Kunsthaus Bregenz

Kunsthaus Bregenz is an institute for the presentation of outstanding contemporary art that is active internationally. Thanks to its ambitious exhibition program and its unique architecture, the KUB is also internationally renowned amongst aficionados of both art and architecture. It was designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor on behalf of the Austrian Federal State of Vorarlberg and was constructed between 1990 and 1997. Peter Zumthor won the Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture in 1998 for the Kunsthaus. In 2009, he was honored with the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award for architects.

Artists are invited to respond to the building’s architecture or to even enter into a symbiosis with it. For this reason, a large part of the work on display has been created on site and especially for the institution. Kunsthaus Bregenz’s exhibitions and projects enable artists’ ideas to become reality. The boundaries of both what is feasible and imaginable continually shift with each exhibition. Precisely executed projects evolve from the artists’ initial visions – rough, hand drawn sketches or small-scale models. Such projects are only possible thanks to collaborations involving mutual trust between the technical team, the artist, and curator, as well as the entire staff at the Kunsthaus. This also involves the artists working closely with partners from local industries as well as small-scale handcraft businesses. The exceptionally high quality and flexibility of Vorarlberg businesses has been repeatedly praised by invited artists.

Edelbert Köb was the founding director of Kunsthaus Bregenz, leading it until 2000, followed by Eckhard Schneider from 2000 to 2008. Yilmaz Dziewior became responsible for the program from October 1, 2009, to January 31, 2015. His successor is Austrian born Thomas D. Trummer, who has headed Kunsthaus Bregenz since May 1, 2015.

To date Kunsthaus Bregenz has offered well over a hundred artists from all over the world space for new and, in some cases, unique works, enabling KUB to achieve an internationally renowned position among institutes of contemporary art.