The Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg is the central institution for contemporary art on the border between French and German-speaking Switzerland. Founded in 1981, it has established itself in its more than 40-years history as an important venue to foster the production and presentation of contemporary art and current artistic practices. Located in the lower town of Fribourg, it presents a distinct program of exhibitions, events, and educational formats for a broad audience. The Kunsthalle acts independently and creates spaces for exchange and dialogue about contemporary art. It also collaborates regularly with institutions and partners in the region and abroad.
The Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg has presented major first exhibitions in Switzerland by artists such as Roman Signer (1992), Jimmie Durham & David Hammons (1993), Bernd & Hilla Becher (1994), Christian-Philipp Müller (1994), Thomas Hirschhorn (1995), Marc Dion (1995), Shirin Neshat (1996), Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (1996), Renée Green (1996), Julia Scher (1996), Georges Adéagbo (1997), Steven Parrino (2002), or Latifa Echakhch (2010) throughout its history. Following in this tradition, it has recently presented and commissioned artists such as Sara Deraedt (2024), Ei Arakawa (2023), Georgia Sagri (2022), Hamishi Farah (2021), Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff (2020), Lucie Stahl (2018), or Cameron Rowland (2016). The Kunsthalle also regularly stages research-oriented historical archival exhibitions, such as Charlotte Johannesson (2024), Ketty La Rocca (2020), Eduardo Paolozzi (2016), Film Implosion! – Experiments in Swiss Cinema and Moving Images (2015), or Trix and Robert Haussmann (2014).
Located in a bilingual cultural environment, the Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg fosters an active exchange between the German- and French-speaking art scenes in Switzerland.
You can find a selection of articles on the history of the Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg in our archive.