BERN.- Subsequent to the “Mahjong” exhibition
(2005), efforts were made to organize an artists’ exchange with China. As of
2007, with the help of the Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei an apartment-studio was set
up in Beijing and made available for six months at a time to young Swiss
artists. Over a period of two years, the GegenwART foundation and its
patron Dr. h.c. Hansjörg Wyss supported this initiative and financed the stay of
five artists/artist-couples there. These included the Geneva artists Marc Bauer,
Sharyar Nashat and Pierre-Philippe Freymond, the Zurich artist Christian Vetter
and the artist-brothers Cyril and Gregory Chapuisat from Founex.