Nadine Wietlisbach
Brief Biography
Nadine Wietlisbach devises together with an interdisciplinary team exhibitions, publications and other discursive formats in the fields of contemporary photography and art.
She is Director of Fotomuseum Winterthur since 2018.
Current Projects
Poulomi Basu – Phantasmagoria
In her works, Indian artist Poulomi Basu (b. 1983) interweaves documentary photographs and staged scenes enacted in front of fantastical backdrops, creating multimedia, often large-scale installations. The title of the exhibition refers to the phantasmagorias of the 18th century, which captivated their audiences with projections and optical illusions. Basu also blurs the lines between imagination and reality: she drafts speculative visions of the future that simultaneously reflect the present of her protagonists and highlight possibilities for self-empowerment and resistance. In addition to photography, the artist also employs virtual reality, film and performance in her transmedia practice, using the activist potential of the different media to champion the rights of marginalised groups.
Working at
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Since its inauguration in 1993, Fotomuseum Winterthur has devoted its energies to contemporary photography and visual culture. It stages between three and five exhibitions a year, examining photography from different angles and showing works by a mix of emerging and established international photographers and artists. The exhibitions are accompanied by a diverse programme of events and workshops. The museum also delves into photography on its digital platforms, which host online events and a range of multimedia posts.
Focus on Today
Fotomuseum Winterthur investigates the role that photography plays and the influence it exerts on a social, political, economic and cultural level. Its focus is on current developments and topical debates.
Guided by an awareness that life today is permeated by digital media, the museum engages with photographic phenomena that are influenced by digitally networked media and new technologies. These include screenshots and drone images, selfies and Instagram filters, as well as images generated by algorithms and artificial intelligence. The speed with which photography has changed as a medium in recent decades is quite incredible. Fotomuseum Winterthur is mapping this process and engaging in critical – and animated – discussion of the transformation that has taken place and the effects this has had.
Imparting Image and Media Competences
The exchange of ideas and informed dialogues are of crucial importance for Fotomuseum Winterthur. The varied programme it offers for school classes – in the museum itself or in classroom settings throughout German-speaking Switzerland – encourages a creative and considered approach to visual content. Our educational activities include
guided tours and workshops relating to current exhibitions,
workshops and teaching materials on image-based digital phenomena like fake news or online (self‑)presentation, and
workshops in the photo lab on historical photographic techniques.
Collection
The collection of Fotomuseum Winterthur comprises some 9,000 photographic objects – prints and copies, moving images, documents and installative works. It covers the period from the 1960s right up to the present.
Curated shows @ Fotomuseum Winterthur
| 2026 | Ester Vonplon – Wingbeat |
| 2025 | Poulomi Basu – Phantasmagoria |
| 2024 | A Show of Affection – Constellation 01 The exhibition homes in on the collection’s idiosyncrasies, distinctive qualities and thematic focuses, while also scrutinising museum collecting practices per se. This probing of the collection also looks at gaps and lacunae that are made apparent by the museum’s critical self-assessment and at works that are institutionally challenging. Vito Acconci, Stefan Burger, Forensic Architecture, Lee Friedlander, Matthias Gabi, Nan Goldin, Roc Herms, Jacob Holdt, Margret Hoppe, Graciela Iturbide, Zoe Leonard, Marc Lee, Sherrie Levine, Clunie Reid, Anika Schwarzlose, Shirana Shahbazi, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson and Garry Winogrand. |
| 2023 | Ballads of Farewell: In July 2023, we bid farewell to our premises together with our visitors before the museum temporarily closed its doors. Alongside artists and musicians, we invited the public to join us for visuals, music, and encounters and filled the exhibition spaces with large-format photographs, expansive installations, and sound performances, bringing the building to life once again. Photographer Nicolas Polli presented his work Dear Moment, I Keep U for Later, consisting of photographs that – stored on hard drives and almost forgotten – had been waiting for years to make their grand entrance. Polli mounted the images on room-filling wooden structures, crafted from materials he found during explorations of the museum’s workshop and storage areas. With their work, artists Sara Bezovšek, Dina Kelberman, and Simone C. Niquille provided insights into the [permanent beta]; project; an experimental laboratory at the intersection of research and practice which continued Fotomuseum Winterthur’s exploration of algorithmic and networked images and visual cultures. Davide-Christelle Sanvee engaged in a dialogue with the museum’s architecture with a performance, investigating the concept of the so-called white cube. Musical entertainment was provided by yodelling trio Heimetvögel, afrofuturism electronica pop duo OY, and afrobeats by AKUAKU. |
