AGENDA

The KBCB has received a major donation of almost 500 books for its library. They belonged to Stefan Banz (1961-2021) and are devoted exclusively to the artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968). For several years, Banz and his partner Caroline Bachmann devoted themselves to an impressive project based on Duchamp's last work, Étant donnés: 1° la chute d'eau, 2° le gaz d'éclairage... (1946-1968). It all started with a discovery: the waterfall reproduced in miniature in Duchamp's work was modelled on the Forestay waterfall in the Lavaux region, just a few kilometres from Cully, where the couple lived. This discovery led the couple to carry out unprecedented research into the work. In 2010, this led to the organisation of an international symposium in Cully, which will be followed by a major publication. This work on the Forestay waterfall prompted Banz to take an interest in another aspect of Duchamp's work. Étant donnés is in fact a kind of diorama to which we have access only through two small holes drilled in an old wooden door. Banz has meticulously studied what this mise en scène owes to the New York painter Louis Michel Eilshemius (1864-1941), for whom Duchamp had great admiration.

The Photoforum Pasquart is delighted to present a solo exhibition by Naara Bahler as part of Biel/Bienne Photography Festival 2025. This year’s edition of the festival is dedicated to the theme "Horizons", exploring how landscapes are perceived, used, and represented. Through a poetic and experimental approach, Naara Bahler examines the relationship between humans and nature. Her work resonates with the festival theme by offering a personal and sensory exploration of landscapes and their depiction.

Under the banner of ‘film as film’, the absolute cinema of Greek-American Gregory J. Markopoulos (1928–1992) alternates between fixed sequence shots and autonomous photograms. His work is based on portraits of people and places, and partly on adaptations of Hellenic myths. His last epic work, Eniaios (1948–1990, approx. 80 hours), reassembles his earlier films in a new order, combining them with new ones shot for the occasion. Since 2004, the restored work has been screened every four years at Temenos, an open-air utopian projection space in Greece. In Biel, the exhibition focuses on some of the 16mm films used for Eniaios, presented in conjunction with cibachromes and documents from the Temenos archive. cur.: François Bovier, with the participation of Robert Beavers, cinematographer and co-founder of the Temenos archive.

The sculptural work of Alexandra Bircken (*1967) deals with the structure of protection, identification and the expansion of the individual in analogies between body and machine. The Berlin-based artist combines a variety of materials and techniques - often woven or knitted textiles — with which she explores the boundary between the human and the created environment. At the same time Bircken dissects everyday technical objects with surgical precision, bringing the biomorphic nature of machines into view. This dual approach leads to an ambivalent work that is both cyborg-like and androgynous and questions human behaviour and desire, but also the vulnerability of the body in its relationship to technology. In collaboration with Culturgest, Lisbon, where the exhibition will be presented from 25.10.2025–1.2.2026. With the kind support of: Josi Georg Guggenheim Foundation, Ruth & Arthur Scherbarth Foundation.

Throughout the year 2025, the artist from Biel, Jeanne Jacob, takes over the Studiolo and presents FOR SALE, a multi-chapter work reflecting on the connections between economic systems, success, and artists’ labor. In the room, a reading corner and events curated in collaboration with Gabrielle d'Alessandro will punctuate the year.