Muzeum Susch

Muzeum Susch is a private art museum in the town of Susch, Switzerland, dedicated to collecting and promoting the work of women modern and contemporary artists. Founded by Polish entrepreneur and art collector Grażyna Kulczyk, it opened on January 2, 2019. The museum's name deliberately preserves the original Polish spelling of the word museum, using "z" rather than the English "seum." Located in the remote Lower Engadine valley in the canton of Graubünden, at an elevation of 1,438 meters, the institution has established itself as a significant venue for feminist art historical scholarship and contemporary practice, combining permanent site-specific installations with rotating exhibitions and interdisciplinary programming.

The museum's origins trace to Kulczyk's acquisition of a medieval monastery complex and three adjacent old Engadine houses on the same street. The core buildings had served as a rural monastery founded in 1157, situated on the pilgrims' path to Rome and Santiago de Compostela known as Jacob's trail. The original structures comprised a vicarage, hospice, and economic building, with a brewery added in the 19th century. Kulczyk commissioned Swiss architects Chasper Schmidlin and Lukas Voellmy to develop the museum project, with construction executed by the Swiss firm Lazzarini under site manager Angelo Lucchinetti. Because all buildings are under cantonal monument protection, expansion could only proceed inward into the mountain. Over three years of renovation, 9,000 tons of amphibolite rock were blasted away to create cavernous exhibition rooms, with raw stone left exposed in some spaces and spring water visible emerging from the rock in one room. The crushed rock was recycled as polished flooring. The museum opened to the public on January 2, 2019, following this extensive subterranean construction.

Muzeum Susch's collection and programming center on women modern and contemporary artists, with a particular emphasis on expanding the visibility of practices historically marginalized within canonical art history. The museum's activities are organized through five pillars: MUZEUM SUSCH, INSTITUTO SUSCH, ACZIUN SUSCH, TEMPORARS SUSCH, and DISPUTAZIUNS SUSCH. These interconnected platforms support exhibition-making, research, choreography, artist residencies, and public discourse. The Art Stations Foundation CH, originally established as Kulczyk Stiftung in 2004 and active in both Poland and Switzerland since 2017, underpins these activities with a mission to popularize culture and art and increase their accessibility. Since 2023, Instituto Susch has pursued a long-term research program, led by curator Marika Kuźmicz, investigating the oeuvres of women artists from Central and Eastern Europe including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

The museum's permanent collection consists of site-specific installations by international contemporary artists, each engaging directly with the architecture's distinctive character. Monika Sosnowska's Stairs (2017), a 14-meter steel spinal column structure, was among the first works installed, occupying the former ice tower of the brewery. Other significant permanent installations include Narcissussusch (2018) by Mirosławlj Bałka, Midada da structura (2018) by Mirko Baselgia, Herrenzimmer (1977-1979) by Heidi Bucher, Piss Flowers (1991-1992) by Helen Chadwick, Dreams in Black I (1992) and Dreams in Black II (1994) by Izabella Gustowska, Flock I (1990) by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Ethnic Wars. Large Vanitas Still Life (1995/2017) by Zofia Kulik, Inn Reverse (2018) by Sara Masüger, Painkillers (2014-2017) by Joanna Rajkowska, Real Nazis (2017) and Untitled (Story of the Eye) (2013) by Piotr Uklański, From the Series The Theater of Disappearance XXXI (2018) by Adrián Villar Rojas, Tuor per Susch (Tower for Susch, 2020) by Not Vital, Myśliciel (The Thinker, 2016) by Paweł Althamer, You Heard Me Scream (2022) and There Was So Much More of Me (2019) by Tracey Emin, Corrida (1956-1960) by Xanti Schawinsky, and Untitled (2015) by Heimo Zobernig.

The museum complex comprises four buildings: the Bieraria (brewery), the Bieraria Veglia (old brewery), the Chasa Della Santa (House of Health), and the Artist House. Visitors enter through the basement of the Bieraria, with the Bieraria Veglia accessed via a pre-existing underground passage that also houses exhibition space and the headquarters of the Muzeum Susch/Art Stations Foundation CH. The 1,500 square meters of exhibition space are distributed across four floors in approximately twenty rooms arranged labyrinthically, each individually designed. Flooring materials include the recycled amphibolite, local stone pine, pebbles from the Inn river, and limestone slabs salvaged from predecessor buildings. The architectural concept emphasizes connection to nature and encourages slow, exploratory engagement with art. In summer, terraced gardens designed by landscape architect Günther Vogt extend the experience from the exhibition rooms. A restaurant, Bistro Muzeum Susch, is attached to the museum.

Susch, with a population of just over 200, lies in the Lower Engadine valley in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. The museum is accessible via Swiss Federal Railways, with the Susch station located 350 meters away. As a private institution founded and funded by Grażyna Kulczyk, Muzeum Susch operates beyond conventional public museum structures while maintaining open public access. Its programming includes not only exhibitions but also the Acziun Susch research and presentation platform for choreography, curated by Joanna Lesnierowska; the annual Magazine Susch publication; and the Echolot podcast series, in which creatives reflect on slower-paced living and contemplation during residencies. The interdisciplinary residency program and spaces for performances, conferences, lectures, and events extend the museum's role as a cultural anchor in this alpine region.