Manifesta 11. Art in Zurich

You've got another three weeks to head to Zurich, Switzerland for Manifesta 11 - the moving European biennial for contemporary art first held in the early 1990s as a dynamic platform for cultural exchange in continental Europe. 
 


Manifesta - together with the Venice Art Biennial and documenta in Kassel - is one of the major European contemporary art events. Unlike the Biennale and documenta, Manifesta changes location every edition and after St. Petersburg  (link), this year it was held in Zurich, Switzerland.





Until 18 September, after the 100 days (the same time as documenta, which is held every 5 years), contemporary art connoisseurs can explore Manifesta 11, curated by German video and concept artist Christian Jankowski, and going by the name “What People Do For Money. Some Joint Ventures”. 





The main venues of Manifesta 11 in Zurich - which already has a well-established art scene and is this year celebrating the centenary of the Dada movement - are Helmhaus and Löwenbräukunst, while the “Pavilion of Reflections” on Lake Zurich acts as a central presentation platform as well as outdoor cinema and public swimming pool.





Thirty architecture students from ETH Zurich university of science and technology worked under the leadership of studio Tom Emerson to design and complete “Pavilion of Reflections”, a floating platform near Bellevue. A temporary icon for the city, in addition to being a space for discussing the art on exhibition around the city. 



Because Manifesta 11 is accompanied by a full programme of parallel events, as well as a creative “art mediation” service. An initiative created to strip contemporary art of its mysterious and unapproachable aura, which often intimidates the general public because art is so often seen as the “stuff of a few intellectuals”. This way, the city of Zurich is reaching out to more and more people, to engage them in art, given that creativity has no limits, a great idea that we hope can be used as an example to follow!

Christiane Bürklein

Manifesta 11
Zurich, Switzerland
from 11 June to 18 September 2016 
www.manifesta11.org / www.manifesta.org