Board of Trustees

Attached to the cultural field since the start of her professional career, Béatrice Demenet-Gugelmann has worked in various cultural and media institutions, in particular within the Franco-German cultural channel ARTE in Strasbourg and Paris.

Passionate about the different facets that culture has to offer, she joined the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art in 2012. Secretary General since 2019, Béatrice Demenet-Gugelmann supports the Foundation in its missions, while ensuring to maintain the link with the artists and the institutions supported.

Present since the opening of the Foundation’s offices in 1994 in Lausanne, Rosmarie Lang Richner took the reins of the institution in 1996 to lead it to the influence that we know today.

A visionary, she recognized early on the importance of the professionalization of Foundations and thus joined from the outset the SwissFoundations network which promotes the sharing of experiences, transparency and professionalism in the Swiss public utility foundation sector. Convinced of the relevance of exchanges from various sectors, she led the Foundation to be an active member of the Forum Culture et Economie bringing together public and private actors participating in the financing of culture in Switzerland.

In 2019, Rosmarie Lang Richner joined the Foundation Board as Strategic Advisor, so as to enrich the Foundation’s support in its final years with her perfect knowledge of the institution and its history.

Director of the Kunsthalle Zurich, Daniel Baumann joined the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art as an expert in the field of Visual Arts in 2016. A connoisseur of the scene, Daniel Baumann, among others, was at the initiative of the creation of the New Jerseyy offspace, co-founder of the Shift festival or also responsible for the “Nordtangente – Kunsttangente” project in Basel. He has also been internationally active as a curator in Asia, Europe and the United States and has contributed as a reviewer for magazines such as Artforum, Kunstbulletin or Parkett. In 2013, he organized Carnegie International 2013, the largest international contemporary art biennial in the United States, with Dan Byers and Tina Kukielski at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.

Tobias Brenk joined the Board of the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art in 2018 as an expert for the Performing Arts in German-speaking Switzerland. A graduate of Applied Theater Studies in Gießen, Germany, he assisted artistic directors Tom Stromberg and Matthias von Hartz at the Theater Festival Impulse. From 2008 to 2018, he was playwright and production manager at Kaserne Basel and since 2012 has been a dramaturgy advisor for the Basel International Theater Festival, of which he directed the 2018 edition. Since 2019, Tobias Brenk has been responsible for the program “COINCIDENCIA – Swiss-South American cultural exchanges” within ProHelvetia.

Tobias Brenk has worked for various juries, including the one for the Zurich City Dance Commission or the Contemporary Swiss Dance Days in 2013. He is also co-editor of the publication” Dokument, Fälschung, Wirklichkeit. Materialband zum zeitgenössischen Dokumentarischen Theater” (2014), as well as the recently published volume “Echoraum Kaserne Basel” (2018).

David Frick has represented the founding company on the Foundation Board of the Nestlé Art Foundation since 2007. A law graduate from the University of Zurich and Harvard, he is admitted to both the Zurich bar and the New York bar. After a career in a law firm, David Frick first joined the Crédit Suisse group, then, in 2006, Nestlé S.A. where he currently heads the Corporate Governance, Compliance and Corporate Services department. He is also Secretary of the Board of Directors.

Art historian graduated from the University of Geneva, Olivier Kaeser co-founded and co-directed – with Jean-Paul Felley – attitudes, an independent art structure active in Geneva and elsewhere between 1994 and 2012, which was supported by the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art. From the end of 2008 to the end of 2018, he co-directed the Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris, the French branch of Pro Helvetia – Swiss Foundation for Culture. Since 2019, he has been an independent curator, directs Arta Sperto (www.artasperto.ch), a multidisciplinary artistic structure with no fixed location, and holds mandates, in particular as the editor-in-chief of the Grand Théâtre Magazine in Geneva. Olivier Kaeser joined the Foundation Council in 2013, as an expert for the Performing Arts in French-speaking Switzerland, then also as president in 2015.

Trained with the greatest teachers, including Heinz Holliger, Béatrice Zawodnik leads a multiple career, with more than 20 years as a performer – her repertoire ranging from baroque music to contemporary creation – 10 years as a teacher and more than 10 years as musical curator, coordinator and director of projects and institutions. She completed her musical training with a Master in Administration (MPA) at IDHEAP, UNIL Lausanne, in April 2020. After 6 years as coordinator of the pre-professional sector, 5 years as director of the Lausanne classical site of the HEMU, she is, since September 2018, teaching coordinator at the Geneva University of Music (HEM). She was also the oboist of the Ensemble Contrechamps between 2000 and 2016, as well as a founding member of the Ensemble Vortex in 2005 and of the Ensemble Vide in 2010 – an interdisciplinary platform for research on contemporary sound. Béatrice Zawodnik joined the Board of the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art as an expert for music in 2016.

