STAGE Bregenz

STAGE Bre­genz 2025: The Second Edi­tion of the Art Fair Is Even More International

Forty-eight gal­le­ries from eleven count­ries in the Fest­spiel­haus Bre­genz from 20 to 23 March

Bre­genz, 17 January 2025 – fol­lo­wing its suc­cessful pre­mière, STAGE Bre­genz 2025 is even more inter­na­tional with the par­ti­ci­pa­tion of 48 pres­ti­gious gal­le­ries from eleven count­ries. The art fair in the Fest­spiel­haus Bre­genz pres­ents the artistic and crea­tive diver­sity of the Lake Con­s­tance region, where four count­ries come tog­e­ther, from 20 to 23 March. Camille Regli from Switz­er­land and Hana Ostan-Ožbolt-Haas from Slovenia are each cura­ting a sec­tion of the exhi­bi­tion. And sus­taina­bi­lity and per­for­mance shape the inter­na­tional sup­porting pro­gramme in the Fest­spiel­haus Bre­genz and our partner institutions.

Con­tem­po­rary art with a strong regional focus in a spe­cial atmo­sphere: STAGE Bre­genz invites visi­tors back to the Fest­spiel­haus Bre­genz on Lake Con­s­tance from 20 to 23 March 2025. The second edi­tion fea­tures 48 pres­ti­gious gal­le­ries from eleven count­ries who are put­ting more than 140 estab­lished and upco­ming young artists on the stage. Just like its pre­mière in 2024, the fair high­lights inter­na­tional qua­lity with a regional note.

STAGE Bre­genz pres­ents the diverse art scene of the Lake Con­s­tance region in a unique ambient. “The pre­mière was a dream start with an excel­lent response from gal­le­ries and visi­tors and a gro­wing net­work of part­ners. We want to ensure this initial suc­cess over the long term and are now moving to the next level,” says a delighted Mana­ging Director Renger van den Heuvel. With more gal­le­ries and count­ries and an expanded pro­gramme, STAGE Bre­genz is con­so­li­da­ting its role as a lea­ding con­tem­po­rary art fair on the shores of Lake Constance.

The stage in focus
Ten­sions and thea­tri­cality take centre stage in the pro­jects curated for STAGE Bre­genz by inter­na­tio­nally acclaimed cura­tors Hana Ostan-Ožbolt-Haas (Slovenia) and Camille Regli (Switz­er­land). They have sel­ected gal­le­ries and artists for two spe­cial curated sec­tions. Both were invited to join the curator’s tours orga­nised at the first STAGE Bre­genz, which enabled them to obtain an impres­sion of the region’s rich range of crea­tive and insti­tu­tional opportunities.

Hana Ostan-Ožbolt-Haas is a Vienna-based free­lance curator and author. Pre­viously the Director of the ULAY Foun­da­tion, she has curated exhi­bi­tions for the curated by Fes­tival (Vienna), the Stede­lijk Museum (Ams­terdam), Salz­burger Kunst­verein and HOW Art Museum (Shanghai). As a writer, she con­tri­butes to Art­forum and has been published in Frieze and Art­Re­view. “Ten­sions”, her sec­tion on the main stage of the Fest­spiel­haus Bre­genz, shows large-scale sculp­tural works by seven female artists. The sel­ec­tion includes both estab­lished and emer­ging names, who either work in the medium of sculp­ture or com­bine it with other media. As a reac­tion to the ubi­qui­tous “omnicrisis” – the state of relent­less global ten­sion – “Ten­sions” pres­ents a number of works that have been spe­ci­ally created for STAGE Bre­genz. The con­tri­bu­tions of two artists are directly linked to their solo exhi­bi­tions at the 60th Venice Biennale.

Camille Regli is an inde­pen­dent curator and the Co-Founder and Co-Director of KRONE COURONNE centre for con­tem­po­rary art in Biel/Bienne, Switz­er­land. She has worked with and for insti­tu­tions such as the Kunst­haus Biel/Centre d’art Bienne, Fon­da­zione Sand­retto Re Rebau­dengo, the Swiss Pavi­lion at the Venice Bien­nale and the Centre d’art con­tem­po­rain Genève. For her sec­tion “Spec­tāre”, she draws inspi­ra­tion from the theatre set­ting of the fair to address notions of thea­tri­cality, the act of loo­king and the per­for­ma­tive aspects of objects, space and bodies. She will inves­ti­gate the con­fron­ting natures of the black box and con­tem­po­rary art’s white cube. In her cura­to­rial prac­tice, Regli is par­ti­cu­larly inte­rested in what socio­lo­gist Jean-François Lyo­tard calls “petits récits”. By enga­ging in “small” nar­ra­tives, she aims to create space for plu­ra­li­stic, loca­lised and diverse ways of loo­king at the world.

