Bern awash with contemporary art

The former fish restaurant has become a laboratory and meeting point for art-lovers. swissinfo.ch

Nine Bernese art institutions have launched a project to bring contemporary art closer to the people.

The project “Art’Venture” is the first of its kind and features a number of events at venues all over the city.

One of the biggest projects is “wellen-bern” or “Waves-Bern”, kicked off this weekend with a big launch party featuring a DJ, an open-end bar and opportunities to meet young artists.

The setting for the five-month art project – a collaboration between the university of fine arts and the museum of contemporary arts in Bern – is a derelict building situated on the banks of the city’s Aare River, right in the heart of Bern.

The “Schwellenmätteli” restaurant, which was closed down at the end of last year, will serve as a laboratory, an atelier and a place for art lovers to meet and exchange ideas.

Eat, drink and sleep art

The former fish restaurant will also be home to six foreign art students, who will literally eat, sleep and drink art before the dilapidated building is torn down.

“Wellen-bern” is the brainchild of Hans Rudolf Reust, who decided last September to turn the restaurant into a temporary art centre after Bern’s city council offered him the use of the building until the end of May.

“We had to react very quickly. We had to put the whole project together in three months and we tried to relate it to this building. When we first arrived here, it had that perfect smell of fish and a very strong atmosphere of old restaurants,” Reust said.

The rooms on the top floor have been decorated for the art students, who come from Lithuania, Slovakia and Mexico, and a chill-out lounge and bar have been prepared on the ground floor.

“Each Thursday night we open the building for a public bar and anyone who is interested in art can come here. We hope that many discussions will take place, many stories will start and new projects will be discussed,” Reust said.

Young generation

The “wellen-bern” project is mainly aimed at young art enthusiasts, who have the possibility to enjoy contemporary art in a relaxed atmosphere.

Jobst Wagner, the president of the Bernese art society, thinks that young people are often scared off by the more sophisticated museum environment.

“We are very grateful that the city council has offered us this location. It’s uncomplicated and it’s not a museum, where you might be afraid of entering,” he said.

However, not only the young generation is invited to the Schwellenmätteli restaurant because Reust is convinced that there is hardly an age difference among artists.

“Older artists can be very young sometimes. And that’s why we think people should come together here. Of course, the younger generation is setting the tone but I think that if people are open-minded, they will also find more quiet activities here,” he said.

Cultural city

Jobst Wagner, who also heads the Art’Venture platform, thinks the whole project is very important for Bern as the capital often lags behind the more culturally orientated city of Zurich.

“In Bern we have too many particular interests and we have to consider that Bern is not Zurich or Basel and therefore we must be a bit more focused to be more competitive,” he said.

Wagner hopes to extend the offers and exhibitions of the Kunstmuseum and the Kunsthalle in Bern through Art’Venture. “We stand behind these two existing institutions and we need to strengthen their positions,” he said.

by Billi Bierling