In 2013, upon my arrival in Zurich, trying to make sense of the local art scene and looking for alternative art practices, I initiated a mapping and listing of the local art spaces. The guide was drafted with Fabio Kunz and developed with Andreas Marti, Patrizia Mazzei and with the design support of Badesaison.
Off Spaces, Independent Art Spaces, Artist-run Spaces and Platform projects are usually self-organised initiatives run by artists and curators. The diversity of projects is steadily increasing and makes it difficult to assign individual initiatives to a specific category. We can observe many overlaps, from hard line alternative ventures completely self funded, to projects partly enabled by public funding or / and linked to institutions, to initiatives bearing similarities with commercial galleries. Many different causes accelerate and sometimes force processes of change, e.g. urban development changes which make numerous usable rooms disappear and / or adjustments in cultural and funding policies forcing art spaces to find alternative financing options. The consequences can be seen in the short-lived nature of certain projects, in the increased cooperation with larger institutions and the attempt to find alter- native financing options. While the pandemy forced many initiatives to rethink their shapes and functions, these last few months have shown a resurgence of project spaces with a fixed address. The ZURICH ART SPACE GUIDE tries to record and showcase the many changes and projects taking place in the artist-led and self organised cultural scene in Zurich.
The ZURICH ART SPACE GUIDE is a non-profit self-organized association. You can support the project, please contact us. Get a free guide in several art spaces or download it on our website: http://www.zurichartspaceguide.ch/
