The exhibition Nationalpark is the final big tribute to the Sulserbau. For 60 years the building designed by the architect Walther Sulser served as “Naturhistorisches und Nationlparkmuseum”, then from 1989 onwards the Bündner Kunstmuseum has used it for temporary exhibitions. On this site the extension of the Bündner Kunstmuseum will be built 2014-2016. The installation of the artist duo Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger does not only bring to mind the original function of the building, it also makes room for the new: The park will constantly change, its plant and crystal world will grow and decay – from the longest to the shortest day of the year.

The artist duo Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger has transformed the Sulserbau of the Bündner Kunstmuseum into a “National Park” the likes of which has never been seen before. The building is redesigned from the basement up to the gables: The fixtures are torn out and used to build a mountain landscape, the roof water is diverted and used to form streams, museum windows are opened to bring sun, wind and rain into the house, an array of crops is planted and attracts all kinds of animals. Collections and accumulations are presented, in which the boundaries between the artistic, the artificial and the natural are blurred. With their installation Nationalpark Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger not only remind us of the original function of the building, they also create space for the new: In the course of the six months the installation will constantly change. The plant and crystal world will grow and decay, flower and fade. In the Nationalpark garden tableaus, fields of thought and sources of knowledge are created, which give rise to new ideas and conceptions of what nature and the museum could be. The exhibition is a seedbed for invention, a hothouse of fantasy, an observation space for art and an ecosystem of unexpected activities.

In 2014 the Swiss National Park celebrates its 100-year jubilee, for which the exhibition at the Bündner Kunstmuseum is the artistic kick-off.

Gerda Steiner (1967) & Jörg Lenzlinger (1964) have been working together since 1997. They have made a name for themselves nationally and internationally with large, expansive installations, which they developed for the respective locations, for instance for the Swiss National Exposition, the Expo.02 (Heimatmaschine), for the Venice Biennale/church San Staë (Giardino calante, 2003), for the Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen (Seelenwärmer, 2005), at the ACCA Melbourne (water hole, 2009), at the Arp Museum, Rolandseck (Hochwasser, 2011), at the Art Tower Mito, Japan (power sources, 2012).

Opening: Friday, June 21, at 6 pm
Welcome and introduction: Stefan Kunz, Director Bündner Kunstmuseum, with the participation of the Bündner Wanderchor.
Aperitif: Serge’s Buffet