Matthias Estermann Presents A New Skin for an Old Ceremony II in B74 – Raum für Kunst

Opening happened on May 8, 2026 of the latest exhibition by Matthias Estermann, titled A New Skin for an Old Ceremony II, which invited visitors into a deeply personal world shaped by craftsmanship, memory, humor, and a lifelong fascination with Indigenous cultures of North America. The exhibition runs from May 8 to May 30, 2026, at B74 – Raum für Kunst in Lucerne

Born in Menznau in the canton of Lucerne on the first Tuesday of May in 1955, Estermann writes that he has been “making images ever since” he first opened his eyes to the world. Before even entering school, he claims he intended to become a cannibal — “but that never happened; I merely became a ruminant.” This ironic and self-reflective humor runs throughout both his writing and his artistic practice.

For more than half a century, Estermann has felt spiritually connected to the Indigenous peoples of North America, despite never having left Europe. Over the years, he encountered influential representatives of various Indigenous nations in Switzerland and elsewhere, experiences that deeply informed his artistic imagination. In particular, he became fascinated by Hopi Katsinas — ceremonial-inspired figures traditionally carved from cottonwood root and used as educational tools for children, especially girls, to help them understand the dancers, clans, and cosmology of Hopi culture.

Estermann is careful not to present himself as an authentic interpreter of Hopi spirituality. “I am not Hopi,” he openly admits. Although he studied ethnology, he acknowledges that the sacred ceremonies remain beyond his lived understanding as a man from the Lucerne countryside. Instead, his sculptures function as contemporary reflections on human identity, transformation, and the passing stages of life.

The figures presented in A New Skin for an Old Ceremony II are not carved from traditional cottonwood, nor painted with natural pigments. Many are constructed from what Estermann calls today’s “supposedly useless cultural scrap” — discarded materials reborn into expressive sculptural forms. Through recycling and reinvention, the artist gives these fragmented objects a second existence, turning waste into carriers of myth, irony, and memory.

Much of Estermann’s creative life developed quietly and independently. He taught himself his craft while learning from local artisans — blacksmiths, wheelwrights, saddlers, carpenters, and painters — who allowed him to observe and work in their workshops. His father also played a formative role, teaching him how to handle both paintbrush and hammer, while introducing him to great masterpieces in art museums. Estermann notes that he was named Matthias because of the admiration his father held for the painter Matthias Grünewald.

As a member of the B74 art space collective, Estermann now presents a selection of new Katsina-inspired works created over the last two years. The exhibition balances sincerity with playfulness, ethnographic curiosity with personal mythology. “Thoughts are free,” the artist says, “and I walk along the dash between them.” Even his recurring joke about cannibals — “they often have bite” — becomes a metaphor for an art practice that remains sharp, humorous, and defiantly alive. Worth to go and see! I had an eye on one piece - though it was taken. ... yep, The Shark ....