Sandro Lunin has been active in the theater and dance sector for several decades. In the 1980s he was co-director of the Rote Fabrik theater office in Zurich and co-founder of the Blickfelder Festival, an international platform for experimental theater for young audiences. From 1997 to 2007 he was artistic director of the Schlachthaus-Theater in Bern, then until 2017 artistic director of the Zurich Theaterspektakel. In 2018, this great connoisseur of the African continent and the Middle East took over the artistic direction of the Kaserne Basel. From 2014 to 2018, Sandro Lunin was an expert in the Performing Arts in german-speaking Switzerland at the Fondation Nestlé pour l‘Art.

After studying music at the Basel Music Academy, Christian Fausch studied cultural management in Vienna. From 2000 to 2004 he worked for the Münchner Philharmoniker and in 2005 took over the artistic direction of the Collegium Novum Zurich. From 2012 to 2019 he headed the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, since 2016 he has been artistic manager and managing director of the Ensemble Modern as well as managing director of the associated Deutsche Ensemble Akademie. Christian Fausch was expert for the Music at the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art from 2008 to 2016.

Madeleine Schuppli studied art history at the Universities of Geneva, Hamburg and Zurich and completed a Master of Advanced Studies in cultural management at the University of Basel. Initially working as an exhibition assistant at various museums in Switzerland and Germany, she became curator of the Kunsthalle Basel in 1996. From 2000 to 2007 she worked as director for the Kunstmuseum Thun. Madeleine Schuppli was director of the Aargauer Kunsthaus from 2007 to 2020, where she realized numerous group and solo exhibitions with Fiona Tan, Christian Marclay, Mark Wallinger, Miriam Cahn and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, among others. In 2009 she initiated the innovative exhibition series for young art CARAVAN to promote up-and-coming Swiss artists. She is also responsible for an active collection policy with a focus on contemporary works of Swiss art and a dialogical presentation of the holdings. She has been Head of Visual Arts at Pro Helvetia since February 2020. Madeleine Schuppli was an expert in the visual arts at the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art from 2007 to 2015.

“From 2004 to 2012, as a member of the Foundation’s Board, I was responsible for the decisions concerning the contributions from the fields of dance, theater and performance art in Switzerland. It was very important to me to promote innovative, young artists who often did not qualify yet for support from the city and canton. The Foundation’s contribution was able to attract the attention of public institutions. The contribution was not only in financial terms: we held intensive discussions with the artists, opened our professional network for them and promoted interdisciplinary approaches on both sides of the “Röschtigraben” and beyond. We were involved in long-term partnerships with specific goals that were jointly defined and evaluated in a productive dialogue. We developed a symbolic added value: précisément et précieux.”

Maren Rieger (M.A.) combines the theory and practice of theater as a lecturer at the Universities of the Arts in Bern and Zurich, as a freelance dramaturge and curator and as an expert in the performative arts on committees and juries in Switzerland and Germany. From 1999-2004 she was head dramaturge at Theater Neumarkt in Zurich: In addition to designing the program and promoting young authors, she was also responsible for the conception and organization of interdisciplinary series with scientists, visual artists and performers.

1997 to 1999 freelance research on experimental theater forms and performance art, for example with the “Forced Entertainment” in Sheffield.

1993-1997 Schauspiel Staatstheater Stuttgart and then 1989-1993 at the Freiburg Theater in permanent engagement.

1988 – 1994 co-founder of the Feminist Archive Freiburg (D), co-founder of ” Wüste Alma – Initiative für feministischen Wissensdurst und Tatendrang “.

Philip Ursprung studied art history, history and German in Geneva, Vienna and Berlin. In 1993 he received his doctorate from the Freie Universität of Berlin. He has taught at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, at Columbia University in New York and the University of Zurich. Since 2011 he has been Professor of Art and Architectural History at ETH Zurich and was Head of the Architecture Department from 2017-2019. Philip Ursprung was President of the Foundation Board of the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art from 2003 to 2014, as well as expert for the Visual Arts.

