Kunst + Stadt

“Art and the City – The Festival for Public Art” brought together 43 artists from all over the world to the metropolitan area of Zurich. Sculptures, performances, artistic field research, and interventions were presented to an audience in an urban context. The dialogue initiated by this project fascinated, polarized, and spawned discussions—in newspapers, on the Internet, and on the streets. In order to further expand this discussion, the study group Public Art (KiöR AG) organized a symposium with recognized voices from diverse fields to debate questions such as: What could be the role of art in city development? How do city marketing and art relate to each other? Why do we need unused spaces and a participatory platform for discussing the use of public spaces? And finally, What is the benefit for a city of large exhibitions such as “Art and the City?” The present volume documents the symposium and allows for a provisional assessment. With contributions by Gabriela Christen, Bice Curiger, Christoph Doswald, Hedwig Fijen, Ruth Genner, Victor Gisler, Peter Haerle, Eva Pfannes & Sylvain Hartenberg – Ooze Architects, Marjetica Potrc, Tim Rieniets, Christoph Schenker, Anna Schindler, Juri Steiner, Philip Ursprung, Rein Wolfs. Published with the City of Zurich.