Agenda

Especially in the decades after the Second World War, the dream of a home of one’s own came true for many. The majority of private homes at that time were simple and standard, but there are examples that bear witness to the high demands of architectural design. The architects were often given a free hand. They were creative and often found unique solutions. Using examples from the region, the exhibition (Modern Living. Einfamilienhäuser in Basel und Umgebung 1945–1975) traces the cultural, historical and architectural significance of the single-family home after 1945.

In 1851 Carl Franz Bally (1821-1899) founded the company Bally in Schönenwerd. Around 1900 the company became the largest shoe factory in the world. About 3 500 employees produced about 7 000 pairs of shoes a day. The exhibition (Bally Monsieur – der Herrenschuh seit 1851) shows what the men’s shoe looked like at that time and examines the development of the men’s shoe from 1851 to the present day. The exclusive Bally store on New Bond Street in London illustrated its success. The name Bally stood for luxury, dandy and success and this name still has worldwide cult status, although the family handed the company over in 1976. Today Bally is owned by a German company.

Dieter Roth (1930-998) is known for his artistic works that transcend all boundaries. He sees the beauty of mould, the aesthetics of decay and actively incorporates it into his art. His work is determined by transience, coincidence and process. However, Dieter Roth’s artistic origins lie in graphic printing, to which the exhibition (Das Universum Dieter Roth) is mainly devoted. Like few others, Dieter Roth has created a total work of art that can hardly be grasped in genres. The show offers an insight into Dieter Roth’s most relevant creative years, with mainly works from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies.

The 1920s were a decade of economic progress and decline, cultural change and political instability in most European countries. The disastrous First World War was followed by the even more desastrous Spanish flew. The lust for life could be tasted in Paris, Berlin, Prague, London and other cities. At no point in the 20th century was the desire for change, culture and leisure more intense. The exhibition (Schall und Rauch. Die wilden Zwanziger) shows an impressive picture of this eventful period on the basis of many objects and images.

Humans have been fascinated by optical illusions for hundreds of years. Garden-shed inventors dupe their audience with trickery and deception. Inventions such as the peep box, praxinoscope and flip-book were groundbreaking stages in the process of developing static images into moving images. From the 1780s, panoramas set a milestone in the creation of illusionary worlds — the first mass media of their time. In today’s digital world, such visual wonders and optical illusions have lost none of their magic. virtual reality is not a modern invention.

Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930) was the only son of Richard and Cosima Wagner. He was born in the country manor Tribschen on Lake Lucerne. The exhibition focuses on his artistic abilities and his career as well as on the family circumstances. The parents only announced his birth one year later, because they had to marry to secure the family name Wagner. The permanent exhibition on the ground floor highlights the life and work of Richard Wagner.

The exhibition shows 170 million year-old finds of echinoderms from the Swiss Jura. The highlight of the exhibition is a rock slide showing a sea urchin, starfish, brittle stars, crinoids and sea cucumbers. This site in the Jura region was the scene of a major storm 170 million years ago. The fallen animals were covered in fine-grained mud. This great disaster became a stroke of luck for the paleontologists.

The exhibition Giants and Dwarves (Géants et Nains is on show until August 2022) presents the exhibition Gold and light – Prestigious bindings (En habits de lumière) the diversity in size and weight of books (from 4.5 mm to giants over one metre). This exhibition pays homage to the art of bookbinding. The impressive Bibles of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation and finest bibliophile selections from the Renaissance onwards are on show. A splendour that can be found in books by popes and kings, queens and princes of France. In addition, books from the 19th century and modern and contemporary books can be seen.

The Geneva scholar Marc-Auguste Pictet (1752-1825) delivered many courses to Academy students for over 40 years. He also gave public courses for adults which were open to women. Pictet built up an extensive cabinet of demonstration instruments purchased from the best European makers. These later became one of the founding collections of the Academy Museum (Musée académique) and of the History of Science Museu (Musée d’histoire des sciences). This collection is at the heart of The exhibition. Replicas of the instruments and interactive displays inspired by the great classical demonstrations of physics, give an opportunity to test and learn about the phenomena being presented.

This exhibition recounts the evolution of depictions of children in Swiss art between 1830 and 1930. From the 18th century onwards, children started to be recognised as human beings in their own right. They were suddenly allowed into the circle of social, moral and political concerns. Their needs, peculiarities, education, health and hygiene became topics of consideration for philosophers, biologists and doctors alike. The theme peaked in the 19th century, both in literature, and in the visual arts.