Cathérine Hug

Life and work

Details list of exhibitions and projects

• Co-conductor with Charlotte Tschumi of the tutorial course The Actuality of Walter Benjamin & the Critical Theory, Institute of Art History, University of Zurich.

• Editorial collaboration to the exhibition catalogue Mixing Memory and Desire, Museum of Art Lucerne.
• Assistant to the artists’ books publishing house Memory/Cage Editions, Zurich.
• Editorial assistance to the exhibition catalogue Hypermental*, curated by Bice Curiger and Christoph Heinrich at the Kunsthaus Zurich and Hamburger Kunsthalle.

• Program with Giovanni Carmine of the Nam June Paik-retrospective at Videoex*, organiser Patrik Huber.
• Curatorial assistance to Daniel Kurjakovic's group exhibition A World Within A Space*, Kunsthalle Zurich 2001.
• Initiation, organization and assistance to Gianni Jetzer's guest lecture Art & Everyday Life, Institute of Art History, University of Zurich.
• Initiation, organization and assistance to Yvonne Volkart's guest lecture Artistic Practice in the Area of Information and Biotechnology, Institute of Art History, University of Zurich.

• Co-curator with Giovanni Carmine of the exhibition UNLOADED – Coming Up For Air*, Oberschan. With the participation of Monica Bonvicini, Annelise Coste, Christoph Büchel, Olivier Mosset and Gianni Motti among others.
• Reader/voice of Rirkrit Tiravanija's 280min video work, video animation.
• Assistant to Bice Curiger's group exhibition Public Affairs*, Kunsthaus Zurich.
• Initiation, organization and assistance to Jan Linders’ guest lecture In The Light of Experience. James Turrell's Extensions of Horizon, Institute of Art History, University of Zurich.

• University exams with the degree of lic. phil. in Art History, Computer Science and Media Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
• Initiation, organization of and assistance to Cornel Windlin's guest lecture Sexy Terror, Institute of Art History, University of Zurich.

• Scientific research associate and catalogue author of Monet: the Garden*, Kunsthaus from October 29, 2004 – March 13, 2005.

• Co-curator with Alexandra Blättler of Friends Electric!* with the participating artists Jen Liu and Andrea Thal at Binz39, Zurich.
• Assistant Art Unlimited *, Art 36 Basel. Project Manager Ursula Diehr, Curator Simon Lamunière.
• Research collaborator at the Kunsthaus Zurich in relation with the exhibition catalogue Sigmar Polke: Werke & Tage* curated by Bice Curiger.

• Assistant Art Unlimited*, Art 37 Basel. Curator Simon Lamunière.
• Co-curator with Tobia Bezzola of In the Alps*, Kunsthaus Zurich.
• Swiss delegate of the Fine Arts Showcase in Liverpool organized by the British Council on the occasion of the Liverpool Biennial, 2006, in October 2006.

• Ph.D. researches at the National Library of Canada, Ottawa
• AZPAA in collaboration with Annie Wu and Manuela Schlumpf, a non-profit art agency looking for unconventional exhibition locations and helping to produce site-specific artworks.
• Assistant Art Unlimited*, Art 38 Basel. Curator Simon Lamunière.
• Guest-curator of the exhibition Carola Giedion-Welcker und die Moderne, Kunsthaus Zurich, August 31 – November 18, 2007,
• Assistant to Simon Lamunière, Art Director of Utopics*, 11e Exposition Suisse de Sculpture, 11. Schweizerische Plastikausstellung, Bienne.

• Assistant Art Unlimited*, Art 39 Basel. Curator Simon Lamunière.
• Co-curator together with Christoph Doswald of the exh. KONKRET MEGAMOPP. Sammlung Moderne Kunst – Neuerwerbungen*, with among others Katia Bassanini, Anton Bruhin, Stéphane Dafflon, Philippe Decrauzat, Martin Disler, Mark Divo, Germann/Lorenzi, Info Giezendanner, Hanspeter Hofmann, Zilla Leutenegger, Elodie Pong, and David Renggli, Foundation Stiftung Charles und Agnes Vögele, Pfäffikon/SZ, Sept. 21 – Nov. 2, 2008.

• Co-curator with Gerald Matt of 1989. End of History or Beginning of the Future? Comments on a Paradigm Shift*, with among others Marina Abramovic, Chantal Akerman, Christoph Büchel and Giovanni Carmine, Erik Bulatov, Chen Danqing, Harun Farocki, Johan Grimonprez, Hans Haacke, Anna Jermolaewa, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Alexander Kosolapov, Barbara Kruger, Lars Laumann, Boris Mikhailov, Marcel Odenbach, Susan Philipsz, Neo Rauch, Nedko Solakov, Song Dong, Jane & Louise Wilson, KUNSTHALLE wien, October 9 – February 7, 2010,
• Curator of Thomas Ruff. Surfaces, Depth*, KUNSTHALLE wien, May 21 – September 13,

