Muzeum Susch / Art Stations Foundation CH
Founded and chaired by Grażyna Kulczyk, since 2017 Art Stations Foundation CH is engaging in experimental approaches to contemporary art, cultural education, exhibitions and research. The foundation resides in a former vicarage, hospice and economic building once part of a rural monastery founded in 1157 at the foot of the Flüela Pass, on the pilgrim’s path to Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Including a brewery building added in the 19th century, these existing structures have been carefully restored and expanded to reflect the spirit of the location, comprising over 3,500 sqm with 1,500 sqm dedicated gallery space. In addition to permanent installations and temporary exhibitions, a public library and archive, the auditorium, restaurant and artist studios are encouraging exploratory journeys through experimental presentations and personal encounters in conferences, performances and lectures.
Activities of the foundation are led by a clear vision dedicated to the redefinition of the canonical and the marginalized in contemporary art, not as a dominating force silencing others but as an influential voice for making other voices heard. Based on five pillars, MUZEUM SUSCH, DISPUTAZIUNS SUSCH, INSTITUTO SUSCH, ACZIUN SUSCH and TEMPORARS SUSCH, these activities are completing and complementing each other to create joint spaces for encounter, discourse and exchange.
"Fermada sün dumonda"("Stop on request") are the words that welcome those arriving in Susch Situated there, is a medieval monastery that once offered a warm sojourn and respite to pilgrims on their journeys is now home to MUZEUM SUSCH and Art Stations Foundation CH. Starting in 2020, the Chasa (a house), in the historical complex, will again become a home for travellers participating in the new residency programme titled TEMPORARS SUSCH. In reference to the cultural, scientific and scholarly heritage of Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Mann, Vaslav Nijinsky and J.M. Basquiat who, amongst others, discovered the Engadin as a site of inspiration and intellectual debate, the programme is aimed for those who in conscious decision are prepared to make a "Fermada sün dumonda"("Stop on request") and engage in intellectual activities and research.
Following its contemplative principle, Temporars Susch offers a stay for those in the state of flux, encouraging its residents to embrace and dive into cultural debates, and to sustain the continued reappraisal and critical analysis of (art)historical ideas. As a non-production-oriented programme, it stresses the need for, and points out the relevance of, critical reflection and self-reflection, of reconsideration and redefinition of stances, of deepened research and constant revisiting and reformulating of practices – we wish to nurture and challenge the residents' work and practices by providing them an input to think.
TEMPORARS SUSCH provides artists of all disciplines, writers, as well as curators, cultural producers and researchers, from diverse backgrounds and career stages, with individual residencies. By offering the opportunity to unplug from routines of the everyday, the programme encourages its participants to explore and engage in producing ideas, dialogue, and cultural debates.
Each year, the programme comprises four open-call residency slots, each hosting four to five residents and lasting two to for four weeks, depending on the individual needs of each resident.
The programme is addressed to those who are open and ready for sharing their ideas and practices, creating a cultural debate with fellow residents, as well as with the local, cultural and academic communities, by engaging in activities such as workshops, artist talks, panel discussions, performances or other, corresponding with the nature of the resident’s research / practice. The presence of the residents of Temporars Susch and their contributions are vital for the spirit of the institution.
As a non-production oriented programme, Temporars Susch neither requires a tangible outcome nor financially supports it therefore the residents will not be provided with an studio. In the house and foundation there are though several spaces that can be used for multidisciplinary working spaces.
A full country side house with 5 individual bedrooms with big size beds, 4 shared bathrooms and 2 shared kitchens as well as wifi access
The residents will have access to the museum and foundation's facilities including the exhibitions, library, auditorium and performance space as well as Bistro and common areas. Printing and some other technical needs will be no problem from the offices.
Temporars Susch is placed in Susch a small village that the residents will arrive on the red Swiss trains that cross the alpine region of Graubünden, coming into the Engadin valley. Situated there, is a medieval monastery that used to be an important stop on the path of those who, in search of penance, gratitude, or contemplation, peregrinated to Santiago de Compostela and Rome centuries ago. The space that once offered a warm sojourn and respite to pilgrims on their journeys is now home to MUZEUM SUSCH, Art Stations Foundation CH and TEMPORARS.