Kunsthaus Zug
The Kunsthaus Zug houses and exhibits regional, national and international art ranging from Classical Modernism to the contemporary, and is also engaged in promoting its holdings by communicating with a broad spectrum of society. Its collection has several thematic focus areas, ranging from the aforementioned Classical Modernism to contemporary art. Thanks to the holdings of the Kamm Collection Foundation, which was set up in 1998, the Kunsthaus Zug has become established as a leading centre for the art of Viennese Modernism. More than 400 works have been given on permanent loan to the Zug Art Society, and these constitute the most important collection of Viennese Modernist art in Europe outside Austria itself. Other focus areas of the collection are Swiss Surrealism, Fantastic Realism, and art from Central Switzerland. The original Kunsthaus Zug opened in 1977 in the Altstadthalle, but since 1990 has been located on the edge of Zug’s old town in a 16th-century complex known as the “Hof im Dorf”. Thanks to its later renovation and conversion by the renowned Swiss architect Franz Füeg (1921–2019), the Kunsthaus has two wings and spacious, modern, clearly defined rooms for visitors to enjoy a personal encounter with artworks. A sculpture garden invites visitors to linger and to discover the works exhibited there by Fritz Wotruba, Michael Kienzer and Richard Tuttle.
Art around town
With the project Collection of Tadashi Kawamata in 1996, the Kunsthaus Zug expanded its activities for the first time into the public space of the city of Zug and beyond. Since then, the museum has been reaching out to people with various art projects: from art in architecture to interventions in public space. The collection includes sculptures, sculptures and installations in the courtyard and in the Kunsthaus garden, as well as architectural installations in the city. Tadashi Kawamata's wooden station path leads to the lido and the Bruggli area. On the lakeside promenade is the walk-in sculpture Seesicht (2015) by Roman Signer, in the Daheimpark is the hut (2016/2021) by Thomas Schütte. The wall drawings by Pavel Pepperstein for the Zug prison can be viewed on request. In cooperation with the Kunsthaus, art in architecture projects with Ilya and Emilia Kabakov as well as James Turrell were also realized for the train station, as well as for school buildings with Elisabeth Arpagaus, Tadashi Kawamata, Carmen Keiser, Michael Kienzer, Peter Kogler, Pavel Pepperstein and Franziska Zumbach.
Kunsthaus Zug mobil
Kunsthaus Zug has been “mobile” since 2002. As a travelling museum, the special container has made several stops in Zug, the rest of Switzerland and abroad, bringing art from the museum to the people. Exhibitions of contemporary art are shown and mediated in the smallest of spaces. The “Kunsthaus Zug mobil” seeks site-specific contact with the public and, as a container, is at the same time a metaphor for today’s globalisation. In 2008, the project was awarded the Swiss prize for the education of Fine Arts and was presented by the German Goethe-Institut in a European exhibition tour about young German architecture abroad. As part of a study, the former group of architects called rheinflügel from Düsseldorf took an intensive look at the Kunsthaus Zug. The group, which emerged from the Düsseldorf Art Academy, was also familiar with the conversion of the Kunsthalle there at the time. In a broad conversation with rheinflügel, questions of contemporary museum architecture as well as museum practice were discussed and also the relationship between the public, space and art was examined. How could the guiding concept of the Kunsthaus Zug, “interconnected museum in the flow”, have an effect on space? In response, Kunsthaus Zug mobil was created. Commissioned by the Stiftung der Freunde Kunsthaus Zug, rheinflügel designed a mobile exhibition space. The large container (twelve metre long), specially made in Hamburg and the Czech Republic, fulfils the technical requirements to accommodate works from the collection; it has its own air-conditioning and security system. Interior design and lighting create attractive exhibition conditions. The smooth, specially coated exterior surface allows for artistic treatment. The mobile "white cube", an innovative solution, is suitable for artistic, socio-cultural or art-scientific activities. As a container, it can be transported worldwide by road, rail or ship.