Harald Szeemann

Swiss | 1933 - 2005

Curatorial
Studies 1

Prepared by:

Anggira Paramita Putri

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Axel Ramadhan Ridzky

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Diaz Ramadhansyah
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Novita Yulia
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01

Born in Bern, Switzerland on June 11, 1933

Studied art history, archaeology and journalism in Bern and

at the Sorbonne in Paris from 1953 – 1960

In 1956 to 1958 he began working as an actor, stage designer

and painter and produced many one-man shows

Szeemann was hospitalized for pleural cancer in Locarno, Switzerland

and died in 2005 at the age of 71 in the Ticino region

Personal
Life
Szeemann was active in performances in the 1950s,
which would later become one of his methods and
ideas for making exhibitions. It made Szeemann
revolutionary by introducing the theatre element to
exhibition making, he demonstrated his grasp of the
forms and tools of artistic expression in his
unforgettable One-Man Theatre.

HSz's one-man theatre, 1956. Stage set by HSz,

adapted from Ricco's painting Jean du carrousel (1955).
Photo by Kurt Blum
was a
Swiss curator,
artist and
art historian
Having curated more than 150 exhibitions,
many of which have been characterized as
groundbreaking.
 1957
Began organizing
1961 Curatorial
Career
exhibitions in Switzerland. Was appointed as director of the
Kunsthalle Bern at the age of 28.
1963 1968
Gave Christo and Jeanne-Claude
1969
Organized an exhibition of works by the
"mentally ill" from the collection of the their first opportunity to wrap an
art historian and psychiatrist Hans entire building: the Kunsthalle
The Kunsthalle Bern is also where Szeemann
Prinzhorn. itself.
mounted his "radical" landmark 1969 exhibition
"Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form"
which caused such a reaction that it prompted
his resignation as Kunsthalle director. For decades Szeemann worked out of a studio, which he
referred to as "The Factory," in the Swiss village Tegna,
where he conceived international exhibitions and

1970 experimented with traditional museological practices.

After leaving the Kunsthalle he founded the "Museum of
Organized another large, Obsessions" and the Agentur für Geistige Gastarbeit ("Agency
for Spiritual Migrant Work").
even more improbable show, Until 2014, he was the
"Happenings and Fluxus," at
the Kunstverein in Cologne.
only curator who had this
distinction, which since
1972 1981 - 1991
1975 the 2015 Venice Biennale
He was the youngest artistic director at Szeemann was a "permanent is now shared with
documenta 5 in Kassel. He revolutionised He organized "Bachelor Machines" for
the Venice Biennale
freelance curator" at Okwui Enwezor.
the concept: conceived as a hundred-day the Kunsthaus Zürich.
event, he invited the artists to present not
only paintings and sculptures, but also
performances and "happenings" as well as
1980 1999 & 2001
photography. As a co-commissioner of the biennale,
he created the first Aperto, or Open, He was later
selected as the Biennale
exhibition, a cacophonous survey, held
in a gigantic former rope factory, that director. This marked him as
ignored the national divisions of the the first to curate both documenta
biennale's pavilions. and the Biennale.
Awards
Received

1998 Award for Curatorial Excellence, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College

2000 Max Beckmann Prize

2005 Das Glas der Vernunft

2005 Awarded a "Special Gold Lion" at the Biennale in Venice

The Grandfather of

contemporary
curating
02
The list of exhibitions recorded as having been held
by Szeemann throughout his life can be seen here:
There are more than 150 exhibitions that have been held by
https://peoplepill.com/people/harald-szeemann/

Szeemann, but there are three major exhibition through his

career as curator which later became important notes in the

history of contemporary art. Those are; When Attitudes

Become Form (1969) Pic. 1, Happening and Fluxus (1970)

1. 2. 3.
Pic. 2 and Documenta 5 (1972) Pic. 3.

In 1969, Szeeman invited about 70 artists to exhibit their works at In the book "Harald Szeemann: Selected Writing" it is said that the exhibition "When Attutude
the museum where he worked. These artists are people whose Becomes Form" became the most recognizing exhibition of its time. Holland Cotter in The New
works no longer follow the standards of conventional art, in other York Times briefly "remembers" the exhibition "When Attitude Becomes Form" as an exhibition that
words; they no longer use canvases and three-dimensional really surprised art societies.They present works that are considered very destructive. The exhibition,
sculptures to visualize their ideas. which presented "insane" works, was apparently empty of visitors and attracted protests from many
groups, including artists who were unable to display their paintings and sculptures. However, this is
considered to be the beginning of the birth of contemporary art.
 "When Attitudes Become Form" holds a special place in the curatorial
imagination. It was the exhibition that brought international acclaim to
the most important curator of the post-war period, Harald Szeemann. And
Live in Your Head: it was the show that led Szeemann to re-create himself as an
independent exhibition maker, founding a career path that would
When Attitudes Become Form (1969) be followed by generations of curators. "Attitudes" has also come to
represent the romantic conception of the curator as inspired partner of the
artist, a creative actor who generates original ideas and structures through
which art enters public consciousness.
 When Attitudes become form, 1969

Video
In 1970, Szeemaan and Hans Sohm curated
“Happening and Fluxus”
exhibition at the Kolnischer Kunstverei
Cologne in Germany

It is one of attempt bringing the umberlla of Fluxus art and its countless characters into one
exhibition. Part retrospective, part experimental process, the exhibition was ambitious in its
efforts to accommodate collaboration between curator, artist, and audience. Artists were
given a cubicle to present their works which predominately focused on the history of their
practice. No artworks were commisionned, though some artists acivated the space through
happening or perfomance pieces.
03 Fifth edition of Documenta,
Questioning Reality: Pictorial Worlds Today (1972)

After the first steps toward fundamental structural change

were taken within the context of documenta 4, Harald Szeemann
was appointed as the first art director and sole curator of
the exhibition in 1972. That marked the end of the Arnold Bode era.

