2.-3. September 2016, Universität Bern Hochschulstrasse 4, Hörsaal 220 / Schanzeneckstrasse 1, Hörsaal A003

In July 1968, on the occasion of the fiftieth birthday of the Kunsthalle Bern, Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the building in 2.430 square meters of white polyethylene fabric. The Kunsthalle was the first architecture in Europe that received the honor of being fully wrapped by Christo. Interventions in the architectural structure of the Kunsthalle, such as Sol LeWitt’s structures (1972) for example, continued during the following fifty years, leading to a constant and critical examination of both the institution and its building. The centennial of the Kunsthalle Bern in 2018 is the starting point for the international conference KUNSTHALLEN. Architectures for the Continuous Contemporary in Europe and the US, which will be held at Bern University September 2-3, 2016. In contrast to collecting museums the model of the Kunsthalle is characterized by freedom and novelty. Due to its dynamic concept, this institutional format contributes to the formation of contemporary art in essential ways. The conference assembles international guests from diverse institutions and professional fields who will discuss the historical development, political implications as well as the societal positioning of the Kunsthalle. The institution’s role as curatorial field of experimentation, artistic material, and as a platform for transatlantic exchange will be examined as well.

This conference is organised by the Department for Modern and Contemporary Art History, Institute for Art History, Bern University, in cooperation with the Institute for Art History, Basel University and the Kunsthalle Bern. It has received generous financial support from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Concept and organisation:

Prof. Dr. Peter J. Schneemann, Bern
Prof. Dr. Eva Ehninger, Basel
Valérie Knoll, Director Kunsthalle Bern

PROVISIONAL PROGRAM:
Friday, September 2nd, 2016 – University of Bern, Hauptgebäude, Hochschulstrasse 4, Lecture Hall 220

9.00-12.15 SECTION I: FRAMEWORKS

9.00 Welcome and Introduction to Section I
9.15 Damian Lentini (Haus der Kunst, Munich) Performing the Kunsthalle
10.00 Susanne Neubauer (Freie Universität, Berlin) An Architecture of Touch: The Kunsthalle as a Place where Form has Shaped New Attitudes
10.45-11.00 Break
11.00 Bernd Nicolai (Universität Bern) The Wrapped Frame – Considerations about Art Gallery Architecture
11.45 Discussion

12.15-14.00 Lunch Break

14.00-17.15 SECTION II: MISSIONS

14.00 Introduction to Section II
14.15 Darsie Alexander (Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York) U.S. Kunsthallen and the Freedom to Not Collect
15.00 Sandra Zalman (University of Houston, School of Art, Houston, Texas) When Modern Art Was Contemporary: The Museum of Modern Art as Kunsthalle
15.45-16.00 Break
16.00 Maija Koskinen (Helsinki University) Kunsthalle Helsinki as an Artistic Battlefield of the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s 16.45 Discussion
17.15-18.15 Break

University of Bern, UniS, Schanzeneckstrasse 1, Lecture Hall A003
18.15 Evening Lecture Glenn Phillips (Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles) Exposing the Foundation of the Kunsthalle

Saturday, September 3rd, 2016 – University of Bern, UniS, Schanzeneckstrasse 1, Lecture Hall A003

9.00-12.15 SECTION III: EXPLORATIONS

9.00 Introduction to Section III
9.15 Thierry Dufrêne, (Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA), Paris) Donald Judd at the Kunsthalle in 1976: “Ideal Museum”, “Local History” and “Timeless Permanence”
10.00 Beatrice von Bismarck (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig) Institutionalizing Process or Ephemerality and its Discontents. Exhibiting in the late 1960s in Europe and the USA
10.45-11.00 Break
11.00 Diego Mantoan (Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice) Mimicking the Space and Referencing Style. Young British Artists between the (Un)Myth of Kunsthallen and American Neo-Conceptual Trends
11.45 Discussion

12.15-14.00 Lunch Break

14.00-17.15 SECTION IV: EXPECTATIONS

14.00 Introduction to Section IV
14.15 Nick Mauss (New York) Intervals and Voids
15.00 Kari Conte (International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York) Revivifying the Past: Exhibitions and Institutions
15.45-16.00 Break
16.00 Julia Bryan-Wilson (University of California, Berkeley) The Matter of Nothing: Uncollecting Conceptual and Performance Practices
16.45 Discussion
17.15 Concluding Remarks

Kontakt: Olivia Baeriswyl (kunsthallenconference@gmail.com)