Press release

DIE DIELE is actually neither a hallway nor an art space in the classic sense: DIE DIELE consists of two shop windows on Sihlhallenstrasse, which are regularly filled with art and can be reached via a hallway. Or not. DIE DIELE is an independent and non-profit art space run by Livio Baumgartner, who also works as an artist. Baumgartner makes his selection intuitively and curates the changing exhibitions in a pragmatic way, usually under a specific theme and without a conceptual or theoretical superstructure.

DIE DIELE functions as an open vessel that offers the invited artists space for experimentation. They receive a carte blanche and are therefore free to decide what they want to show in the display cases. The small space, which is not really a space at all, but rather a place that potentiates the exhibition, brings with it limitations that are not to be understood as limitations in the true sense of the word, but rather as inspiration. The result is site-specific art par excellence, as the artists are challenged to engage with the existing space and break new ground or deviate from traditional forms of presentation and try out new things. The direct view from the street during the making-off and the 24-hour visibility of the works emphasise the desired openness and immediacy of the art space. 

Die Diele was founded in 2009 by Sandro Fiechter and Livio Baumgartner.