With his selection of “Questioning Reality - Pictorial WorldsToday”

as the exhibition title, Szeemann gave document a 5 an authentic
programmatic focus. The original concept of a “100-Day Event”
developed in 1970, which had replaced the idea of the “Museum of
100 Days” with an actionistic, performanceoriented program, was
abandoned, perhaps in response to experience gained from earlier
exhibitions, such as Happening and Fluxus (1970), which had been
closed in response to massive popular protests.

By replacing the defining authority of art history with individual

mythologies, documenta 5 represented an upheaval in any case.
And in spite of, or precisely because of, the controversy and
inherent contradictions associated with the event, it continues to
serve as a model for contemporary exhibition practice and the role
of the exhibition maker.
 Documenta 5, 1972

Video
Grandfather:
A Pioneer Like Us (1974)

After organizing the landmark exhibitions Live in Your Head:

When Attitudes Become Form (1969) and documenta 5 (1972),
renowned curator Harald Szeemann staged Grandfather:
A Pioneer Like Us in his apartment, a collection of various
objects and inventions made or owned by his grandfather,
Etienne Szeemann, a noted hairdresser.
Grandfather: A Pioneer Like Us (1974)
04
Points that
make Szeemann in
1. First Independent Curator 6. Szeemann learns about the amazing life

The Global Arts 2. Harald Szeemann began his work as an exhibition curator in
of Szeeman's brother. So he made a surreal experiment
using Grandpa Szeeman's different treasures to produce
1957, and in 1961, at age 28, was appointed director of the a series of dynamic and surprising juxtaposes. He explores
Kunsthalle Bern, becoming one of the youngest museum the contours of his grandfather's biography, the migration
directors in the world. of people across Europe during the war in the twentieth
century. , the development of hairdressing as a modernism
3. He transformed the institution into an international work parallel to the visionaries and avant-gardes themselves, and
with a focus on the latest developments in contemporary art, the essence of self-curation as a creative and meaningful
such as kinetic art, op and happenings, as well as visual artists activity.
and popular culture.
7. This exhibition marks a pivotal moment in Szeemann's
4. As the first independent curator, Szeemann conducted a development, as he drives a series of projects that
large-scale survey on the fertility of art media. It is not only challenge what constitutes an exhibition and an institution,
known for its performances that not only mix genres and while redefining the practice of curation. This full-scale
generations, but include historical documents and scientific reconstruction is the culmination of three years of
innovation. research and conservation by the Getty Research Institute,
Los Angeles. Szeemann retains most of the hundreds of
5. He organized two major international exhibitions which elements from the original exhibit, including furniture, and
would cement his reputation as a visionary: Live in Your Head: this presentation is carefully reproduced, complete with
When Attitudes Become Form (1969), followed by the fifth family photos, his grandfather's art collection,
edition of Documenta, Questioning Reality: Pictorial Worlds household items, and interesting tools from the
Today (1972). With these exhibitions, he moved towards a hairdressing trade.
more experimental approach to curating that, by some
accounts, centered the curator as auteur.
Artists: Carl Andre, Giovanni Anselmo, Richard Artschwager, Thomas Bang, Jared Bark, Robert Barry, Joseph Beuys, Alighiero Boetti,
Mel Bochner, Marinus Boezem, Bill Bollinger, Michael Buthe, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Paul Cotton, Hanne Darboven, Walter de Maria,
Jan Dibbets, Ger van Elk, Rafael Ferrer, Barry Flanagan, Ted Glass, Hans Haacke, Michael Heizer, Eva Hesse, Douglas Huebler, Paolo
Icaro, Alain Jacquet, Neil Jenney, Stephen Kaltenbach, Jo Ann Kaplan, Edward Kienholz, Yves Klein, Joseph Kosuth, Jannis Kounellis,
Gary B. Kuehn, Sol LeWitt, Bernd Lohaus, Richard Long, Roelof Louw, Bruce McLean, David Medalla, Mario Merz, Robert Morris,
Bruce Nauman, Claes Oldenburg, Dennis Oppenheim, Panamarenko, Pino Pascali, Paul Pechter, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini,
End.
Markus Raetz, Allen Ruppersberg, Reiner Ruthenbeck, Robert Ryman, Frederick Lane Sandback, Alan Saret, Sarkis, Jean-Frédéric
Schnyder, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, Keith Sonnier, Richard Tuttle, Frank Lincoln Viner, Franz Erhard Walther, William G.
Wegman, Lawrence Weiner, William T. Wiley, Gilberto Zorioo.