Agenda

After training as a graphic designer, René Myrha (1939 in Delsberg.Delémont, Canton of Jura) travelled to Paris and Milan in the 1960s to explore the latest developments in art and design.

Using new silkscreen techniques and displaying a great flair for creating spatial impressions, he produced a powerful oeuvre that encompasses drawings, paintings in acrylic and oil, sculptures, and reliefs.

His works evoke elementary forces oscillating between form and volume and dynamically conjoining constructed and organic spaces and architectures.

The exhibition relates to one of the main focuses of the Kunstmuseum Thun’s collection: Swiss Pop Art. On view is a representative cross-section of Myrha’s oeuvre, from Pop Art to his current engagement with figural painting and sculpture.

“Ulysses”, written by the Irish exile James Joyce (1882-1941) in Trieste, Zurich and Paris, is considered one of the most influential novels of the 20th century.

Exactly 100 years after its first publication on 2 February 1922, the exhibition portrays the genesis, the reception, the content and form of “Ulysses” in a hundred objects, documents and photographs.

They are the story of the publication, the criticism and scandals that followed it. The author told the story of three people on an ordinary day in Dublin in the early summer of 1904, creating a multifaceted portrait of the city.

He broke with the prevailing conventions and used poetic language and stylistic diversity, a Marcel Proust avant la lettre.

Switzerland is often described as a perfect country: breath-taking scenery, sparkling clean cities and highly efficient infrastructure. The Swiss only know about those things from the news. Political upheavals happen elsewhere, and humanitarian involvement and “good deeds” are part of Switzerland’s self-image. A little paradise in the middle of Europe.

On closer inspection, contradictions emerge. So what is it, an idyllic paradise, or a staid backwater of provincial attitudes? A nation open to the world and all it holds, or a stronghold of conservativism?

This question isn’t so easy to answer. It depends not only on the perspective but also on who’s answering. In addition, there are often a number of facets that may be diametrically opposed. Switzerland is full of bewildering contrasts.

The exhibition Wunderbar widersprüchlich  (Amazingly ambivalent) examines some of the views held by insiders, and those on the outside, and uncovers contradictory aspects of Switzerland. It aims to encourage visitors to self-reflect and their relationship with Switzerland.