In Context

The event offers an insight into the delicate process of researching and compiling for the first time the catalogue of works by South Tyrolean artist Sven Sachsalber (1987–2020), encompassing data collection, lived anecdotes, human loss, and hidden narratives.

Within the context of the exhibition Mapping out an Artistic Practice: A Research Project by Museion, we will discuss this topic together with Lisa Mazza, co-founder and curator of BAU – Institute for Contemporary Art and Ecology and member of the research team and exhibition curator; Katia Cont, expert in the cataloguing of artworks at Museion’s Collection/Archive and member of the research team and exhibition project group; and Angelika Gasser, Director of the Provincial Office for Culture of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano.

This raises the question of how to handle closeness: when a contemporary work is closely connected to one’s own life, family, and friendships, research requires not only knowledge, but also restraint, protection, and conscious decisions about what to reveal—and what to deliberately keep private.

The event takes the public’s gaze beyond the exhibition space, behind the hidden scenes of a sensitive museum practice that combines careful preservation, professional research, and responsible handling.