Floor plan & exhibition text in German, French, English

What shapes us? This question runs like a thread through this year’s Cantonale Berne Jura at the Kunsthalle Bern. The selected works explore ‘The locks we build, the keys we hold’, or in other words: How do we move as individuals within social power structures in the context of class, gender and race? Which locks do institutions build – cultural and otherwise – and who has access to change them? The exhibition opens up a multi-layered space to reflect on privilege, discrimination, the pressure to adapt and resilience. The exhibition not only asks what shapes us, but also invites us to think about strategies of action for a more socially just and sustainable future: What do we shape?

Cantonale Berne Jura
The Cantonale Berne Jura is an association of eleven exhibition institutions that present the art of the cantons of Berne and Jura in a joint annual exhibition. The cross-cantonal exhibition has been held annually since 2011 and is organised and supported by the Cantonale association since 2012.

Jury Kunsthalle Bern:
iLiana Fokianaki (Director, Kunsthalle Bern)
Claudia Heim (Curator of the exhibition, Kunsthalle Bern)
Céline Matter (Art Historian and Curator)
Engy Mohsen (Co-Curator at Les Complices*)