and local artists, which are exhibited according to a theme-based rotation. Acquisitions often are made after temporary exhibitions. The displays of works of art in the collection are curated also by artists. In recent years most acquisitions by the Museion have come from exhibitions on contemporary sculpture, and particularly by artists that conceive sculpture as a way to establish relationships between objects and spaces. During the opening of an exhibition by the American sculptor Carl Andre, the then director of the Museion Letizia Ragaglia has declared: "The sculptures by Carl Andre are not objects meant to be contemplated, but a place to live in, where you can move, have experiences, and establish relationships through physical contact."

## Main venue

The main building of the Museion is a rectangular prism measuring 54 metres long, 25 metres high and 23 metres wide, with transparent front and rear façades. The building is a physical and symbolic link between the two parts of the city of Bozen.

## Other venues

Created in 2003, the Piccolo Museion – Cubo Garutti is a work by Alberto Garutti. Located in Via Sassari 17b, it functions as an outlying venue for Museion in the Don Bosco neighbourhood of Bolzano.

## Library

Specialised in modern and contemporary art, Museion’s library holds 25,000 volumes, 50 subscriptions to art journals and 400 DVDs.

## Programs, exhibitions and events

Since its opening, the Museion has focused its programme on research across diverse forms of artistic expressions, and has tried to develop close relationships with artists. During the years the Museion has produced exhibition on the works of artists such as Sonic Youth, Mike Kelley, Rosemarie Trockel, Carl Andre, Danh Vo, and Martino Gamper.

### Exhibitions

| Title | Opening | Closing | Venue | Curated by |
| Peripheral vision & collective body | 24 May 2008 | 21 September 2008 | Museion | Corinne Diserens |
| Sonic Youth etc.: “SENSATIONAL FIX”' | 11 October 2008 | 4 January 2009 | Museion | Roland Grönenboom and Corinne Diserens |
| Mike Kelley – Educational Complex Onwards, 1995–2008 | 16 January 2009 | 19 April 2009 | Museion | Anne Pontegnie |
| Carl Andre | 17 September 2011 | 8 January 2012 | Museion | Roland Mönig and Letizia Ragaglia |
| Rosemarie Trockel: "Flagrant Delight" | 1 May 2013 | 12 January 2014 | Museion | Dirk Snauwaert |
| Danh Vo. Fabulous Muscles | 18 May 2013 | 1 September 2014 | Museion | Letizia Ragaglia |
| Klara Lidén. Invalidenstraße | 14 September 2013 | 12 January 2014 | Museion | Letizia Ragaglia |
| When Now is Minimal. The Unknown Side of the Sammlung Goetz | 23 November 2013 | 12 October 2014 | Museion | Karsten Löckemann, Angelika Nollert, Letizia Ragaglia |
| Leander Schwazer. Bikini | 21 February 2014 | 25 May 2014 | Museion | |
| Ceal Floyer | 1 February 2014 | 4 May 2014 | Museion | Letizia Ragaglia |
| Tatiana Trouvé. I Tempi Doppi | 24 May 2014 | 7 September 2014 | Museion | Letizia Ragaglia |
| Rä di Martino. Authentic News of Invisible Things | 27 September 2014 | 11 January 2015 | Museion | Frida Carazzato |
| Soleil politique. The Museum Between Light and Shadow | 27 September 2014 | 11 January 2015 | Museion | Pierre Bal-Blanc |
| Solo Show Robbie Williams | 1 November 2014 | 1 March 2015 | Museion | |
| Carol Bove / Carlo Scarpa | 1 November 2014 | 1 March 2015 | Museion | Henry Moore Institute |
| Nanni Balestrini. Oltre la poesia | 15 November 2014 | 22 February 2015 | Museion | Andreas Hapkemeyer |
| Chiara Fumai. Der Hexenhammer | 31 January 2015 | 26 April 2015 | Museion | Frida Carazzato |
| Rossella Biscotti. The future can only be for ghosts | 31 January 2015 | 25 May 2015 | Museion | Frida Carazzato |
| Collecting for Tomorrow: new works at Museion | 21 March 2015 | 10 January 2016 | Museion | |
| Martino Gamper. Design is a State of Mind | 6 June 2015 | 13 September 2015 | Museion | Martino Gamper |
| Maurizio Nannucci. Top Hundred | 18 September 2015 | 6 January 2016 | Museion | Andreas Hapkemeyer |
| Cerith Wyn Evans | 3 October 2015 | 10 January 2016 | Museion | Letizia Ragaglia |
| Marinella Senatore. Jammin’ Drama Project | 24 November 2015 | 13 December 2015 | Museion | |
| Francesco Vezzoli. MUSEO MUSEION | 30 January 2016 | 6 November 2016 | Museion | Francesco Vezzoli |
| Korakrit Arunanodchai | 2 June 2016 | 11 September 2016 | Museion | |
| Judith Hopf | 1 October 2016 | 8 January 2017 | Museion | |
| Lili Reynaud-Dewar | 28 January 2017 | 5 May 2017 | Museion | |
| Irma Blank | 16 November 2017 | 23 September 2018 | Museion | |
| Martin Kippenberger, Maria Lassnig. BODY CHECK | 3 February 2018 | 6 May 2018 | Museion | |
| Diego Marcon | 10 April 2018 | 6 May 2018 | Museion | |
| John Armleder | 22 September 2018 | 6 January 2019 | Museion | |

## Criticism

Right after the opening of the Museion's new venue, in May 2008, the first exhibition had on display, among others, the work "Zuerst die Füße" by the German artist Martin Kippenberger. That work, conceived as a 'portrait' by the artist in 1990, depicts a crucified frog holding a beer in one hand and an egg in the other. According to the Museion, the sculpture has "nothing to do with religion, and represents instead the inner world of the artist himself following a difficult rehabilitation process from drugs and alcohol abuse." During a visit by the Pope some regional politicians declared that the sculpture should be taken down.
Sandro Bondi, then Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism declared that the sculpture was "also an offense to common sense".