Agenda

The Oberaar Glacier at the headwaters of the Aare River is one of the key glaciers whose runoff feeds the complex hydropower system built by Kraftwerke Oberhasli. The complex maintains 9 power plants nowadays. They were built in 7 construction phases from the 1930’s through 1979. Hydroelectric power is Switzerland’s most important source of energy and it is the energy resource of the future as well. In the twentieth century, entire Alpine valleys were dammed and flooded in order to produce hydroelectricity. The construction of the dams was both a major event and a public attraction. The exhibition examines how artists and photographers have represented the massive Grimsel-Oberaar hydroelectric dam in the Bernese Alps. The main focus is on the wood engraver, painter, and draughtsman Emil Zbinden (1908-1991), who spent several summer weeks at the Alpine construction site between 1950 and 1953.  In the exhibition, Zbinden’s works will be juxtaposed with photographs taken by Heinz Bysäth, Anita Niesz, Jakob Tuggener, and Hans Tschirren.

In einer grossen Retrospektive würdigen das Fotomuseum und die Fotostiftung Schweiz gemeinsam den Schweizer Künstler Balthasar Burkhard (1944–2010). Burkhards Schaffenszeit umspannt ein halbes Jahrhundert: Von seinen fotografischen Anfängen in der Ausbildung bis zu seinem internationalen Durchbruch als Fotokünstler, der die Fotografie als monumentales „Tableau“ in die zeitgenössische Kunst überführte. An über 150 Werken und Werkgruppen spürt die Ausstellung der künstlerischen Selbsterfindung eines Fotografen nach.

The museum for Photography (Fotomuseum) will showcase in cooperation with the Fotostiftung the oeuvre of the Swiss artist Balthasar Burkhard (1944–2010) in a major retrospective. Burkhard’s work spans half a century: from his early days as a trainee photographer to his role in chronicling the art of his time, eventually becoming a photographic artist in his own right who brought photography into the realms of contemporary art in the form of the monumental tableau. More than 150 works and groups of works chart the progress of his own photographic career and the emergence of photography as an art form. An exhibition in collaboration with Museum Folkwang (Essen) and Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana (Lugano).