FVTVRIST DIALOGUES
The Sigg Art Foundation Debuts at Contemporary Istanbul 2025: An Interview with Vice President Maurine Sigg
FVTVRIST Magazine //September 24, 2025
FVTVRIST speaks with Maurine Sigg, Vice President of the Sigg Art Foundation, as the institution brings its Founder’s Collection to Istanbul. The selection gathers voices such as Korakrit Arunanondchai, Monia Ben Hamouda, Meriem Bennani, Neïl Beloufa, Jean Claracq, Louisa Gagliardi, and Austin Lee, placed in dialogue with historical anchors Charles Ross and Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, and punctuated by an unexpected cameo from Johnny Depp.
Below, Maurine Sigg reflects on the vision, residencies, and curatorial strategies shaping the Foundation, and how its evolving mission positions it within the broader conversations of contemporary art.
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Since its founding in 2020, how has the Sigg Art Foundation’s vision evolved?
Since the beginning, the Sigg Art Sigg Art Foundation has been dedicated to supporting emerging artists who bridge tradition and technological innovation. Over the years, our vision has expanded into residency programs, curated exhibitions, and various initiatives always with the idea of empowering artists to challenge narratives of history and heritage. It has also been about learning alongside the artists, as each project has shaped my understanding of how technology can transform not just art, but the way we preserve and reinterpret culture.
How do you identify and support emerging artists who challenge history or heritage while experimenting with new technologies?
The process combines curatorial research, the discovery of new talents at art fairs and online, and direct exchanges with artists to hear their perspectives firsthand. The Foundation values experimentation and risk-taking, particularly when it creates a bridge to wider cultural questions.
I often follow an instinctive approach: when an artist’s work challenges me or reveals a perspective I had not previously considered, it suggests that their practice is worth exploring further.
Can you share how your residency programs in Le Castellet, AlUla, and Athens help artists develop their ideas and foster cross-cultural exchange?
Each residency is conceived as a space for reflection and exchange. Le Castellet offers natural surroundings, AlUla engages with a rich historical landscape in Saudi Arabia, and Athens connects with a vibrant urban and intellectual scene.
In each residency, what strikes the most is how artists respond differently to each program. In Le Castellet, I often see them reconnect with the surrounding nature. In AlUla, the history of the desert becomes a catalyst for ambitious ideas. As we spend several months in close exchange on-site with the artists during the residency, one of the most rewarding aspects of my role is observing the evolution of their practice, as their research develops and leads to the creation of an artwork.
How does the Foundation balance support for experimental, technology-driven practices with engagement with historical or modern art?
The Sigg Art Foundation intentionally places contemporary works in dialogue with historical anchors. This reflects the founder’s Collection, where modern and post-war art coexists with digital practices, showing continuity rather than rupture. This balance is central to the Foundation’s mission, demonstrating that new technologies are not an isolated phenomenon but part of a longer continuum of creativity and reinvention.
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Looking ahead, how do you see the Foundation shaping long-term conversations in contemporary art?
By amplifying artists who confront history with new tools, the Foundation aims to influence how cultural memory is constructed in the digital age. The residencies and public presentations are designed to spark dialogue beyond the art world, into education and civic contexts. I hope that years from now, when people look back at the Sigg Art Foundation, they will see through the initial mission of the Foundation to support emerging artists.
What motivated the decision to present the Founder’s Collection publicly for the first time at Contemporary Istanbul, and why here, in this cross-continental context?
Istanbul embodies the Foundation’s ethos: a city that bridges East and West, tradition and modernity. The 20th edition of CI felt like the right moment to move the Pierre’s Collection for the first time from private to public, engaging with audiences across geographies.
How did you approach curating the selection, especially regarding the dialogue between painting and digital culture?
The curatorial approach emphasizes how recent acquisitions reflect the intersections of traditional media, especially painting, with digital practices. Bringing together younger artists and historical anchors highlights both continuity and contrast, showing how painting continues to resonate even in an age dominated by screens when we refer to digital art. This tension between the tangible and the digital has become a guiding thread for the Foundation.
How does Istanbul as a meeting point of East and West, shape the way audiences experience the collection?
Istanbul’s audiences are accustomed to living in a space where cultures intersect. Presenting the collection here allows for readings that are more layered, less bound by a single canon or narrative.
Among the selected works is a piece by Johnny Depp, an unexpected inclusion that broadens the dialogue of the collection. How does this work align with the Foundation’s curatorial vision and its exploration of the intersections between tradition and digital innovation?
When selecting artists, the Foundation focuses on the strength of their practice and the curatorial relevance of their works. Birds (1998) is presented at Contemporary Istanbul as it exemplifies Johnny Depp’s raw, expressive linework, where layered forms evoke both the menace of Alfred Hitchcock’s swarms and the fragile beauty of murmurations at dusk. The work embodies the dualities that define his practice, aligning with the Foundation’s mission to explore the intersections of tradition, narrative, and contemporary expression.
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