Together through the house Constructive

Before the tour begins, we stand in front of the museum entrance. Felix and Sara will guide us through this exhibition. It is the first tour of this kind and the last exhibition in this industrial building. The exhibition is a tribute to the building. The focus is on colours, shapes and light. We enter the first room. Suddenly, two people detach themselves from the black and white chequered wall. They move through the room like gusts of wind, bringing the shapes to life. Some members of the audience laugh, others are a little taken aback by what they are about to see. I, too, wonder what to expect in the following rooms, as the big context of the exhibition or guided tour remained hidden from the visitors in advance. Then a room with neon lights, glaring, loud voices from the other visitors. The two performers begin to make noises and everyone falls silent. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It's as if I'm in a church and in this bright room at the same time. Then it suddenly goes quiet and the performers silently move on to the next room. We follow. Here we are asked to pull bundles of money out of a cloth bag. "Who's bidding on this bundle?" calls Felix. "What's going on?" I hear a visitor next to me say with a laugh. "100? 600? I hear 1000!" shouts Felix. "Sold for 2,000 francs to the gentleman in yellow."

We then leave this room too and cross a corridor lined with sheets. We continue through rooms with sheet caves like the ones I built as a child. We reach the last room. In the centre is a glass table with six placemats on it. We consider whether we should sit down. No one dares. Then the two people with a serving cloth over their arms select visitors. They are invited to the table with a "You are invited". The main course is served. Colourful pieces of paper are placed on the place settings. The paper shapes seem to have been detached from the artwork on the wall. We laugh. The seated guests begin to cut up the paper art with oversized paper knives and forks. "En Guete".

The idea behind "Gemeinsam Anders"

The "Gemeinsam Anders" tour is a pilot project by Haus Konstruktiv. The idea was to offer an alternative to the regular guided tours, which is why there is so little context to the artworks. Says Michaela Blaser, who is responsible for education and helped conceptualise the project. The new format is not intended to compete with the existing guided tours. "Gemeinsam Anders" was designed by people with disabilities for people with disabilities, but also for everyone else. This type of tour is intended to give as many people as possible access to Haus Konstruktiv.

It is not yet clear whether there will be another such tour. Sponsors and motivated performers are needed for each tour. But talking to Sara, who rehearsed the performances, I can tell that she would be up for it again. And Michaela also tells me that there is great demand for such programmes. Individual exhibition tours, such as those offered by Felix, are well attended. In a museum culture that can often seem elitist and unapproachable, such offers are an important counterbalance.