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Museion, 2003 (Photo: L. Thalheimer)
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The new Museion. Courtesy: KSV Berlin
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Matt Mullican, 2001
(Photo: L. Thalheimer)
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The Museum
The birth of Bolzano’s Museum of modern and contemporary art dates back to 1985, when a private association sought and received the support of the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol for the founding of what was then the Museum of Modern Art, which began its activities in 1987 under the directorship of Pier Luigi Siena and the presidency of Karl Nicolussi-Leck. The museum’s statue defined its purpose as the promotion of the visual arts, with particular attention to the interface between Italian and German-speaking cultures. In 1991, the museum took the name of Museion, thus rendering explicit the intention to broaden its field of activity—with respect both to collecting and to exhibitions—into a much more ample survey of the world of artistic expression.
In the year 2000, Museion became the Museum of modern and contemporary art, with Alois Lageder as President, and Andreas Hapkemeyer as Director. This new denomination is linked not only with the clear intention of assuming the role of a catalyst in the field of the present-day languages of art and of orienting the museum’s acquisitions in such a direction, but is also connected with the realization of the Museum building. In fact, it was with this in sight that at the end of 2000 the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol opened an international competition, which was duly won by the KSV (Krüger, Schuberth, Vandreike) Architectural Studio, in Berlin. The construction proposed by KSV is first of all marked in its absolute simplicity, as also expressed by its outside appearance: the building might be described as a box-like structure, as though simply deposited on its construction site. The building’s visual impact is highly important: the construction’s immediate recognizability has something of the quality of a logo, which in future as well will be associated with the museum’s contents. The building itself is a sign that symbolically represents a landscape: the museum as a place of easy access, open to all who are interested, while also playing a significant role in the panorama of museum activities both within and relatively adjacent to the region. Construction of the new museum building has begun in 2003.
Museion continues at present to be housed at its original site, which is a building constructed in 1860 by the Munich architect Robert Altmann, and currently shared with the Free University of Bolzano. Activities for the moment are concentrated on the organization of temporary exhibitions, and on the scholarly and didactic work connected with them. The reduced visibility of the institution and the gradual reduction of the physical spaces in which in fact it operates have led Museion to increase activities outside its own particular premises: Museion thus has become the promoter of an important series of initiatives which aim to carry contemporary art into spaces not always specifically designed for it, but which in fact are not alien to the museum context (examples can be found in the “Percorsi di luce” and the banners of Matt Mullican throughout the city of Bolzano, as well as in the “Guida” project at the seats of various other museums within the Province). Museion continues periodically to present sections of its collection to the public, especially with respect to acquisitions of monumental works, often realized on commission and conceived to occupy the space of the whole of a room. More ample surveys of museum holdings will be on view in the new museum building. The interplay between museum space and public space—much like the strict connection between collecting, scholarly, and exhibition activities—reflects the museum’s explicit intention to take on the nature of a laboratory that actively contributes to the development of present-day artistic expression. Museion is also one of the founding members of the AMACI (the Italian Association of Museums of Modern and Contemporary Art).
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