«Zurich as an art scene is competent, small but known for its expertise, and relevent for the art world»– in conversation with Zurich Art Nov! Founding Director Charlotte von Stotzingen
Efficiency goes into art
The 5th edition of Zurich Art Nov!, an initiative by Zurich Art Weekend, was held in Zurich, Switzerland, in November, 2022. Acting as an offspring of Zurich Art Jun! Taking place every June, this event has earned its own spotlight by offering visitors a weekend of innovation, Swiss efficiency, and engagement amongst visitors, gallerists, artists, and curators.
«Zurich as an art scene is competent, small but known for its expertise, and relevant for the art world», explained Charlotte von Stotzingen, the founding director of Zurich Art Weekend.
Zurich Art Weekend is a non-profit
With the first edition held in 2018, Zurich Art Weekend is a non-profit that joins Zurich’s private and public art institutes through gallery spaces, events, and talks all around the city. The organizers work with local art universities, galleries from around the world, public and private collections, and spaces around the city during their interactive 3-day event.
Zurich Art Weekend boosts the local art ecosystem due to the weekends full of events taking place all around Zurich. From exhibitions to free guided tours, performances, art walks, panel discussions, and happy hour’s around town that may have been brought to life by discussing a particular piece or common interest.
Art can be interactive too
Visitors can see everything from international, credited pieces of art to smaller and lesser-known upcoming artists in a small area. Zurich Art Nov! plays in this diversity and openness. During Zurich Art, the entire city opens up, acting like a gallery.
The organizers of Zurich Art went the extra mile to create visitors paths, so those attending can admire pieces displayed in a specific, storytelling-like way, enter a museum, gallery, or university space eventually, and begin one-to-one conversations with the artists themselves or curators.
Ms. Von Stotzingen stressed that Zurich Art Nov! is unlike others art events due to it being so interactive. «We want to encourage the interaction between visitors and art figures to create dialogues and make connections».
This idea of serendipitous interaction adds to the city’s attraction: «most people don’t associate the Zurich art scene as something exciting and underground», claimed Charlotte, who herself didn’t expect it when she first arrived. She aims to transmit her findings of Zurich and what it offers to the public for the weekends in November and June.
Curating for Zurich Art Weekend
Zurich Art Weekend has an invitation-based committee of members from around the world. They sit together once or twice per year to discuss what to do for the upcoming events, how to incorporate Zurich into the events, and who should participate. They also have access to all the art institutions in the area; they select the galleries and then the off-spaces to present something high quality to reflect the affluent city.
The director expressed that her goal is to democratize art, let people open up to their beliefs and where they want to go with a specific piece or inspiration, and allow them to believe in what they do full-heartedly. The committee aims to present Zurich Art Nov! in a way accessible to everyone to formulate their own opinions, be judgment-free, be curious, and ask questions. They begin by curating the right artists, curators, and galleries. Hunting for the perfect locations is as relevant as curating what fills the spaces.
What to expect
Zurich Art Nov! aims to bring passion and people together. Charlotte and her team accomplish this mission by making the weekend event interactive unlike any other art events. There will be guided tours by curators, students, or even artists so the audience can fully immerse themselves in the experience, ask questions free of judgment, and make lasting connections and impressions. Charlotte stressed that people have donated their time to the world they love for the weekend, which isn’t something to be taken for granted. Zurich Art Nov! allows its guest to go beyond just visiting a gallery space and glancing at art.
Democratizing Art
Curators and collectors can go through town and show visitors their favorite pieces via guided tours. Just by visiting the event spaces themselves, guests can follow, ask questions, and gain an insider view of the Zurich art scene that the world may sometimes overlook in favor of bigger European cities like Paris or Milan. «This democratic access to the best quality was dear to our hearts», says Charlotte. «We saw more and more diversified people coming from all over, we want to be a platform where people not only meet these great players, but set up a real platform where they can enjoy art, deep dive into it, exchange with one another and get inspired», the French-born director continued.
Highlights of Zurich Art Nov!
Amongst the artists, galleries, curations, exhibitions, and many events taking place, there are some stops during the event that shouldn’t be missed. Working with young talent is central for Zurich Art Nov! One exciting space to visit on the ZhdK campus is the MFA Open Studio, where students from the Masters of Fine Arts program will open their studios for guests, allowing them to connect with other artists and visitors. The next space follows the Immersive Arts space, where «Fragments of a Conversation» will be presented as an immersive large-scale installation, representing the transformative experiments of DADA and the Bauhaus eras in Europe, that brought us to the 1960’s and finally, where we are today.
«This one is for you», exclaimed Charlotte when discussing that the famed Galerie Gregor Staiger will present Flatlands curated by Rachal Bradley and Inka Meissner. This exhibition examples of social and materialistic relations that can be understood as a spatial experience.
Galerie Tscudi is a newer gallery in Zurich that will present a group show featuring American minimalist artist Carl Andre, British sculptor Richard Long, Swiss-French conceptual artist Julian Charrière, and many more.
Moving around Zurich, the Kunsthalle Zurich will host an exhibition titled DYOR (do your own research) representing the crypto world. It’s based on the idea that people should do their own research rather than believing everything people say or reading the first piece of news they come across. As a result, the exhibition that Nina Roberts curated reveals to guests what is a new world of art in terms of blockchain and NFT. Then, there’s Sgomento Zurigo featuring a group show titled Words Happen Like Clouds. This venue will host pieces from 2022 Shizuko Yoshikawa award winner Jiajia Zhang, a Chinese contemporary artist, Canadian contemporary artist Janice Lee and Italian Marco Rigoni.
International but Swiss
Charlotte Von Stotzingen proudly stated that Zurich Art Nov! hosts mostly international designers, «in other art events, maybe 70% of them will be from that country, while 30% will be international, but in our case, it’s reversed». She continued to explain that of the two Zurich Art Weekends, the June edition is the larger event with a more significant international turn out, while the November edition is still global, just with a more robust local initiative.
Within the local initiative, the Zurich Art Nov! shines an intense spotlight on young talent by working with the Zurich University of Arts and other institutions. They aim to give a platform to «young, less known, lively, and progressive artists who otherwise may not get such an opportunity in Zurich», claimed Ms. von Stotzingen. Continuing, she explained the collaboration is unique because the Zurich University of Arts is one of the largest art universities in Europe and mixes a variety of disciplines, from music, dance, and art, so you get a unique energy that’s difficult to find elsewhere.
Zurich Art Nov!
The 5th edition of Zurich Art Nov!, an initiative by Zurich Art Weekend, will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, from Friday the 11th to Sunday the 13th, of November 2022. Zurich Art Nov! will consist of guided tours around the several exhibitions, special installations, discussions, and events all done in a hyper interactive way. The event is under the direction of Charlotte von Stotzingen.
