RECOLLECTION – CASPER FAASSEN

Description

In a process that Casper Faassen calls "ReCollecting," he traces scattered cultural assets and reinterprets them in his characteristic visual language. He explores how Western museum collections were formed and how cultural sovereignty was historically constructed. While the colonial history of his Dutch homeland influences the project, the exhibition broadens the perspective to include Switzerland's role in the history of collecting, ownership, and restitution. Works related to Swiss institutions, collections, and customs warehouses address various stories: from paintings stolen from Jewish families during World War II, and a stolen Modigliani hidden in a Geneva customs warehouse, to smuggled antiquities and the Parthenon sculptures. Through Faassen's characteristic layering, the objects acquire an almost tangible presence, while their contours subtly blur. They appear both present and distant — within reach yet unreachable. Presented in transport crates referencing the transport and trade of cultural assets, the works become sculptural "memories on the move," grouped by common stories of relocation, disputed ownership, or restitution. For Casper Faassen, restitution is not the final point in the history of an object but the beginning of an ongoing engagement with historical injustice and current inequality. Participants and additional information: CASPER FAASSEN

Highlights

• Exhibition by Casper Faassen
• Addresses colonial history and restitution
• Presented in transport crates

General Information

The exhibition "RECOLLECTION – CASPER FAASSEN" at Bildhalle Zürich examines cultural sovereignty and the history of collecting. It highlights Switzerland's role and discusses the restitution of cultural assets, presenting the objects in a unique visual language.

Location

Stauffacherquai 56, 8004 Zürich, Switzerland

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