My first time ... Musée Visionaire

Editor Soraja Hagspiel

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A museum free from artistic conventions: An open, fresh look at art.

Saturday afternoon, the sun is shining. We stroll from Central through Niederdorf towards the Central Library. The Musée Visionaire is supposedly hidden in a pretty historic building there. "Ha! Look, it's over there," my companion points enthusiastically past the Central Library to an old town house. Really pretty, I think, but despite the banner above the shop window, it's a bit inconspicuous. On our second attempt to open the door, a friendly person rushes towards us from inside and warmly welcomes us to the museum. We are both pleasantly surprised by the positive reception. Not that we were expecting anything else, but I can't remember ever being greeted with so much friendly enthusiasm in a museum before. On entering, we are also surprised by the beautiful building with high ceilings, large windows and a lovely courtyard - the exact opposite of a classic old town house. At the ticket desk, we receive instructions and short texts about the exhibition and the artists, and off we go.

In our case, we are visiting the exhibition "(de)coded". We see works by eight different artists. I have the impression that the artists and their creative work as a whole are more in focus than an individual work. The short descriptions give us good access to the artworks we experience, which is something we as art laypeople really like. The concept of "coding" or "decoding" is not immediately obvious in all the works, but this in turn invites us to take a closer look. I won't give any more away: no spoilers! Because you should go and see the exhibition.

The museum writes about itself: "We don't exhibit what others do, but go on expeditions to discover hidden treasures in archives, studios and psychiatric institutions to track down the creative potential of urban originals, quirky birds and unknown artists." This impartiality towards artistic conventions is clearly evident in this museum. The concept and the selection of works on display offer a light-hearted and fresh view of art that I have never seen before.

At the end, we leave the museum in the traditional way through the "gift shop". This one has it all: in addition to the obligatory publications and small items that can be purchased, interested visitors will also find works by the artists for sale. Now that's a suitable souvenir from an exhibition.

My conclusion? I'll be back! Thanks to the manageable size of the museum, the exhibition can be explored in its entirety and allows visitors to immerse themselves fully in the topic. This unconventional view of art was a lasting and positive surprise for me.