The exhibition at the Kunst Museum Winterthur takes visitors back to 18th century Switzerland and into digital space. Equipped with tablets, they travel through the "Arcadia of Europe".
It's snowing on the top floor of the Reinhart am Stadtgarten. At least if you look at the screen. There you can see the Viamala Gorge. A wintry sight with lots of snow, traders, their mules and dancing snowflakes. The moving elements are part of augmented reality, which breathes new life into the old leaves with the help of iPads. The sheets themselves are more than 200 years old and show the first tourist views of Switzerland.
Waterfalls and mountain massifs were a favourite subject back then and they still are today. Many a familiar sight from the Bernese Oberland or Central Switzerland can be seen here. If you are no longer sure what the mountain peak is called, pick up your tablet: similar to the mountain naming app "Peakfinder", it quickly becomes clear which mountain it is.
The little helper not only provides names and snowflakes, but also further information on the subject and technique as well as additional sheets and versions of a view. The Fehlmann family foundation, which provided the majority of the exhibits, could have shown many more. Its holdings include more than 600 prints, 25 drawings and many books with original prints.
The Foundation has now made it possible for the sheets to be shown to a wide audience and for the exhibition to be explored not only in the traditional way, but also using new technologies - a digital journey through Switzerland.
Source: Winterthurer Zeitung
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