Over the past three decades, the museum has attracted visitors with 35 temporary exhibitions, fourteen of which focused on art. Paper-cuts, carved sculptures as well as photo collections with landscape motifs and personalities of the Saanenland from days gone by have been displayed over the years in the museum’s tastefully furnished rooms. The building itself represents a slice of history itself – the smokehouse kitchen, once common in the region, as well as the lavishly tiled stove, were there long before the museum. And so-called Kreidescheiben – glass panels decorated with chalk, which were once gifted to new home-owners – are integrated into the museum’s window glazing. Rural culture in the Saanenland has evolved throughout history and traditional crafts often involved art, which played a big role in people’s lives.

The interplay between traditions so vividly depicted in the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions of artists associated with the region is especially interesting to visitors, as it highlights the connection between art and culture, tradition and modernity. 

www.museum-saanen.ch