The partnership of the Fondazione Garbald with the ETH Zürich and the University of Zürich (UZH) provides an opportunity of changing the focus of the installation of art at the Villa Garbald in Castasegna, and for once not to take the work of an artist as starting point but to give insight into the immeasurable picture archives of the two universities. Nobody can evade the fascination of this immense wealth. However, the selection and the presentation in the Villa Garbald and in the new Roccolo building poses a special challenge.
For the art installation 2025 we have asked Ester Vonplon (*1980) to examine the archives of the University of Zürich. While researching she came across a collection of glass slides in the university’s Institute of Art History that aroused her interest and that animated her own image research. The glass slides are at the beginning of colour production that today is blossoming out in complex digital processes. At the time, the black-and-white photos were coloured according to the best of knowledge and belief with plenty of room for interpretation. They are of surprising colourfulness, making new image creations of the masterpieces. Over time, chemical processes have contributed their share and have led to further alienations. This is where Ester Vonplon’s work begins. With photo historic interest and with immense curiosity for the changes in the images, she has compiled a picture-sheet that allows for the discovery of new and exciting magic in almost forgotten archive holdings.

Vernissage: 5 July 2025, 5:00 p.m.
Villa Garbald, Castasegna

The collaborative partnership with the Art Museum Graubünden began in 2004 with the establishment of the “Think Tank Villa Garbald”. Since 2005 the Art Museum Graubünden regularly organises “Art Installations” that meet the needs of the Villa Garbald as an art space. Every year an artist is commissioned to develop a photographic project for Gottfried Semper’s Villa Garbald and for Miller & Maranta’s Roccolo, and to integrate their own work in a specific way into the broader context. Thereby the photographer Andrea Garbald is shown due honour and a meaningful contribution is made to this out of the way valley.

There is a booklet in German, Italian and English to go with each art-installation.

The publication in the webshop

garbald.ch