Specialized in modern and contemporary art, the Museion library is open to the public and most of its collections are available for viewing and loaning.
The Library’s main purpose is to support the museum team with bibliographic research related to exhibitions and events organized by Museion and to document the activities of the artists in the collection. This will help build a library collection that reflects the history of the institution and its cultural heritage. To date, the library conserves around 30,000 catalogs and monographs, 800 rare and artists’ books, and 30 subscriptions to international journals.
Since January 2011, following an agreement between the Museion Foundation and the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, the museum library’s holdings have been housed in a dedicated section of the university library. This has created a highly specialized hub of visual art documentation, featuring essays and catalogs on artists, movements and contemporary art exhibitions acquired since 1991. All these as well texts from the Faculty of Design and Arts are available for consultation.
Services
You can join by registering at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano Library. To receive a Library card, you will need to present identification and pay an annual fee of €10.00
The library offers local and interlibrary loan services as well as training and consultation. Reading rooms, classrooms for group work and spaces for individual study are also available.
The Museion library’s holdings can be searched for and accessed directly in the university library’s online catalogue.
Library users with a valid Library card can access the Internet for free via the openAIR network.
The Museion Library’s opening hours are the same as those of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano Library
Info and contact
Piazza Università 1 – 39100 Bolzano
t. +39 0471 012300
f. +39 0471 012309
library@unibz.it
Alessandra Riggione
t. 0471 012320
alessandra.riggione@museion.it
Rare and Artists’ Books Collection
Since its establishment in 1991, the Museion library has been actively collecting Artists’ Books, recognizing the value of this artistic form. This specialized collection is carefully preserved in the museum archives and is made available for loan during exhibitions or for specific research purposes.
More recently, the Archivio di Nuova Scrittura, generously donated to Museion by collector Paolo Della Grazia, serves as a central theme. Consequently, the collection of Artists’ Books places special emphasis on Italian Visual Poetry and includes works by renowned artists such as Vincenzo Accame, Vincenzo Agnetti, Mirella Bentivoglio, Irma Blank, Ugo Carrega, Ugo La Pietra, and Lamberto Pignotti.
The collection also encompasses international artists from the Art & Language group, including Robert Barry, Julien Blaine, and Jean Françoise Bory, as well as contributions from global artistic movements in Brazil, Austria, Germany, France, and Eastern Europe. Notable figures from these movements include Augusto and Haroldo De Campos, Decìo Pignatari, Heinz Gappmayr, Eugen Gomringer, Hansjörg Mayer, Gerhard Rühm, Paul de Vree, Henri Chopin, Ilse and Pierre Garnier, Jiří Valoch, Josef Hiršal, and Bohumila Grögerová.
Artists’ books by Carl Andre, Daniel Buren, On Kawara, Joseph Kosuth, Sol Lewitt, Richard Long, Ed Ruscha, and Lawrence Weiner represent the movements of Conceptual art, Land art, and Minimalism, whereas Fluxus is represented by artists such as George Brecht, Giuseppe Chiari, Daniel Spoerri, Ben Vautier, Robert Filliou, and Dieter Roth. Finally, the collection features a compelling section of recent creations by artists who skillfully blend speech with other artistic expressions, spanning photography, design, advertising, architecture, and music.
