Shaping Knowledge in Partnership: A collaboration between the University of Zurich and the Museum Rietberg Zurich

The partnership between the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Museum Rietberg Zurich (MRZ) is rooted in a long-standing history of collaboration that has fostered meaningful exchange across science, education, and society. Now, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in autumn 2024, this established cooperation enters a new and groundbreaking phase. The formal agreement sets the stage for a deeper institutional alliance, laying a structural foundation to support and systematically expand interdisciplinary collaborations.

The new project phase at the Art History Institute (KHIST), overseen by the Chair of East Asian Art History (KGOA), is coordinated by an interdisciplinary strategy officer, reflecting the long-standing partnership between Museum Rietberg and several UZH departments. These, among others, include the Asia-Orient Institute (AOI), History, Archaeology, the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies (ISEK) with the Ethnographic Museum (VMZ), whose researchers have played a key role in establishing and sustaining this vital connection. 

The UZH encompasses four museums and thirteen collections, all integrated into teaching and research. UZH welcomes the opportunity to establish a partnership with a municipal institution— the Museum Rietberg. Through collaborative efforts in teaching, research, exhibitions, and public events, the university and the museum can generate synergies, addressing pressing social issues and enhancing the accessibility and impact of knowledge. Researchers benefit from new communication formats that promote dialogue between academia and the public. For students, the partnership provides a valuable learning environment that connects academic study with professional practice. Curators, in turn, engage with current scholarly perspectives, contributing to and drawing from ongoing research in ways that inform exhibition practice and public engagement. Through this integration of scholarly expertise and curatorial practice, collaborations between UZH and the Museum Rietberg are evolving into dynamic spaces of innovation. This partnership exemplifies an open, forward-looking understanding of academic knowledge and lived culture—anchored in the conviction that sustainable progress is born of dialogue.