This section contains an overview of the most relevant exhibitions in Switzerland and neighbouring regions. Each item is connected to the organizing museum.
The exhibition follows Teruko Yokoi (1924) from Tokyo to New York and via Paris to Bern, showing around fifty works from the period between her 1954 trip to the USA and the late 1960s. In this space of time, among other events, she settled in Bern in 1962 and the highly acclaimed exhibition of her work took place at the Kunsthalle Basel in 1964. The works of these years reflect – divided between East and West – the debates related to modern post-war painting.
Tourism provides a good insight into human emotions, mobility and social behaviour. The exhibition examines these aspects of tourism in the period 2000-2025. The following themes are addressed: moralism and ethics, beach, mental and physical health, food, the reaction of native inhabitants to a large number of tourists in cities, the experience of nature, backpackers, the fascination for the unknown and the homecoming to make new plans.
The exhibition shows works of art which present different aspects of the (night) life which made the French capital world-famous between the 1890s and 1950s. The works illustrate different themes: the world of cabarets, fashion, leisure and literature. Works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Félix Vallotton, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy and Kees van Dongen are among those shown. Kees van Dongen is even represented by his series of illustrations for the reprint of Marcel Proust’s A la Recherche du temps perdu (Gallimard 1947). Raoul Dufy (represented by forty of his works) is the artist of the most impressive work of art at the exhibition by a lithographic reproduction of the Electricity Fairy (la Fée Electricité). He made this mural painting (now housed in the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris) to decorate the Electricity and Light Pavilion at the 1937 Paris World’s Fair. This monumental work shows the greatest scientists in history, gathered on either side of the Olympus and Pantheon of the Greco-Roman Antiquity, whose messenger the Electricity Fairy is.
Water is an essential element for the planet and its flora and fauna, including humanity. But what do we know about water? The exhibition (Eau, L’expo) is divided into three themes: water and life, water and people and water and society. Besides, a separate section focuses on water in the Jura and Switzerland. The exhibition presents water from its cosmic origins, its development on earth, its omnipresence and its many appearances, its indispensable role in the evolution of life and the need of sustainable maintenance of this source of life.
Using everyday materials, Marlene McCarty (1957) makes art upon examination and research of topical themes ranging from social and sexual inequality or the role of women. In addition to works of art from recent years, the exhibition (Into the Weeds) will also present a new project in cooperation with the Merian Gärten (The Merian Gardens), an institution of the Christoph Merian Stiftung (Christoph Merian Foundation) in Basel. At first glance, the garden at the entrance to the Kunsthaus seems familiar and inviting. The interplay between humans (women) and nature is the central theme, however. This garden brings together plants that, according to the artist and her historical research, symbolize and stand for the emancipation, power and knowledge of women. A team of the Merian Gardens has developed the garden.
The exhibition shows works by Edward Hopper (1882-1967), one of the most influential American painters of the 20th century. The exhibition does not follow a precise chronology but focuses on specific themes. These include traffic routes, rocks, light and shadow, ships and lighthouses, people, houses and landscape, and the forest. These themes are essential for a good understanding of his work. The artist of the subconscious as a chronicler of his time, realism combined with surrealism. The exhibition includes watercolours and oil paintings from the years 1910 to 1960.
The history of Lausanne is back in the recently renovated museum. The famous model of the city, as it looked in 1638, is the centrepiece of the new exhibition (Lausanne, l’ Exposition). The show provides a clear and well-documented picture of the economic, religious, social and cultural history. Eleven rooms deal with various topics, from water to mobility, from leisure to housing, from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment and many other aspects of this exciting city. The exhibition is available in English and French. The museum also organises temporary exhibitions and events.
The end of the world is a human perception. Natural and human-made disasters, such as war, epidemics, disease, hunger and environmental pollution, arouse both fear and the need to intervene and influence these events. The exhibition (Weltuntergang. Ende ohne Ende) brings together images, objects and stories from science and art related to the apocalypse and is thematically divided into seven sections. Scientific analyses, prophecies and speculations about humanity are discussed. The result is a journey along the fault lines of nature and culture, human life and the universe. Apocalypse TV accompanies the exhibition. The online channel regularly highlights the topic from different perspectives. One could also visit the Glacier Garden in Lucerne to learn about past catastrophes and climate changes over the last four billion years. The planet will survive another billion years, with or without humanity.
The armoury (Zeughaus) in Lucerne dates from 1569. The 450-year-old building has been through many fateful incidents ever since. The exhibition follows this history from its beginnings as a military complex to the most recent times as a museum. The show presents the eventful past of the history of Canton (Ort) Lucerne and the emergence of Switzerland as a confederation of (independent) cantons and local events. Objects, witness accounts and documents tell of important turning points and episodes, the visit of Napoleon and his Helvetic government, a tsunami in the river Reuss and the history of Lucerne.
For citizens of Basel, the Renaissance was also a period of music. Music was (and is) an essential part of cultural life. They sang Parisian chansons, played Polish lute songs or collected musical instruments. The exhibition shows musical objects and manuscripts from the musical experience in this city of humanists, publishers and scholars. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the Department of Musicology of the University of Basel and the University Library of Basel.