Cultural Encounters
When good occasions arise we invite well-known artists and others who are active in the arts and are friends to events at The Salon. The sphere of music making and collecting contemporary art forms part of private life. It is only mentioned here cursorily for information purposes. These events, too, come about because of existing connections as opportunities arise.
In recent years, the cultural encounters have included the following:
- Jean Odermatt – Fondazione La Claustra, 31 March 2000. On this evening of discussions, the artist and sociologist Jean Odermatt gave an introduction to the secrets of Fondazione La Claustra, which he had founded. La Claustra is situated on the Gotthard pass in the underground caverns of a former fort that has been transformed into a site of artistic and intellectual interest in a modern monastic form. For this project, Jean Odermatt received the European Cultural Project Prize as part of the European Culture Prize Awards on 16 December 2000 in Basle.
- Readings by the authors Peter K. Wehrli and Peter Rosei, 29 June 2000 The two authors, who have been friends for years, introduced each other and read from new and unpublished texts.
- House concert by Maya Homburger and Barry Guy, 21 August 2004 Eric Homburger – my legal and professional mentor and the father of the violinist Maya Homburger – and I decided to take up again the tradition of organized concerts. Maya Homburger (Baroque violin) and her husband Barry Guy (bass) played baroque music, their own compositions and improvisations.
- Gespräch über Georges Bloch, 25. August 2005 Georges Bloch – the previous owner of Susenbergstrasse 157 who also commissioned the building of it – was a successful Jewish textile trader in Zurich. He was an influential member of the Jewish community. During the war, he devoted himself to looking after Jewish children in Switzerland and in the post-war period he became involved in the construction of villages for children in Israel in which Arab children also had to be accommodated. Georges Bloch became well known through his “Hobby”. He built up a complete collection of the graphic works of Pablo Picasso and described and commented on it in books. He later made it accessible to the public and gave parts of it away. He was a personal friend of Pablo Picasso. On this occasion, several guests spoke who had known Georges Bloch personally about joint recollections they had of him, about his significance in the Jewish community and as an art collector.
- Encounter with the Artist Hamish Fulton and Slide Show about „walks“ the seven parties, who have financed his „Walk“ to the Mt. Everest in a new way, 7 February 2008.
- Concert Maya Homburger and Barry Guy, 5 June 2008