Bettina von Zwehl Reimagines the Renaissance Wunderkammer in Innsbruck

Bettina von Zwehl's exhibition at BTV Stadtforum in Innsbruck explores the relationship between modernity and the Renaissance Wunderkammer. The show is directly linked to Ambras Castle, which houses the only surviving Renaissance cabinet of curiosities still in its original location, organized by Archduke Ferdinand II. Von Zwehl subverts the classical male-coded Wunderkammer by foregrounding childhood, psychology, imperfection, and planetary fragility. The exhibition includes works referencing 16th-century marble busts of Roman emperors, coins with profile portraits, and animal depictions from the Habsburg collection. Profile portraiture, a leitmotif in her practice, is presented as both a mystery and a symbol of power. The artist's studio rituals have been compared to psychoanalysis; her 2016 installation 'The Sessions' at the Freud Museum in London engaged with Anna Freud's child psychoanalysis. For the Innsbruck project, von Zwehl collaborated with high school students, allowing them to take self-portraits during lockdown, inspired by Parmigianino's 'Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror' at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The exhibition is curated by Hans-Joachim Gögl as part of the INN SITU series, supported by the regions of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. It runs until February 13, 2021.