Vernissage "Unframed: The Sigg Collection goes Virtual"
Unframed: The Sigg Collection goes Virtual is a digital exhibition display presented on 8 June 2026 at the University of Zurich, produced entirely by BA and MA students of the Chair of East Asian Art History (KGOA) as part of the seminar Methods in Digital (Art) Curation: The Sigg Collection.
Over the semester, students engaged deeply with 48 artworks from Dr. Uli Sigg’s renowned collection of Chinese contemporary art, generously made available by him for this curatorial project. Throughout the course, students developed skills in digital curation across three innovative methodologies: virtual reality, spatial narrative mapping, and augmented reality. The result is a constellation of curatorial arguments: each student group has selected works from the collection and designed a distinct encounter for each one, asking what a digital exhibition can be for works that resist simple reproduction — works that ask to be touched, heard, or experienced over time.
Unframed opens their research exclusively to a public audience during its Vernissage event on 8 June, at an event with institutional partners and an external keynote, offering visitors multiple and different pathways into works and about their collector who has shaped the global understanding of Chinese contemporary art since the 1970s.
Sign up
Seats are limited to 150 places. Registration via the following link is therefore required: https://ema.uzh.ch/RJJCR
Vernissage
Monday, 8 June 2026, 16:00-18:00, University of Zurich, Aula.
The Aula of the University of Zurich (KOL-G-201) is located in the main building at Rämistrasse 71, 8006 Zurich. It is on the 2nd floor (G level) of the KOL building. Access is via the main entrance on Rämistrasse.
16:00–16:10 Preview of the Digital Exhibitions A first look at the student-developed projects
16:10–16:15 Opening Remarks (Prof. Dr. Ewa Machotka)
16:15–16:25 Introduction to the Collection (Dr. Uli Sigg, Visiting Professor KGOA)
16:25–16:40 Project’s Concept and Development (Dr. Stephanie Santschi, Postdoc KGOA)
16:40–16:55 Student Curatorial Perspectives (Presentations by Project Teams)
16:55–17:25 Keynote Lecture: Between Museology and Museography: Computational Interventions (Prof. Dr. Sarah Kenderdine, EPFL, Keynote Speaker)
17:25–17:30 Closing Remarks (Prof. Dr. Ewa Machotka, Chair of East Asian Art History)
17:30–18:00 Exhibition Walkthrough with the Student Curators & Informal Exchange
Closing at approx. 19:00
Speakers:
Dr. Uli Sigg, Visiting Professor at the Chair of East Asian Art History, Collector, Curator
Prof. Dr. Sarah KenderdineProfessor of Digital Museology at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Dr. Stephanie Santschi (Postdoc, Lecturer Methods in Digital (Art) Curation: The Sigg Collection)
