Shedhalle

The Shedhalle as a space for process-based art

The process is a tool to open up unknown spaces of action and thought for art. It is the core of our work in the Shedhalle. We are continuing a development in which the authority of artists and institutions is shifting to the audience. Art is involved in the making of concrete communities. The world is changing and art institutions are faced with the task of dealing with social issues. Platforms that dynamically address social, technological and ecological change are becoming increasingly important. Debates about political incapacity, the empowerment of formerly marginalised groups and ecological sustainability nowhere meet in such a condensed way as in culture. Museums, art halls, festivals and theatres are laboratories for change and testing grounds for utopias. This is what we see as the task of the Shedhalle in Zurich, and for this we need new strategies of exhibition making.
In order to consciously anchor the process in the day-to-day business of an art institution, we have devised a new format: the Protozone. It offers space for collaboration and exhibitions that still show their openness. The Protozone can accommodate any art form within it and offers space for workshops and academies, which in turn enter into a process with other elements of the zone. The Shedhalle's protozones are inclusive in that they allow artists and people from different backgrounds and identities to work together. They allow for slow, persistent action, creating a space where processes can unfold. The Shedhalle and its protozones are places for unconventional practices and experimentation. They offer a platform for artists who work in different disciplines and whose complex biographies we want to do justice to. We see the Protozone as a starting point for a community of artists and activists who work outside of the market.