Stage design drawings (2022-2025)

The SAPA Foundation holds a comprehensive collection of approximately 7 000 stage design drawings. These so-called designs by artists in the fields of stage, costume and visual art served not only as templates for realised and unrealised stage productions; they also illuminate theoretical and conceptual reflections on stage practice. The collection focuses primarily on the period from 1895 to the 1970s and continues to grow today. The most renowned figures include Adolphe Appia, Roman Clemens, Caspar Neher, Max Sulzbachner and Karl Walser; the most recent additions comprise holdings by Jean-Claude Maret and Annelies Corrodi.

To date, the collection has been incompletely catalogued and storage conditions no longer meet current conservation standards. SAPA is presently inventorying all works with the aim, through a comprehensive digitisation, conservation and outreach project, of making the holdings attractive and visible to a broad public as well as for loans and research.

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We thank the following foundations for their generous support:

Burgergemeinde Bern, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Kulturstiftung der Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB), Stiftung Pro Scientia et Arte, Ruth & Arthur Scherbarth Stiftung, Claire Sturzenegger-Jeanfavre Stiftung