The starting point of the exhibition Archiv Netzwerk Kunsthalle is formed by material traces that were found in the archive of the Kunsthalle Bern. Beginning with a focus on the post-war period and addressing a variety of issues, the show will present an arrangement of fragmented narratives that deal with the longing for expansion. The Kunsthalle is a site that contributes to shaping contemporaneity and engages with inclusions and exclusions. The view of the developments since the 1950s ranges from the space that the Kunsthalle provides for expanded art practices, to the impact of new media on the function of displaying, all the way to the archive as material for art. Further thematic fields include the expansion of a network of international actors in the art field, the development of the format of the group exhibition, and the emergence of the curator as an authorial figure.
The pursuing of these documentary fragments will lead us progressively closer to our own present, to this archive exhibition that itself embodies a longing for expansion.

Curated by Nicolas Brulhart