• Co-curator with Rita Vitorelli of ZINE*FAIR, 1st international Fanzine & Small Publishers’ Fair in Austria, September 18.
• Co-curator with Thomas Mießgang of Street and Studio From Basquiat to Séripop*, with among others Rita Ackermann, Charlie Ahearn, Kader Attia, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dara Birnbaum, Blek le Rat, Sophie Calle, Sol LeWitt, KUNSTHALLE wien, June 25 – Oct. 10, 2010,
• Co-curator with Gerald Matt of Marilyn Manson – David Lynch: Genealogies of Pain*, KUNSTHALLE wien, June 28 – July 11,
• Co-curator with Isabel Reiß and Dimitrina Sevova of the exh. ich tier! – du tier! i animal! – you animal! , with among others Christian Eisenberger, Klara Hobza, Lin May, Silke Nowak, and two guest lectures by Judith “Jack” Halberstam, “Creative Anthropomorphism” and “Unbecoming,” a collab. between Perla-Mode, Dienstgebäude, Corner College, English Institute and History Institute of the University of Zurich, Zurich, April 9 – 25, 2010,

• Co-curator with Rita Vitorelli of ZINE*FAIR, 2nd international Fanzine & Small Publishers’ Fair in Austria, KUNSTHALLE wien, September 17, 2011.
• Curator of Franz Huemer: Seher und Genie, Seer and Genius, KUNSTHALLE wien project wall, Sept. 17 – March 1, 2012,
• Co-curator with Karolina Dankow of the BA diploma class of Erik Steinbrecher, Zurich School of Arts, April–June 2011.
• Curator of Loris Gréaud*, KUNSTHALLE wien project space, April 15 – May 25, 2011,
• Curator of WELTRAUM, die Kunst und ein Traum. SPACE. Art and a Dream*, KUNSTHALLE wien, March 31 – August 15, 2011, with among others Paweł Althamer, Vladimir Dubossarsky & Alexander Vinogradov, William Kentridge, Jen Liu, Mariko Mori, Deimantas Narkevičius, Amalia Pica, Robert Rauschenberg, Pipilotti Rist, Thomas Ruff, Wilhelm Sasnal, Keith Tyson, Jane & Louise Wilson, Carey Young,

• Zine*Fair, 3rd international Fanzine & Small Publishers’ Fair in Austria co-curated by Rita Vitorelli, KUNSTHALLE wien, September 22–23, 2012.
• 20th Parabolic Flight Campaign, special project "Kunst schwebt" on invitation of Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. to make participate the three artists Julieta Aranda, Thomas Ruff as well as the writer Clemens Berger to the campaign, Novespace in Merignac-Bordeaux and ILA in Berlin, September 13–16, 2012.
• Lecture entitled Artzine Renaissance in the Age of Internet and Social Web at the annual international AICA conference, July 12, 2012 in Zurich
• Curator of Lucy Skaer – Force Justify , KUNSTHALLE wien, project space Karlsplatz, July 4 until August 26, 2012,
• Talks series Kleinodien – Anomalous Talks, people talking about their extraordinary but rather unknown or invisible activity, job or passion, organized together with visual artist Andreas Duscha and writer Clemens Berger, Salzburg and Vienna, launched on Nov. 14, 2011.
• Unheimliche Reise, Uncanny Journey, exhibition and screenings with Annette Amberg, Kader Attia, Ursula Biemann, Neil Beloufa, Luis Buñuel, Djibril Diop Mambety, Harun Farocki, Robert Jelinek, Katia Kameli, Bouchra Khalili, Philip Mayrhofer & Christian Kobald, Uriel Orlow, Jean Rouch, Clemens von Wedemeyer, initiated by and co-curated with Nadja Baldini & Beat Huber, Dienstgebaeude, Zurich, March 23 – April 22, 2012,
• Curator of Daniel Knorr, Explosion, KUNSTHALLE wien project space karlsplatz, sculpture place, March 29, 2012 – February 28, 2013,
• Curator of Ulrike Lienbacher, Kartenhaus, KUNSTHALLE wien project space karlsplatz, sculpture place, March 29, 2012 – February 28, 2013,

• Co-Curator with Nicolaus Schafhausen of Salon der Angst*, thematic group exhibition reflecting on the phenomena of fears through the past three decades, September 13, 2013 – January 2014,
• Editor in charge and author of the cat. accompanying the competition to the permanent installation Vienna Art Passage Karlsplatz, with the participation of the 9 artists Lee Bul, Ernst Caramelle, Barbara Kruger, Sarah Morris, Jorge Pardo, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Markus Schinwald, Cerith Wyn Evans and Sam Taylor-Wood, organized by KÖR and funded by Wiener Linien, Kunsthalle Wien project Space, June 2013,
• Zine*Fair, 4th international Fanzine & Small Publishers’ Fair in Austria co-curated by Rita Vitorelli, Kunsthalle Wien, 28–30 June,
• Co-Curator with Nicolaus Schafhausen and Lucas Gehrmann of WWTBD – What Would Thomas Bernhard Do, a rather rhetorical more than literal question, alluding to a tradition of critical thinking in Vienna. The event is meant to stand in the realm of this way of critical thinking and acting, but against an international, interdisciplinary and process-oriented background, Festival taking place from May 16 until May 26, 2013,

