PANORAMA

This year’s summer exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thun is dedicated to the theme of the panorama. This fascinating visual medium is explored in a comprehensive exhibition from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The starting point for the first historical section of the exhibition is the Thun Wocher Panorama in Schadau Park, which is affiliated with the Kunstmuseum and was created by the Basel-based master Marquard Wocher between 1809 and 1814. Sketches and designs will shed light on the creation of this oldest surviving panorama in the world. The fact that the specific genre of panoramic views was a popular means of enhancing and conveying the appeal of a region—such as that of Lake Thun or the Bernese Oberland—is demonstrated by additional small panoramas and models in the Thun exhibition. Panoramic depictions presented a particular challenge for artists, as they had to artistically translate highly precise topographical knowledge into large-scale works. One example of this idea of depicting a region as comprehensively as possible is the impressive two-part panoramic model by Auguste Baud-Bovy depicting the Bernese Oberland (1891), which is on display at the Kunstmuseum Thun. The exhibition aims to provide a fascinating insight into the early history of the panorama medium. In the second, contemporary section of the exhibition, we present current works by artists who engage with the panorama from a perspective rooted in the present; their focus lies both on the possibilities for creating illusory spaces that arise from the circular image format and on the panorama as an idea. The desire to perceive reality holistically and without gaps is highly relevant today: the Basel-based artist couple Monica Studer and Christoph van der Berg will create a walk-in panorama—designed specifically for the Thun exhibition—based on digital, computer-generated imagery, which translates the invention of this “mass medium” from the early 19th century into the present. Annelies Strba presents a video panorama of Berlin in which she depicts the metropolis in a highly painterly yet strangely ethereal manner. In Thun, the Californian artist Russel Crotty presents large-format drawings of personal panoramic views of nocturnal landscapes. Numerous photographic works by internationally renowned artists—such as those by the Chinese artist Zhuang Hui or the Danish artist Sören Lose—as well as the brush-painted, panorama-like “abstractions” by Thun-based artist Peter Willen will complement the presentation and offer new perspectives.