BERN.- The Fotostiftung Schweiz (Swiss Foundation for Photography) and the Kunstmuseum Bern have reached an agreement with Vida Burkhard, widow of the renowned Swiss photographer Balthasar Burkhard, to secure his significant estate and enter into a partnership. The Fotostiftung Schweiz will take over the photographer's archive and the Kunstmuseum Bern will receive four important works from the estate for its collection, thanks to the Gottfried Keller Foundation.

Background: The estate of Balthasar Burkhard

Balthasar Burkhard was one of Switzerland's most important photographers. His estate includes his archive, which comprises artistic work as well as pho- tographic commissions. In his will, Balthasar Burkhard designated his wife Vida Burkhard as sole beneficiary and the Kunstmuseum Bern as reversionary beneficiary. This arrangement proved to be unworkable.

The solution lies in cooperation

In the meantime, the Kunstmuseum Bern and the Fotostiftung Schweiz, to- gether with Vida Burkhard, have been able to work out a solution that is satis- factory for all parties and ensures that the major Swiss photographer's entire oeuvre is preserved and accessible. The Gottfried Keller Foundation is sup- porting this solution by purchasing key works by Balthasar Burkhard, to be deposited in the Kunstmuseum Bern.

The Kunstmuseum Bern is waiving the reversionary inheritance of archives and copyrights, which allows Balthasar Burkhard's archive to be transferred to the ownership of the Fotostiftung Schweiz. There, the collection – especially the fragile negatives, which require special cold storage – can be professional- ly looked after, stored and researched. For its part, the Kunstmuseum Bern owns around 50 works by Balthasar Burkhard. It is interested in rounding out its own collection with selected works, but considers the Fotostiftung a suita- ble institution to look after the archive.

In return for waiving the reversionary inheritance, the Kunstmuseum Bern is receiving four works by Burkhard on permanent loan from the Gottfried Keller Foundation, making the museum the premier Swiss institution for the repre- sentation of his artistic œuvre.

Long-term cooperation

With this agreement, the Kunstmuseum Bern and the Fotostiftung Schweiz establish a close working relationship. The two institutions will exchange ideas on their planned projects to disseminate Burkhard's work and will grant each other privileged access to his works and the archive collections.

"We are very pleased to have this positive solution for all parties involved to help strengthen national research priorities and preserve the estate of one of the most important Swiss photographers for the public in the long term. The agreement is an example of successful national cooperation across cantonal borders," says Nina Zimmer, Director of the Kunstmuseum Bern - Zentrum Paul Klee.

"Creative solutions were required to safeguard Balthasar Burkhard's interna- tionally outstanding work for the future and to be able to continue presenting it in exhibitions and publications. We are very happy to have found a way with Vida Burkhard and the Kunstmuseum Bern that primarily serves Balthasar Burkhard's work. We can thereby fully exploit the synergies and competencies between the institutions," says Peter Pfrunder, Director of the Fotostiftung Schweiz in Winterthur.