Fanny Hauser has been appointed as the new director of Kunsthalle Zürich, succeeding Daniel Baumann, who is stepping down after ten years to focus on independent curatorial projects. Hauser, originally from Vienna, has been the deputy director at the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst in Aachen, Germany, since May 2022. She will begin her new role in January 2025.
During her tenure at the Ludwig Forum, Hauser curated a notable exhibition of Yugoslavian experimental artist Katalin Ladik’s work, initiated by Hendrik Folkerts. Before that, she was a lecturer at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna from 2021 to 2022. From 2019 to 2021, she was a curatorial fellow at the Gebert Foundation for Culture in Rapperswil, Switzerland. She worked as a curatorial assistant at Documenta 14 in 2016-17, where she was involved with new commissions and the moving-image program. In 2016, she co-founded Kunstverein Kevin Space, a contemporary art association in Vienna, with Carolina Nöbauer, Denise Helene Sumi, and Franziska Sophie Wildförster. There, she co-organized exhibitions featuring artists like Romanian conceptual artist Ioana Nemeș, Chinese filmmaker and installation artist Peng Zuqiang, Chinese multidisciplinary artist Evelyn Taocheng Wang, and Algerian multidisciplinary artist Lydia Ourahmane.
Michael Ringier, president of the selection committee, praised Hauser’s career, noting her initiative and enthusiasm for contemporary art. He highlighted her familiarity with Switzerland and the Kunsthalle Zürich program through her work at the Gebert Foundation and numerous visits to Zürich.
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