It is said that collectors are the happier people. And there are quite a few beings of this species who confirm this rumor with pleasure. Even more enriching is collecting for the community. Good collections are treasure troves allowing one to immerse in entire worlds.

The Stiftung Kunsthalle Bern was founded in 1987 with the aim of building up a collection of contemporary art. The starting point was the Kunsthalle Bern, which was to be no longer only a venue for exhibitions attracting worldwide attention. Beyond their immediate impact, narrations, the archive, and catalogs were to remain in the city. Supported by the then director Ulrich Loock, the Bernese citizens Bernhard Hahnloser, Donald Hess, Paul Jolles, Beat Jordi, and Eberhard W. Kornfeld founded the Stiftung, which now made it possible to acquire works from the exhibition program in a targeted way, works that were often created by the artists specifically for their show at the Kunsthalle Bern. The artworks accumulated through these continuous and generously funded collecting activities wrote history in several respects. Since then, the collection has been following the times, reflecting the development of contemporary art over three decades. The collected works furthermore document the development of the Kunsthalle Bern and thus contribute to writing the history of the city. The selection of exhibits from the collection is made by the respective directors and is thus in line with the Kunsthalle’s authorial principle. The collection is stored and maintained by the Kunstmuseum Bern, which also uses it for exhibition purposes.

The collection of the Stiftung Kunsthalle Bern currently comprises around 400 works by 51 male and 26 female artists. They are repeatedly lent to institutions around the world, thus lending international visibility to the collection. To mark the anniversary, a selection will be presented at the Kunsthalle Bern. The show brings together works by 16 artists, showing a portion of the collecting activities since the 1990s.

Kunsthalle Bern would like to thank the city of Berne, the Confederation, the Kunstmuseum Bern as well as Patrick Jordi, Jobst Wagner and Alex Wassmer for their generous support.