Farewell Party & Auction

It is with a heavy heart that after 8 years and some 40 exhibitions and over 40 events, we announce the closure of Last Tango. 

After a recent board meeting an executive decision was made to close the Kunstverein due to serious financial insecurities. Last Tango will close with the current exhibition ending earlier on October 27th. Despite our best efforts and dedication, unfortunately, the realities of running a self-organized independent exhibition space and the rising costs have caught up with us. This decision was not made lightly, and we deeply regret that we can no longer serve as a platform for the community we have grown to cherish.

For the past eight years, we have strived to support artists and foster a community. We transitioned from off-space to Kunstverein and with that we saw favorable developments, increasingly and whenever possible, we worked towards setting a better standard in terms of production, fees and salaries. Despite this, the reality is that independent art spaces depend upon precarious work and affective relations. It is artists, Kunstverein members, co-workers, helpers, peers, family members and friends – who show solidarity with our idealism. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved together, and we are deeply grateful to everyone. We sincerely regret that we have had to cancel two planned exhibitions, we thank them for their understanding.

Our auction on October 4th is taking place nevertheless. The event will serve as a Farewell Celebration and a Fundraising Auction – bid Last Tango farewell and bid on the lots. What are we fundraising for you might ask? We are raising funds to close this chapter gracefully. In addition to dealing with the upcoming administrative costs, we want to create a publication to honor and leave a trace of our and the many artists’ work.

We invite you one last time to support us by contributing in any way possible. You can do this by: buying tickets for the party (now at the reduced price of 50 CHF), being present, bidding, and if you can’t join, by placing an absentee bid or by making a tax-deductible donation. To purchase a ticket to the Farewell Party & Auction click here

One last action to support us during this difficult and sad time and to enable seed funding for our publication. A last “Last Tango” with us. This will also be a cherished moment to “dance” together, with goodbye speeches by Linda Jensen, Arianna Gellini and Giuliana Dridi, as well as board members Jonas Hertner and Livio Bucher. We want you to come out in numbers!

Though this chapter comes to an end, we trust that the connections, collaborations, and creative spirit we’ve nurtured will live on.

We would like to thank Last Tango Kunstverein members, artists, funding partners, board members (current and past), previous interns, collaborators and colleagues, supporters, students and visitors. Thank you for joining us in our dance! And see you all on October 4th at Quartierzentrum Schütze, Heinrichstrasse 238, 8005, Zürich.