Stefanie Hessler
Swiss Institute
Single project
Stefanie Hessler
Swiss Institute
Over the next five years, Swiss Institute (SI) will change its structure to respond to this moment of shared social and ecological urgency. It has conducted a full evaluation of its operations, energy usage, travel, cycles of waste, and production with the overarching goal of integrating climate action into all facets of the institution. SI invites artists to rethink and feel anew what the (infra)structures of an arts organization might be: from the materials used, to the shipment of artworks, to incorporating ecological awareness with the practitioners and suppliers with whom SI works. 


Mimi Park, These Seasons: Murmuring in Blue Kaleidoscope, 2023. Digital image. Courtesy the artist.

Conceived as a process of collaborative learning and unlearning, SI will not only reduce its footprint but also create connections between its artistic programming and local communities and publish findings for transparency and knowledge-sharing. Spora proposes to test a new curatorial methodology of environmental institutional critique which highlights the architecture of the building as much as the energies traversing the institution (both material and spiritual) and manifests in physical artworks and conceptual interventions. Participating artists include Mary Manning, Helen Mirra, Jenna Sutela, Vivian Suter, and Tʼuyʼtʼtanat-Cease Wyss, with more artists to be announced in late 2023.

Spora will be accompanied by public gatherings entitled These Seasons, which approaches the titular concept (as a marker of mood, aesthetics, politics, weather) as a lens to explore theories of nature, land, ecology, human and non-human life forms, and climate action across disciplines monthly. SI will feature These Seasons and Spora in a climate-friendly culminating publication to ensure its reach beyond its gallery walls, with the hope that these resources will help other institutions shape paths toward climate action.


Susan Schuppli, These Seasons: Cold Cases, 2023. Digital image. Courtesy of the artist.


Ravi Agarwal, These Seasons: The Sea of New Sands, 2023. Digital image. Courtesy the artist.
Stefanie Hessler is the Director of SI. Hessler is a curator and institutional leader internationally recognized for her work with artists focused on the climate crisis and changing ecologies. She was most recently the Director of the Kunsthall Trondheim (2019-2022), where she curated critically acclaimed solo exhibitions by Frida Orupabo, Diana Policarpo, and Jenna Sutela. She co-led the large-scale research-based exhibition Sex Ecologies (2021-2022) with all new commissioned works by nine international artists and edited the accompanying compendium on queer ecologies, sexuality, and care in more-than-human worlds published with The MIT Press, 2021. She initiated innovative institutional collaborations, created new staff positions to reach diverse audiences, and launched long-term public programs for marginalized communities. At SI, she is leading a 15-member coalition of nonprofit organizations working towards environmentally-conscious operations.
Stefanie Hessler
Swiss Institute
  • New York, NY
  • Spora
  • May 2023 – December 2024
  • $150,000
Single project


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Stefanie Hessler.
Over the next five years, Swiss Institute (SI) will change its structure to respond to this moment of shared social and ecological urgency. It has conducted a full evaluation of its operations, energy usage, travel, cycles of waste, and production with the overarching goal of integrating climate action into all facets of the institution. SI invites artists to rethink and feel anew what the (infra)structures of an arts organization might be: from the materials used, to the shipment of artworks, to incorporating ecological awareness with the practitioners and suppliers with whom SI works. 


Mimi Park, These Seasons: Murmuring in Blue Kaleidoscope, 2023. Digital image. Courtesy the artist.

Conceived as a process of collaborative learning and unlearning, SI will not only reduce its footprint but also create connections between its artistic programming and local communities and publish findings for transparency and knowledge-sharing. Spora proposes to test a new curatorial methodology of environmental institutional critique which highlights the architecture of the building as much as the energies traversing the institution (both material and spiritual) and manifests in physical artworks and conceptual interventions. Participating artists include Mary Manning, Helen Mirra, Jenna Sutela, Vivian Suter, and Tʼuyʼtʼtanat-Cease Wyss, with more artists to be announced in late 2023.

Spora will be accompanied by public gatherings entitled These Seasons, which approaches the titular concept (as a marker of mood, aesthetics, politics, weather) as a lens to explore theories of nature, land, ecology, human and non-human life forms, and climate action across disciplines monthly. SI will feature These Seasons and Spora in a climate-friendly culminating publication to ensure its reach beyond its gallery walls, with the hope that these resources will help other institutions shape paths toward climate action.


Susan Schuppli, These Seasons: Cold Cases, 2023. Digital image. Courtesy of the artist.


Ravi Agarwal, These Seasons: The Sea of New Sands, 2023. Digital image. Courtesy the artist.
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