• Co-curator with Timothy Benson of the exhibition Von Matisse zum Blauen Reiter. Expressionismus in Deutschland und Frankreich*, an exhibition touring from Kunsthaus Zurich to Los Angeles County Museum and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. Accompanied by a large event programme,

• Curator of Tomi Ungerer. Incognito*, Kunsthaus Zurich from October 30 – February 7, Folkwang Museum Essen from March 18 – May 16, 2016,
• Co-curator with Manuela Laubenberger and Robert Menasse of Feiert das Leben! Zehn Lebensmasken werden zu Kunst*, an exhibition in collaboration with Caritas at Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien September 29 – April 3, 2016, accompanied by a large event programme,
• Curator of Sinnliche Ungewissheit. Eine Privatsammlung, Kunsthaus Zurich from June 19 – October 4,
• Co-curator with Robert Menasse of Europa. Die Zukunft der Geschichte*, Kunsthaus Zürich June 12 – September 6, accompanied by a large event programme,

• Co-curator with Anne Umland of Francis Picabia. A Retrospective*, Kunsthaus Zurich June 3 – September 25, at MoMA New York from November 20, 2016 – March 19, 2017, accompanied by a large event programme
• Co-curator with Adrian Sudhalter of Dadaglobe Reconstructed*, Kunsthaus Zurich February 5 – May 1, at MoMA New York from June 12 – September 18,
• Project leader of the digitalization of the Kunsthaus Dada Collection,

• Art in Case, conversation at the Tel Aviv Art Museum with Tim Voss, Rene Morales and Roslyn Bernstein with an introduction by Chen Tamir
• Europe. The Future of History. Visual artists’ critical look at nationalism, lecture in the focus Artistic visions of Europe in the framework of Erasmus Mundus Summer School Strasbourg, hosted by the University of Cracow and organized by Alexandre Kostka
• Stefan Zweig and the visual arts, lecture at the annual assembly of the Internationale Stefan Zweig Gesellschaft, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Geneva
• Panelist at Transeuropa 2017, transnational artistic, cultural and political festival organised by European Alternatives since 2007

• Co-curator with Christoph Becker of Fashion. Extreme Clothes in the Arts*. As stated in the official press release, the curators “have secured the loan of some truly eye-catching exhibits, including a set of Austrian folded skirt armour from around 1526 that has never before been seen in Switzerland. Works by the English School are also leaving their homeland for the first time”. Art critic Katharina Rudolph wrote about this exhibition in the German newspaper FAZ that this explorative show takes the system of Fashion and its implication serious by having a look at its extremes.
• Curator of the retrospective Oskar Kokoschka: Expressionist, Migrant, European*. It was the first retrospective of his work in Switzerland for 30 years. The highlights among the more than 200 exhibits included the monumental Prometheus Triptych and the Mural for Alma Mahler, which have since their creation been exhibited outside their respective countries UK and Austria only once. The exhibition was widely celebrated as “brilliant” by the press, and toured to the Museum Leopold in Vienna afterwards where it was co-curated by Heike Eipeldauer. In the Wall Street Journal from January 2, 2019, art critic Adam J. Goldmann says about the retrospective that “the show, elegantly curated by Cathérine Hug, takes us through eight decades of art in as many chronological and thematic chapters the effect of having journeyed so far through time is staggering. Nearly four decades after Kokoschka’s death, the Kunsthaus Zurich has given us new hope that his singular artistic universe will endure.”

• Curator of Fly me to the Moon. 50 years on*. This exhibition supported by the German Space Agency DLR had loans from over 60 international lenders such as the ETHZ who also featured the show in its own news channel Explora. In her article for the international newspaper NZZ, art historian Angelika Affentranger-Kirchrath, who praises the explorative and humorous approach of the show, reminds us that the most important insight about the Moon landing was the Earth’s encounter with itself. This show travelled to the Museum of Modern Art in Salzburg after Zurich, where it was co-curated by Christina Penetsdorfer, Thorsten Sadowsky and Tina Teufel. The daily newspaper Kurier appreciates the self-critical tone of the exhibition. The pan-European cultural and humanities magazine Versopolis published an excerpt of Cathérine Hug’s curatorial catalogue essay.

  Jury member, nominator

• Member of the executive committee of the Erna & Curt Burgauer Foundation, since 2008
• Summer Academy Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland, since 2011,
• Prize of the NCCA, Moscow 2011,
• IX Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale, Biennale Prize, 2011
• Werkbeiträge Digitale Kultur, migros Kulturprozent, 2013–2015,
• Videoex, Swiss competition, Zurich 2014,
• Prix du CCJE, Delémont 2014,
• Prix de la Société des Arts de Genève, Geneva 2015,
• Boston Consulting & Belvedere Contemporary Art Award, Vienna 2015,
• Member of the art commission of the University of St. Gallen, since 2017
• Member of the experts’ commission in Visual Arts of Pro Helvetia, since 2017