Engelberg_Magazin_No_15

Vernissage: 13. Dezember 2014, 17 Uhr Ausstellungsdauer: 13. Dezember 2014 bis 12. April 2015 Öffnungszeiten: 13./14. Dezember / 20./21. De- zember / 26. Dezember bis 4. Januar, täglich: 14–18 Uhr Veranstaltungen: Führungen durch die Ausstellung mit Lea-Maria Infanger und Nicole Eller Risi (ohne Anmeldung): Samstag, 3. Januar, 17.00 Uhr, Samstag, 21. Februar, 17.00 Uhr Anmeldungen für Führun- gen durch die Sonderausstel- lung: Tel: 041 637 04 14 oder talmuseum@bluewin.ch

Vernissage: 13 December 2014, 5 p.m. Exhibition period: 13 December 2014 to 12 April 2015 Opening hours: 13/14 December, 20/21 Decem- ber, 25 December to 4 Janu- ary: 2 to 6 p.m. every day Events: Guided tours of the exhibi- tion with Lea-Maria Infanger Saturday 3 January, 5 p.m. and Saturday 21 February, 5.p.m. To book a guided tour of the exhibition, please call or send an e-mail: +41 (0)41 637 0414; talmuseum@bluewin.ch and Nicole Eller Risi (no registration required):

Riesige Tannen, massen- weise Schnee. Otto Ernsts Plakat zum 25. Grossen Ski- rennen in Engelberg, 1930.

Huge pines and piles of snow: Poster by Otto Ernst for the 25th Grand Ski Race in Engelberg, 1930

The Tal Museum opens this year’s winter season with an exhibition about snow in art – a selec­ tion of photographs and installations by contemporary artists based in the region, plus a diverse assortment of historical works from the museum archives. In v iew of the museum’s geographi- ca l location, snow seems an eminently suit- able choice of subjec t. For a lthough the A lps may not hold a monopoly on the white stuf f, it is prac tica lly impossible to think of them without a lso thinking of snow. Snow is not on ly trademark. The word “snow” evokes a panoply of associations and expec tations, f rom the daydreams of the casua l tourist to politica l debates on ar tif icia l snow and melting gla- ciers. The specia l exhibition “Vom Schnee” (“On Snow”) casts a new light on the phenomenon, exploring changing perceptions of it in ar t. The exhibition spans a period f rom 1800 to the present. The earliest work on show is by Caspar Leontius Wyss (1762- 1798), a pupil and later assistant of Caspar Wolf, the celebrated pioneer of Swiss A lpine painting, who stayed in Engelberg around 1775. Wyss’ work “Le Glacier du Tut tlisberg pres d ’Engelberg” bears testament to the awe that the majestic mountains and their unat tainable peaks inspired at the time. In the 19th centur y, the popu lar per- ception of nature, the mountains and snow changed. The Romantic passion for the wild and wonder f u l world of nature was primar- ily transpor ted in literature and painting. impor tant for Engelberg in economic terms; it is the determining feature of our landscape, shaping the lives and charac ter of our people – it has become our

The emerging spor t of mountaineering and the new medium of photography played a great par t in popu larising the mountains and the snow. For the bu lk of the popu la- tion in Europe, however, the idea of snow and winter was still far f rom at trac tive until well into the 20th centur y. They on ly knew the dark side of winter, and the inconven- iences and hazards that came with snow. It was on ly in the early 20th centur y that terms like “white splendour” and “mag- nif icent powder snow” began

to abound. The emerging passion for winter spor ts changed life in mountain v il- lages, as adver tisements be- gan to propagate a ll the f un and f rolics one cou ld enjoy

The word “snow” evokes a panoply of associations and expectations.

in the winter wonderland. Graphic designers and ar tists such as Willy Amrhein (1873-1926), Ot to Ernst (1884-1967) and Herber t Mat ter (1907-1984) designed a series of iconic posters and brochures celebrating the beauty of snow. But one thing holds true for a ll ar tists and a ll eras: f rom the 18th to the 21st centur y, snow has a lways held a specia l fascination for ar tists and inspired them to create a wide variety of works. Ar tists f rom Engelberg and Centra l Switzerland who have contributed to the exhibition include Mat thias Maeder, Claudia Vogel, Georg Infanger, Oskar En- ander, Franz Bucher and Carin Studer, who present current works ranging f rom v ideo pieces to photographs and insta llations. The modern works are mi xed with older paint- ings and prints f rom the museum collec tion.

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kultur | arts+culture

kultur | arts+culture