Fri 24.11.23 – Sun 12.05.24

Perfectly Imperfect – Flaws, Blemishes and Defects

Mistakes occur, accidents happen, things get damaged. This is part of our everyday experience, and we learn to use various strategies to cope with imperfection. Errors also crop up in the material world of design and manufacturing, because of poor decisions and carelessness, technical deficiencies and design faults, or the intractable nature of the materials themselves. The consequences are ranging from minor blemishes right through to disastrous production failures.

Exhibition

Mining Photography. The Ecological Footprint of Image Production

Fri 22.09.23 – Sun 21.01.24

Ever since its invention, photography has relied on the extraction and exploitation of natural resources. In the 19th century these were salt, copper and silver, in the age of digital photography and smartphones, image production requires rare earths and other metals.

Exhibition

MATERIAL ARCHIV

From Tuesday, 18 July until Monday, 11 September 2023, the MATERIAL ARCHIV will be closed for renovation work. Thank you for your understanding.

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Please feel free to touch! From glass, metal, wood, paper, plastic and stone to ceramics, colour pigments, textiles and leather – the permanent MATERIAL ARCHIV exhibition is an interactive laboratory for studying materials. It is like a vast, three-dimensional textbook with an online database, some 1,000 specimen materials, experiment tables, video and audio stations and a library, all offering an in-depth yet enjoyable way of finding out about the world of materials. The MATERIAL ARCHIV is thus a fun learning opportunity, as well as a place where interested members of the public, specialists and students of all ages can carry out research and make discoveries.

Permanent exhibition

Photos: Michael Lio

Forthcoming exhibitions

A backward glance: visit our exhibition archive.

Our archive of temporary exhibitions and special presentations is still under construction and is continuously being updated. All our exhibitions since 1999 are listed in German. Information about exhibitions since 2017 is available in English.

Exhibition archive

Uhrenmuseum Winterthur

Photo: Michael Lio

One building, two museums: the Uhrenmuseum Winterthur clock and watch museum is housed under the same roof as the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur. The Kellenberger Clock and Watch Collection and the Oscar Schwank Watch Collection – two superlative collections of international repute – form the core of the permanent exhibition. The multimedia displays feature antique timepieces dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries and are aimed at clock and watch enthusiasts, specialists and the wider public. Themed public tours take place on the last Friday of each month, starting at noon.

Uhrenmuseum Winterthur