St. Johann Monastery in Münstertal shows the nuns’ private area
Published: Thursday, Jun 20th 2024, 09:30
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The St. Johann Müstair Monastery in the Münstertal valley in Graubünden is showing the first results of the redesign of the monastery museum in a new permanent exhibition. Entitled "Inner life. The Baroque Nuns' Cells", the exhibition will provide an insight into the personal lives of the nuns from June 24.
"In the baroque nuns' cells, the sisters tell of their journey and life in the convent and in seclusion in touching video sequences," wrote the convent in a statement about the exhibition. Objects and stories in the new exhibition focus on themes of intimacy, privacy and processes of safekeeping and seclusion.
These include boxes and chests as the sisters' less personal possessions. Also on display are historical letters in which the nuns talk about their life in the convent and in the remote, alpine Münstertal valley. The exhibition includes part of the historic Plata Tower, the oldest residential and defensive tower in the Alpine region.
The vernissage on June 24 is open to the public, but registration is required. From July, the monastery will be offering weekly guided tours of the new exhibition.
Monastery museum becomes gender-neutral
The museum in the Unesco World Heritage monastery, which is over 20 years old, will be modernized in several stages from 2024. While archaeology and art history have been the focus of the museum to date, a gender-appropriate look at the women's convent and the topic of the networking of the monastery near the border will be added.
The new permanent exhibition is a further step in the implementation of the "Living Cultural Heritage" development concept drawn up in 2020. The display store in the cultural property shelter with the monastery's archaeological treasure has already been opened.
The second exhibition on the redesign of the museum opens just in time for the European Heritage Days on September 7 and 8. "BUN VIADI. Paths to and from Müstair" puts the remoteness of the monastery on the edge of Switzerland into perspective.
The monastery complex of St. Johann in Müstair has been one of Switzerland's 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1983. The museum is located in the former cloister of the monastery in the cloister and in the Plantaturm.
©Keystone/SDA
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