Advisory Board Resigns Ahead of Bührle Exhibition at Kunsthaus Zürich
Published: Friday, Oct 27th 2023, 12:11
Updated At: Saturday, Oct 28th 2023, 01:55
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The Kunsthaus Zurich will open a new exhibition of the Emil Bührle Collection next week. However, the independent scientific advisory board resigned in mid-October, as the Kunsthaus announced on Friday.
The resignation took place on October 13th, following disagreements over "the weight that the individual fates of former owners, who were victims of the Nazi regime, should have in the new presentation".
We strive for diversity.
The independent advisory board has been advising the Kunsthaus on the new exhibition over the past twelve months, critically questioning it again and again, according to the statement. "We want diversity of opinion," Kunsthaus director Ann Demeester is quoted as saying. "Dissent and debate are part of this exhibition."
At the end, the Kunsthaus and the Advisory Board did not agree on all aspects of the implementation and no consensus could be reached. "This is regrettable and shows how complex the issue is," Demeester is further quoted.
At a media conference next Thursday, the day before the planned opening of the exhibition, the background to the resignation of the advisory board will be further explained, writes the Kunsthaus.
Different voices and opinions.
The new exhibition of the Emil Bührle Collection focuses on art and history, as well as different voices and opinions. The Kunsthaus is making these public and expects that the presentation will continue to provoke controversial, yet valuable discussions, as the preparatory phase with the external advisory board has shown.
Emil Bührle, a Swiss arms dealer, built a collection of 203 works. Through arms sales during and after World War II, he became one of the wealthiest men in Switzerland at the time. He bequeathed his collection to a foundation, which has managed it since 1960. As of autumn 2021, it is held as a permanent loan at the Kunsthaus.
Since then, the Bührle Collection has been the subject of dispute, even on a political level. The Kunsthaus is systematically and thoroughly examining the provenance of the works.
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