Cristina Bechtler talks about Zurich, between art and nature
Cristina Bechtler
On the occasion of Zurich Art Weekend 2022, which will take place next weekend from 10 to 12 June 2022, Cristina Bechtler gives us her tips on Zurich. Zurich Art Weekend transforms the city into an unmissable platform for encounters, discoveries, and new encounters within the broader contemporary art scene with amazing exhibitions and more than 130 public and private events. During Zurich Art Weekend, the city is filled with art thanks to fantastic exhibitions, talks with artists and curators, concerts, and performances. Zurich hosts numerous concerts, performances, festivals, and more year-round, visitors could use the Zurich Tourism website to find out about the rich program.
Cristina Bechtler is a Zurich-based collector and founder of the art publishing house Ink Tree Editions as well as editor of the series “Museum of The Future”, “The Private Museum of The Future”, and “Museum of the Future: Now What?”, part of the series “Art and Architecture in Discussion” published by Springer Vienna/New York and the artists’ magazine “PA”. She is the founder of the E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks, the art, architecture, and design Forum that is held annually in Zuoz, Engadin, Switzerland. Over the last 12 years, more than 290 international speakers joined the Forum. Throughout the year, the E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks organises talks in collaboration with international institutions, such as the Serpentine Galleries, London, Kunsthalle Zürich, CCS Paris, and many more.
Curators of the E.A.T. programme are the renowned curators Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries London), Bice Curiger (Artistic Director Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles), Daniel Baumann (Director Kunsthalle Zurich), and Philip Ursprung (Professor of the History of Art and Architecture, ETH Zurich).
Cristina Bechtler is the Co-Chairwoman of the Human Rights Watch Office, Zurich and she is an active member of the Bechtler Foundation.
You are the founder of Bechtler Art, interested in NFTs, and founder of a rich programme of talks on art, design, and architecture (E.A.T), also, one of Switzerland’s most prominent collectors. Can you tell us more about your work and what challenges you face daily? What are the city’s best experiences, the neighbourhoods, and the people who influence or have influenced your work?
The Bechtler Foundation was founded by my family 70 years ago with the goal of placing art in public space.
Starting with the iconic and beloved Tinguely sculpture, now the emblem of Zurich, to James, Turell, Martin Kippenberger, Roman Sigrist, Sol Le Witt, Dan Graham, Lawrence Weiner, Sara Morris, Julian Charriere, Oskar Tuason, Fischli&weiss, Henry Moore, among others. We also covered the ‘installation of the phantom largest sculpture ever “The 2000 Sculpture,” a work composed of 2000 plaster bars, arranged on 21×60 m, by Walter De Maria, installed in Uster.
What are the most interesting events/exhibitions during the Zurich Art Weekend? Let’s try to imagine an itinerary of the city through your eyes: what would you choose and what would you suggest to visit among the museums, art galleries, and cultural spaces? Is there a particular place among the lesser-known ones that should receive special attention?
If you are in Zurich this weekend, you can’t miss the “NFT Art Day” held in collaboration between E.A.T./Engadin Art Talks and Tokengate. A day of lectures on the role of NFTs in art.
As mentioned above, Walter De Maria’s “The 2000 Sculpure” and the Sigmar Polke and Pamela Rosenkranz exhibition at the Bechtler Foundation are worth visiting.
Finally, we would like to know what a Zuricher gets up to on a day to day basis: what are your favourite places to meet up with friends, and favourite restaurants/bars/nightclubs?
In my free time I like to meet with friends, and this usually takes place in my home or office.
My lifestyle is very defined: I always get up at 6am and love to surround myself with nature, woods, and trees. I like to spend afternoons at the lake, pretty much all my free time I love to spend by the water!
Zurich is perfect for this because it is surrounded by lakes and nature is easily accessible.