A law graduate from the University of Geneva, Bernard Daniel holds several positions within the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, Vietnam, Cambodia and Southeast Asia from 1967 to 1972. In 1973 he joined Nestlé SA as Head of Communications to then become Deputy Director, Head of General Secretariat in 1982, Deputy Director in 1987, Secretary General and of the Council in 1987 and finally Director / Secretary General and of the Council in 1994. On a personal level, Bernard Daniel is involved in many fields, notably culture, as a member of the “Mécènes-Entreprises” commission of the Fondation de l’Hermitage (2009-2019) or as a member of the Foundation encouragement à la création artistique et soutien à la culture à Montreux (from 2017). From 1991 to 2007, Bernard Daniel represented the Founding Company within the Nestlé Foundation for Art.

Philippe Albèra studied music at the Geneva Conservatory and musicology in Paris VIII.

In 1974 he teached music theory, the history of music and analysis at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique, while working as a journalist in Paris and Geneva and hosting a program on France-Culture. In 1977, he created Contrechamps, of which he remained director until 2005, then the Ensemble Contrechamps (1980), the Revue Contrechamps (1983) and Éditions Contrechamps (1991), of which he is still responsible. Between 1984 and 1998 he was artistic coordinator at the Salle Patino in Geneva and created the Festival Archipel in 1992.

Professor of music history and analysis at the Lausanne Conservatory, of music history and of aesthetics and analysis of 20th century music at the Geneva Conservatory, he has written numerous texts and published two books “Le son et le sens. Essais sur la musique de notre temps” and “Le parti pris des sons. Sur la musique de Stefano Gervasoni”. He also received many prizes such as the City of Geneva Prize in 2003, the Prix Meylan in 2007, the “Happy New Ears” Prize in Munich in 2011 and the Swiss Confederation Prize in 2015. Philippe Albèra is an expert for the field of music within the Nestlé Foundation for Art from 1999 to 2007.

Claudia Jolles studied art history, archeology and German literature from 1979 to 1984 at the Universities of Bern, Geneva and Zurich. In 1985 she worked on Ilya Kabakov’s exhibition “On the Margin” at the Kunsthalle Bern. Since 1989 she has worked as a curator and independent art critic for various media. Since 1996 she has been editor-in-chief of the Kunstbulletin. Claudia Jolles was an expert in the field of the Visual Arts at the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art from 1998 to 2006.

A former diplomat, David de Pury held several government posts between 1970 and 1991, including posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bern. At the end of the 1980s, he was governor of Switzerland at the Inter-American Development Bank. Between 1992 and 1996, de Pury was also co-chairman of ABB and a member of the board of directors of several companies, notably Nestlé. In 1996, he founded his own company, de Pury, Pictet, Turrettini. De Pury was also president of the newpaper “Le Temps” and vice-president of the Lucerne classical music festival. He represented Nestlé on the Foundation Board from 1997 to 2000.

Peter Böckli studied law at the University of Basel, where he received his doctorate in 1960 with a thesis on stock corporation law. Until his retirement in 2001, he taught as an associate professor with lectureships in tax law and business law at the Law Faculty of the University of Basel. In addition, he had mandates as a board member of swiss public companies. He was appointed by the Swiss Federal Council in expert commissions to prepare the revision of federal laws. As a member of the Board of Directors of Nestlé, he was a member of the Foundation Board of the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art from 1995 to 2003.

Regula Gerber studied theater at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart and German and philosophy at the Freie Universität of Berlin and the University of Stuttgart. She then worked as an editor, author and presenter in radio and television, but working in theaters is her professional focus. As an actress she was engaged at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and at the Theater am Neumark in Zurich. In 1984 she founded the theater for contemporary authors ‘Theater Die Rampe’ in Stuttgart with Alexander Seer. This attracted attention nationwide with numerous world premieres. In 1998 she took over the management of the Bielefeld theater (drama, opera, orchestra and ballet) and in 2005 she became general director of the Mannheim National Theater. In both houses she provided numerous world premieres and commissioned works in music theater and drama. She has been working as a producer since 2013. Regula Gerber was an expert in the Performing Arts at the Fondation Nestlé pour L’Art from 1994 to 2003 and its vice-president from 1996 to 2002. She is a member of the Deutsche Akademie der darstellenden Künste in Frankfurt am Main.

Cäsar Menz studied art history at the University of Basel and worked at the Kunstmuseum Bern, as well as at the Federal Office of Culture. Between 1994 and 2009, he was director of the Musées d’art et d’histoire of Geneva, of which he was then honorary director. From 1993 to 2002, Cäsar Menz was an expert in the field of Visual Arts at the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art and from 1997 to 2002 he took over the presidency of the Foundation Board.