Strongly anchored in the region
The STAGE Bre­genz net­work is also gro­wing within the busi­ness com­mu­nity. Zum­tobel and ill­werke vkw are sup­porting the art fair again in 2025. New mem­bers of the team include main partner Vor­arl­berger Raiff­ei­sen­banken and UNIQA. “STAGE Bre­genz has rapidly deve­loped into a pre­mium event. It involves many regional insti­tu­tions and initia­tives and is open to a broad audi­ence. This enables count­less people to expe­ri­ence con­tem­po­rary art in a highly inspi­ring way. Just like Raiff­eisen, STAGE Bre­genz also focuses on sus­taina­bi­lity and digi­ta­li­sa­tion – which are ideal pre­re­qui­sites for a part­ner­ship,” says Man­fred Miglar, Exe­cu­tive Board Member of Raiff­eisen Lan­des­bank Vorarlberg.

This ancho­ring in the Lake Con­s­tance region is being inten­si­fied in 2025, with STAGE Bre­genz expan­ding its net­work of insti­tu­tional part­ners in Vor­arl­berg, Eas­tern Switz­er­land, Liech­ten­stein and Sou­thern Ger­many. “Art, archi­tec­ture, craft and nature: Bre­genz is right at the heart. During the week of the fair, thou­sands of visi­tors from around the globe expe­ri­ence the beauty and crea­tive energy of the Lake Con­s­tance region,” empha­sises Robert S. Salant, Mana­ging Director of Bre­genz Tou­rismus & Stadtmarketing.

Sus­taina­bi­lity as a focus of the sup­porting programme
Sus­taina­bi­lity in the art world will be the sub­ject of a dis­cus­sion at the fair on 22 March bet­ween the Danish socio­lo­gist Nikolaj Schultz, Thomas D. Trummer (Director, Kunst­haus Bre­genz) and the Bri­tish artist George Rouy. In par­allel with this, fur­ther dis­cus­sions and per­for­mances will take place in the Fest­spiel­haus Bre­genz in part­ner­ship with Magazin4, and with the sup­port of partner Bild­recht. These will address sub­jects such as artist’s estates, inde­pen­dent spaces, design and craft and will also fea­ture con­ver­sa­tions with artists who are exhi­bi­ting at STAGE Bre­genz. The per­for­mance pro­gramme is being put tog­e­ther by Perrr­format (Zurich), Mar­lene A. Schenk (Kunst­verein Fried­richs­hafen) and Lukas Weithas (Dock 20, Lustenau).

As in 2024, and as an active member of the Gal­lery Cli­mate Coali­tion, STAGE Bre­genz is paying atten­tion to the sus­taina­bi­lity of its own acti­vi­ties. The energy effi­cient ope­ra­tion in the Fest­spiel­haus Bre­genz and a climate-friendly logi­stics and mobi­lity stra­tegy sup­port this objective.

 Infor­ma­tion and list of gal­le­ries: www.stage-bregenz.art

 

Fact box: STAGE Bregenz
STAGE Bregenz is the leading contemporary art fair in the Lake Constance region. Launched in 2024, it takes place every spring in the Festspielhaus Bregenz. The fair combines international quality with a strong regional touch and cross-border networks. STAGE Bregenz is a meeting place and a platform for the many interactions between art, craft and architecture. The Founder and Managing Director of the sustainably positioned fair format is Renger van den Heuvel.

 

STAGE Bregenz 2025
20–23 March 2025 Festspielhaus Bregenz

Opening / 20 March 2025
Preview / from 14:00 (with invitation)
Vernissage / 17:00–20:00 (individual tickets available – € 75 for 2 people, € 40 for 1 person)

Fair / 21–23 March 2025
21 March: 12:00–19:00
22 March: 11:00–19:00
23 March: 10:00–18:00
Day tickets: € 15 (local public transport included)

Tickets via https://tickets.visitbregenz.com

 

Patrons
Provincial Capital of Bregen
Province of Vorarlberg
Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Spor
Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs
Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein – Ministry of Social Affairs and Culture

Main Partner
Vorarlberger Raiffeisenbanken

Sponsors
UNIQA
Zumtobel
Bildrecht

Green Energy Partner
Illwerke vkw

Partners
Kongresskultur Bregenz
Culture Service of the Provincial Capital of Bregenz
Stadtmarketing Bregenz
Convention Partner Vorarlberg

Programme Partners
Bregenzer Frühling
Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur
Creative Institute Vorarlberg
Dock 20
Forum Würth Rorschach
Frauenmuseum Hittisau
Kunstgiesserei St. Gallen
Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB)
Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
Kunstmuseum Ravensburg
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen
Kunstraum Dornbirn
Kunstraum Remise
Kunstverein Friedrichshafen
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis
Magazin4
Vorarlberger Architektur Institut (vai)
vorarlberg museum
Werkraum Bregenzerwald

Green Partner
MuseumsQuartier Wien

With the friendly support of
Casino Bregenz

Design Partner
Reiter Design

Bookshop
Buchhandlung Brunner

 

Edi­to­rial enquiries:
STAGE Bre­genz, Renger van den Heuvel, +43/660/5961401, renger@stage-bregenz.art
Pzwei. Press office, Mag­da­lena Venier, +43/5574/44715–29, magdalena.venier@pzwei.at