ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Harald Szeemann's Artpress Interviews Compiled in New Book

publication · 2026-04-23

Artpress has released a compilation of interviews with Harald Szeemann, the pioneering Swiss curator who transformed exhibition-making into a personal artistic vision. The book includes conversations from 1974, following his intimate exhibition dedicated to his grandfather, a barber, and two years after his legendary Documenta 5 in 1972. Further interviews from 1988 address the controversial Zeitlos exhibition, and a 1999 discussion occurs just after his appointment as director of the Venice Biennale. A 1996 conversation with Jean-Yves Jouannais revisits his landmark 1969 exhibition 'When Attitudes Become Form' at Kunsthalle Bern. The volume features interviews by Christian Bernard, Otto Hahn, Jean-Yves Jouannais, and Catherine Millet, with a preface by Jouannais. Szeemann is quoted: 'What I have been doing since 1972 is atmospheric work.'

Key facts

  • Harald Szeemann was a major figure in contemporary art and the first to develop a personal curatorial vision.
  • The book compiles interviews from artpress magazine spanning 1974 to 1999.
  • The first interview in 1974 followed an intimate exhibition about his grandfather, a barber.
  • Documenta 5, curated by Szeemann, took place in 1972 and is considered mythical.
  • The 1988 interview discusses the controversial exhibition Zeitlos.
  • In 1999, Szeemann was appointed director of the Venice Biennale.
  • The 1996 interview with Jean-Yves Jouannais revisits the 1969 exhibition 'When Attitudes Become Form' at Kunsthalle Bern.
  • Interviewers include Christian Bernard, Otto Hahn, Jean-Yves Jouannais, and Catherine Millet.

Entities

Artists

  • Harald Szeemann

Institutions

  • artpress
  • Kunsthalle Bern
  • Venice Biennale

Locations

  • Bern
  • Switzerland
  • Venice
  • Italy

Sources