With a degree in social and political sciences from the University of Lausanne, Claude Weber made his professional debut at the Association des Interests de Lausanne before spending two years in Canada. He joined Nestlé in 1957 as an employee of the International Advertising Department of Afico SA. There followed a career of more than 37 years within Nestlé which took him to Portugal, Bern and Vevey, with a two-year foray from 1978 to 1980 at IMEDE (Institute for the Study of Methods of Direction de l’Entreprise) in Lausanne as Director Corporate Relations. He returned to Vevey in 1980 and held various positions: assistant in the Department of Public Affairs, Advisor in technology transfers, Deputy Director, then Director of the Department of Public Affairs until his retirement in December 1993. Passionate about culture and the field of art, Claude Weber was responsible for setting up the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art in Lausanne in 1991, of which he was director from 1991 to 1995.

Pierre Lalive d’Epinay holds a degree in literature and law from the University of Geneva and passed his PhD of law in 1950. He was a professor from 1955 to 1993, and dean of the Geneva Faculty of Law from 1966 to 1969, professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, at Columbia, Brussels, and Cambridge universities, as well as at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Paris and at the Academy of International Law in The Hague. Pierre Lalive d’Epinay is also the author of over 182 publications in international law. A lawyer in Geneva since 1951, he has also been involved in hundreds of arbitrations as counsel, secretary of the court or arbitrator. A member of the Nestlé Board of Directors, he served on the Foundation Board of the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art from 1991 to 1996.

Matthias Bamert is one of the most renowned conductors of his generation. In 2017 he was appointed 1st Guest Conductor of the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea) and Chief Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra (Japan).

His international conducting career began as an assistant to George Szell and Leopold Stokowski and later as Resident Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. From 1977 he was Chief conductor of the Radio-Sinfonieorchesters Basel, music director of the London Mozart Players, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as 1st guest conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 He has won numerous prizes for his more than 80 CDs. As director of the Lucerne Festival (1992-1998) he was responsible for the opening of the KKL concert hall and founded the Oster- und Piano-Festival.

Jacqueline Burckhardt, Dr. phil I, trained as a restorer at the Istituto Centrale del Restauro in Rome. For several years she restored at the Kunsthaus Zürich, where she also curated the performance program. In 1993 she did her doctorate at the University of Zurich with a doctoral thesis on the mannerist Giulio Romano. From 1984 to 2017 she was co-founder and editor of the art magazine Parkett.

From 1986 to 1989 she headed the “Fine Arts” department at the Migros Cooperative in Zurich and was also President of the Swiss Graphic Society. She was also a member of the Foundation Board of the Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art, where she took over the presidency in 1994 until she became President of the Federal Art Commission in 1998. She also campaigned in the Comité technique des Centre d’art Contemporain in Geneva or on the board of the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft and that of the Kunsthalle Bern. For several years she lectured at the Università di Architettura in Mendrisio and worked from 2009 to 2017 as the director of the summer academy at Zentrum Paul Klee. Today she mainly writes art criticism.

From 1947 to 1958, Maurice Besset directed the French Institute in Innsbruck. He then directed the Maison de la France in Berlin before being appointed curator of the Musée national d’Art moderne in Paris from 1960 to 1965, where he developed a multidisciplinary program which foreshadowed the style of the future Pompidou Center. In 1969, Maurice Besset was appointed curator of the Musée de Grenoble and in 1972 organized one of the first exhibitions by graphic designer Roman Cieslewicz. He left this post in 1975, taught at the University of Geneva until 1991, and then headed the National Institute of Art History in Geneva. He has acted as a curator for more than 200 exhibitions, including the Le Corbusier exhibition in Tokyo in 1958 or La Couleur seule at the Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon in 1988. Maurice Besset was Vice-President of the Foundation Council from 1991 to 1994.

Paul R. Jolles studied at the Universities of Bern, Lausanne and Harvard, where he received his doctorate. From 1943 he was a collaborator of the Swiss federal administration, initially in the Federal Political Department (today FDFA), then in the Department of Economic Affairs. From 1957 to 1961 Paul R. Jolles was deputy general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. In 1961 Paul R. Jolles returned to Bern as a delegate of the Federal Council for trade agreements. From 1966 to 1984 Paul R. Jolles was director of the Federal Office for Foreign Trade. Paul R. Jolles was also President of the Kunsthalle Bern. After retiring from civil service, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nestlé Group and private lecturer at the University of Bern. Paul R. Jolles chairs the Foundation’s Board from 1991 to 1994.