Maria Eichhorn's Non-Exhibition Exposes Kunsthalle Bern's Debt Crisis

Maria Eichhorn's 2001 non-exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern, titled "Das Geld der Kunsthalle Bern," featured no artworks. Instead, the Berlin-based artist used the exhibition budget of approximately 300,000 Swiss francs to fund an analysis of the institution's finances, uncovering a debt of about 6 million francs to the city from a renovation loan taken between 1989 and 1992. The debt equals the value of the building itself, as the land is owned by the city. Despite the city increasing the annual budget to cover interest payments, the principal has never been repaid. Consequently, the Bern government refused new credit for urgent repairs, including roof insulation, broken skylight panes, and a chimney at risk of collapse. Eichhorn allocated 240,000 francs to execute the most urgent repairs and issued participation certificates with the remaining 40,000 francs, effectively increasing the Kunsthalle's capital. The certificates, signed by the treasurer and association president, noted they were issued during Eichhorn's "exhibition." Director Bernard Fibicher, whose contract was renewed after a pointed program, had initiated a group exhibition inventorying the venue's history three years prior. Eichhorn's report, the sole item in the empty galleries, revealed the debt gap from before Fibicher's tenure.