A dialogue between aboriginal pictorial works and music from the Baroque period to the present day: this is the proposal of the current temporary exhibition of the La Grange museum in Môtiers, to be discovered until October 26. The founders of the museum, Theresa and Gérard Burkhardt-Felder, invited their friend Jürg Dähler, a Swiss professional violinist based in Winterthour and private collector, to present not only a selection of contemporary paintings that he has accumulated at home since his discovery of Australian Aboriginal art, but also to explore their links with musical works that he interpreted during his career. “A unique opportunity” to which Jürg Dähler responded with enthusiasm: “A museum of this quality, here in Môtiers, is extraordinary, it is a diamond from which one comes out enriched. »»
An “unexpected attraction”
“It all started with a shock in 1988. I went to Sydney to play in a music festival. Passionate about painting, but knowing nothing about Aboriginal art, I visited the Museum of New South Wales and I was frozen, for half an hour, in front of three large paintings by Rover Thomas, a painter who is to Australians what Picasso is to the Spanish, “says Jürg Dähler. Faced with this “unexpected attraction”, the musician wanted to understand “, then, a few years later, to bring home” a piece of this culture, of this earth. »»
The discovery of an artist by leading to another, Jürg Dähler catches “the collector’s virus” and acquired, over the years and his many visits to Australia, more than 200 contemporary works. “I exhibit them at home, about twenty at a time, and replaces them regularly, a bit as if I rearrange my house. “The musician also hangs on him in his recording studio where he appreciates the way they inspire him in his work:” It vibrates, it allows you to question what you want, what you do. A work is always a mirror of its spectator, it is enriching. »»
A temporary exhibition made permanent by its catalog
From a selection of ocher paintings to acrylic canvases, including some carved elements, each of the 59 works of the exhibition Beyond Inspiration From the La Grange museum is accompanied by a QR code to listen to the musical extract selected by the violinist. A journey which, in its entirety, allows an immersion of two and a half hours in the musical universe of Jürg Dähler and his collection. The catalog of the exhibition, embellished with photographs of each work as well as the corresponding QR code, offers visitors the possibility of continuing the experience, “thus transforming this temporary exhibition into a form of permanent exhibition. /AES