Christian Herren (1992) is an interdisciplinary creative director, art consultant and researcher. Through his cultural agency, he has been realising projects in the fields of art, culture and management for more than fifteen years. He is currently based in Paris and Bern.
As creative director, Christian Herren has designed numerous exhibitions with and for artists such as Sophie Calle, Ragnar Kjartansson and Roman Signer, and has developed and designed publications in collaboration with partners which have been published by VEXER (Berlin) and Scheidegger & Spiess (Zurich), among others. In a consulting capacity, Christian Herren has worked on the brand identity and communication measures of members of The Leading Hotels of the World, GlaxoSmithKline and Mammut, and has developed projects for Jeu de Paume, the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, the Red Cross and the Swiss Parliament, to name a few.
In the field of art consulting, Christian Herren's experience covers a broad spectrum of both old and new art. Herren provides advice in the areas of buying, selling, collecting, preserving, brokering, donating and bequeathing art. He has compiled inventories of important private collections for auction houses, galleries and private clients, including the estate collection of Valerie and Othmar Häuptli.
In the research project "Abstraction Before the Age of Abstract Art", Herren is affiliated as an art researcher with Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland) and l'École des hautes Études en sciences sociale (Paris). The results of Herren's research have been shown in exhibitions such as "Dürer and Beyond" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Herren has written work descriptions for the collection at Kunsthaus Aarau, and has organised and moderated a range of lectures, including "The Role of the Curator in Modern Art" with Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Curriculum Vitae
2024 - present: Olympic Games 2024 (creative direction)Conception and overall realisation of the exhibition pavilion of Switzerland Tourism at the Maison Suisse, Swiss Embassy in Paris, during the 2024 Summer Olympics. Curation and scenography in collaboration with Johnny Graf, USM Haller and Truffer AG. Accompanying measures: design of various communication strategies and PR work.
2020 - present: Teo Jakob Art Collection Foundation (art consultancy)
Member of the Board of Trustees and co-curator of the Teo Jakob Art Collection Foundation.
2019 - present: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Case Western (research & writing)
Associate Researcher at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris) and Case Western (Cleveland) on the project "Abstraction Before the Age of Abstract Art."
2014 - present: self-employed (creative direction, art consultancy, research & writing)
Independent agency work as creative director, art consultant and researcher. Creative direction projects with GlaxoSmithKline and the Swiss Red Cross, among others. Consulting work for members of The Leading Hotels of the World and Switzerland Tourism. Organization of numerous exhibitions, among others under the label "ELETTO", together with Kevin Muster, Arthur Fink, Roman Sterchi and Melina Bärtschi. Art consultancy projects in the field of collection management and valuation (including provenance research and insurance appraisals), international market placement of important works by Käthe Kollwitz and Wilhelm Lehmbruck, revaluation of the largest private collection of Charles Lapicque.
2024: Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing (creative direction)
Conception and curation of table-top exhibition of Swiss inventions from the last 120 years on behalf of the Swiss Embassy in China (on the occasion of a state visit by Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin).
2023 - 2024: Engadin Art Talks (project management)
Conception, organisation/management and design of the new website of Engadin Art Talks, as well as the development and processing of the archive (2010-2024) and the co-organisation of events (including budget control and fundraising).
2023: artgenève (creative direction)
Conception, communication and event organisation of teo jakob x artgenève: a temporary exhibition including events, online communication and publication. Creation and implementation of PR strategies and MICE activities.
2021 - 2022: Jeu de Paume (creative direction)
Development and implementation of art and flower installations in the entrance hall of the Jeu de Paume Museum, Paris, in collaboration with the Librairie du Jeu de Paume and DSQBL.
2020 - 2022: self-employed (asset management, research & writing)
Management of the private estate of Othmar and Valérie Häuptli, Aarau, with a focus on key works of classical modernism (cataloguing and provenance research).
2018 - 2020: Education
Master's degree in Design and Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam.
2017 - 2020: Aargauer Kunsthaus (research & writing)
Writing artwork descriptions for the "Sammlung Online" catalogue of the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau.
2017 - 2018: Teaching
Teaching at the schools of Münchenbuchsee and Münsingen (phil. I linguistic/historical).
2018: MUS-E conference (creative direction)
Conception, organisation and implementation of the international MUS-E conference, in collaboration with the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation (Brussels) and Erasmus+ (Bonn).
2017: self-employed (research & writing)
Research-related visits to Lomé (Togo, West Africa) and DaLi (Yunnan, South China).
2014 - 2017: self-employed (creative direction, art consultancy, research & writing)
Processing of the artists' estates of Rudolf Urech-Seon, Rudolf Häsler and Urs Burki, including the conception and realisation of artist's monographs (published by Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich and VEXER, Berlin/St. Gallen respectively).
2014 - 2017: self-employed (creative direction)
Conception, realisation, production and editing of the experimental documentary film "Coca-Castro", Havana, Barcelona and Bern.
2014 - 2016: self-employed (creative direction)
Co-founder, executive and director of the Swiss Brand Museum pop-up project, in collaboration with Presence Switzerland (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA), Bern.
2010 - 2013: Bromer Art Collection (creative direction, art consultancy)
Founding director of a private museum with associated gallery (now Blue Velvet Projects in Zurich). Exhibitions with Ragnar Kjartansson, Francis Alÿs and Roman Signer, among others.
2011: self-employed (research & writing)
Organisation of panel discussions with Hans Ulrich Obrist and Post Media Books, Milan.
2010 - 2012: Education
Studied art history and philosophy at the Universities of Basel and Bern.
2006: self-employed (research & writing)
Processing of the private estate of Hans Rohr (cataloguing, provenance research, appraisals). Some of the research has been featured in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
2006 - 2010: Education
Training as senior specialist in the artists' prints and books department (modern and contemporary art) at the auction house Galerie Jürg Stuker AG, Bern.