| 2022 | Chosen Family – Less alone together Aarati Akkapeddi, Richard Billingham, Larry Clark, Charlie Engman, Seiichi Furuya, Nan Goldin, Pixy Liao, Diana Markosian, Anne Morgenstern, Mark Morrisroe, Dayanita Singh, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Annelies Štrba, Leonard Suryajaya and Alba Zari |
| 2019 | Color Mania – The Material of Color in Photography and Film The exhibition is realized in collaboration with the SNSF as Agora-project of the University of Zurich, the research projects ERC Advanced Grant: FilmColors. Bridging the Gap between Technology and Aesthetics and SNF Film Colors. Technologies, Cultures, Institutions of Prof. Dr. Barbara Flückiger. Curated by Nadine Wietlisbach and guest curator Dr. Eva Hielscher. Fotomuseum Winterthur |
| 2019 | Because the Night Bieke Depoorter, Georg Gatsas, Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo, Bárbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca and Tobias Zielony |
| 2018 | 25 Jahre! Gemeinsam Geschichte(n) schreiben Fotomuseum Winterthur |
| 2018 | Anne Collier – Photographic Kollaboration mit Stefan Gronert, Sprengel Museum Fotomuseum Winterthur |
| 2018 | Sophie Calle – Un certain regard Fotomuseum Winterthur |
Curated Exhibitions (selection)
| 2025 | Where we meet – Ambigous Kinship Moments of vulnerability and strength, glimpses of intimate relations between human beings and their photographic ambivalence are linking the gathered works. Developed conceptually and experimentally over many years, they share an interest in investigating the complex nature of kinship. Artists from different generations, each with a unique visual language, are reflecting their own role as image makers not only in relation to the portrayed individuals but also their construction of a particular framework through which viewers engage with the work. Photography is presented as a social practice, embedded in material conditions and ideological structures. The presentation loosely weaves together narratives of kinship, tracing the tension between distance and proximity, power and care, and how these dynamics can be rendered through the photographic image. Voices @Paris Photo |
| 2018 | Dorothée Elisa Baumann & Adrian Sauer Photoforum Pasquart, Biel |
| 2017 | Disruptive Perspectives Barbara Davatz, Zackary Drucker & Rhys Ernst, Jess T. Dugan , Alexandre Haefeli, Laurence Rasti, Leonard Suryajaya, and Lorenzo Triburgo Photoforum Pasquart, Biel, Switzerland and Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago, USA |
| 2017 | Alexandra Navratil & Rachel de Joode Photoforum Pasquart, Biel |
| 2017 | Johnny Briggs & Salvatore Vitale Photoforum Pasquart, Biel |
| 2016 | Penelope Umbrico Photoforum Pasquart, Biel |
| 2015 | Patrick Rohner - Wirtgestein Tina Z'Rotz - Versunken in der Übergangsmasse Nidwaldner Museum, Stans |
| 2015 | Comment, please! Veronika Spierenburg – Hannah Weinberger – Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs – Beni Bischof – Jan Kiefer – Silvia Isenschmid kuratiert mit Eva-Maria Knüsel, sic! Kunstpavillon und sic! Elephanthouse |
| 2015 | At Dead of Night – Videoscreening Susanne Hofer, Florine Leoni, Alexandra Meyer, Sarah Elena Müller und Roger Fähndrich, Jos Näpflin , Augustin Rebetez, Lena Maria Thüring, Mia Sanchez, Sinae Yoo, Aline Zeltner sic! Elephanthouse |
| 2014 | Petra Elena Köhle & Nicolas Vermot Petit-Outhenin – «It must be regarded as a forgery unless it is proven to be genuine.» Nidwaldner Museum, Stans |
| 2014 | Nachhall und Witterung – Ausgewählte Werke aus der Sammlung des Nidwaldner Museums |
| 2013 | Athene Galiziadis, Daniel Karrer – you must appear green and shimmer between woods sic! Raum für Kunst, Luzern |
| 2013 | Laute Häuser und Äpfel, die fallen. Bisher unbekannte Mythen für Luzern a&a, Claudia Bucher, Denis Handschin Dominique Koch, Maude Léonard-Contant, Navid Tschopp, Nino Baumgartner, Samuel Weniger, Sara Stäuble, Stimmorchester, Andy Storchenegger / Brigitte Dätwyler / Colin Guillemet sic! Raum für Kunst, Luzern |
| 2012 | Marianne Eigenheer Ausgeschlagen: Sperrige Leihgabe/Freudenhaus sic! Raum für Kunst, Luzern |
| 2012 | Paul, Norman and Eloise: Vegetables on a boat (Storytellers I) a show about artists as storytellers Marc Elsener, Irene Bisang, Vanessa Billy, Paul Lipp, Pascale & Arienne Birchler, Martina Birrer & Martina Lussi, Fabian Chiquet sic! Raum für Kunst, Luzern |
| 2012 | Eliza's eating elephants and hates to draw trees. (Storyteller II) Liudvikas Buklys, Ane Hjort Guttu, Bettina Graf, Brigitte Lustenberger, Dominik Hodel, Lucie Kolb, Reto Leuthold, Tine Melzer sic! Raum für Kunst, Luzern |
Some places and institutions
From 2015–2017 Nadine Wietlisbach was Director of Photoforum Pasquart Biel/Bienne, following her post as a curator at the Nidwaldner Museum in Stans, where she was responsible for all contemporary art exhibitions and publications, as well as presentations of the museum’s collection from 2012–2015. In 2009–2010 she worked for Pro Helvetia the Swiss Arts Council in Zurich and South Africa. Between 2013–2016 she was a regular lecturer at the Berner Hochschule der Künste in Bern. She founded the independent art space sic! Raum für Kunst in Lucerne in 2007, which is still up and run by the third generation of female* curators.
Current boards and jurys
| 2021 – | Board member, DZ Bank foundation |
| 2016 – | Board member, Spectrum – Photography in Switzerland |
Awards and grants
| 2015 | Swiss Art Award (curatorial and editorial practice) |
| 2013 | Residency Chicago, USA, Städtepartnerschaft Luzern |
| 2013 | Research Residency Warsaw, Polen, Pro Helvetia |
| 2011 | Research Residency New Delhi, Mumbai, India, Pro Helvetia |