BACKSTAGE Engelberg
A journey of discovery with 50 artists
June 23 to August 18, 2024, Engelberg/OW
Opening on June 22, 2024
with performance program (times to be announced),
including a concert in the hall of the Engelberg rope pulling club by Franziska Aigner (cello & vocals)
The "BACKSTAGE Engelberg" exhibition will take place until August 18, 2024 in predominantly hidden locations in the Alpine municipality of Engelberg (OW).
Freelance curator Dorothea Strauss has invited 50 artists from Switzerland and abroad to show their paintings, drawings, installations, sound pieces, objects and video works. The initiative for the exhibition came from Zurich gallery owner Peter Kilchmann, who has felt a strong connection with Engelberg for many years. The exhibition is organized by the Backstage Engelberg association, which was founded especially for the project.
As different as the works are, they all share a common theme: the unique power of art to lead us into hidden worlds.
Many of the artworks on display have been specially developed for the exhibition. A catalog (D/E) will be published during the course of the exhibition.
Backstage Engelberg is a declaration of love - to the community of Engelberg, to the importance of our nature and to the unique power of art.
Backstage Engelberg invites visitors on an inspiring excursion to places that are not normally seen. Private, vacant or converted rooms and places are at the heart of the exhibition. There are also a number of public spaces and the centrally located Tal Museum.
Backstage Engelberg reveals the potential of disused places, such as the former shoemaker's cottage, a bowling alley in the Hotel Engelberg that is no longer in use or the historic ice cellar of the Hotel Bänklialp. Fascinating dialogues between space and art are also created in the attic of the Hotel Bellevue-Terminus, in rooms of the Hotel Terrace or in the building of a former butcher's shop.
Visitors can experience a completely different interplay of art and space in imposing old barns and stables that now serve as storage facilities, for example in the Pfisterhuesli Gadde on the Pfistermatte in the center of Engelberg or in the Ochsenmatt Gadä on the Klostermatte not far from the Engelberg monastery.
Visitors can also immerse themselves in fascinating artistic worlds in the Hotel Kempinski Palace, the Kurpark, Dorfstrasse, the Ski Lodge pavilion, the Fondue Gädeli at the Hotel St. Josefshaus and the Viktoria Gärtli.
Backstage Engelberg stimulates our desire for discovery, our willingness to be more aware of ourselves and our surroundings. Especially in times of social uncertainty and unrest, it is important to create space for curiosity, a spirit of discovery, a sense of community and a desire for change. The exhibition shows how artists react to the reality of our time. Their works sharpen our sensorium for the perception of our world by stimulating us intellectually and touching us emotionally.
Backstage Engelberg was created in close cooperation with the municipality and the tourist destination of Engelberg and is supported by numerous foundations, the Canton of Obwalden, local companies and important Engelberg personalities. The central aim of the exhibition is to invite a broad, cross-generational audience from Switzerland and abroad to this artistic journey of discovery over a period of two months - which is why the exhibition is free of admission.
The participating artists:
Heinz Aeschlimann (* 1947, Schweiz) / Judith Albert (*1969, Schweiz) / Francis Alÿs (*1959, Belgien) / Cristian Andersen (*1974, Schweiz) / Nina Meret Ates (Schweiz) / Marc Bauer (*1975, Schweiz) / Anselm Baumann (*1958, Deutschland) / Mirko Baselgia (*1982, Schweiz) / Denilson Baniwa (*1984, Brasilien/Amazonas) / April Bey (*1987, Bahamas/Nassau) / Armin Boehm (*1972, Deutschland) / Daniele Buetti (*1955, Schweiz) / Los Carpinteros (gegründet 1992, Kuba) / Maria Ceppi (*1963, Schweiz) / Danielle Creme (geb. in Israel, lebt in Zürich) / Katalin Deér (*1965, Schweiz/Deutschland) / Andriu Deplazes (*1993, Schweiz/Frankreich) / Johanna Dobrusskin (*1996, Schweiz) / Valérie Favre (*1959, Schweiz) / Clare Goodwin (*1973, England/Schweiz) / Séverin Guelpa (*1974, Schweiz) / Christoph Hänsli (*1963, Schweiz) / Jochem Hendricks (*1959, Deutschland) / Leiko Ikemura (*1951, Japan/Deutschland) / İdil İlkin (Türkei) / Melli Ink (* 1972, Österreich/Schweiz) / Monica Ursina Jaeger (*1974, Schweiz) / Bruno Jakob (*1954, Schweiz/USA) / Sven-Åke Johansson (*1943, Schweden/Deutschland) / Renata Kaminska (*1974, Polen/Deutschland) / Sabine Kuehnle (*1968, Deutschland) / Sonia Leimer (*1977, Italien/Österreich) / Zilla Leutenegger (*1968, Schweiz) / Peter Loewy (*1951, Deutschland) / Angela Lyn (*1955, Schweiz/China/England) / Fabian Marti (*1979, Schweiz/Frankreich) / Josef Näpflin (*1950, Schweiz) / Eva Nielsen (*1982, Frankreich) / Olaf Nicolai (*1962, Deutschland) / Adrian Paci (*1969, Albanien) / Yehudit Sasportas (*1969, Israel) / Grace Schwindt (*1979, Deutschland/England) / Shirana Shahbazi (*1974, Iran/Schweiz) / Annelies Štrba (*1947, Schweiz) / Una Szeemann (*1975, Schweiz) / Ebru Uygun (*1974, Türkei) / Ester Vonplon (*1980, Schweiz) / Nives Widauer (* 1965, Schweiz/Österreich) / Uwe Wittwer (*1954, Schweiz) / Ekrem Yalçındağ (*1964, Türkei)
