About

ABOUT 

The Estate is a lab for contemporary art.

HISTORY

The Estate first appeared in 2019 in Latvia with the exhibition The Estate (link to CAD) at Riga’s contemporary art center Kim? and offsite in a remote former farmhouse near the seaside village Salacgrīva.

MISSION 

Since 2023, The Estate has been a Switzerland-registered non-profit association dedicated to contemporary art and hospitality. Its mission is to nurture, produce, exhibit, and distribute artworks, printed matter, and editions in collaboration with a diverse range of partners across various locations and formats.

CONTEMPORARY ART

In 2023, The Estate opened a lab for contemporary art in the Swiss Alpine village of Mesocco (San Bernardino). A former small barn functions as a space to exhibit one artwork at a time by either a renowned international or an emerging artist. The barn is open 24/7 and can be entered after scanning a QR code and filling out a check-in form to receive the access code.

FARM SHOP

Many farms in Switzerland run so-called farm shops, small self-service stores offering products made directly on-site. The Estate in Mesocco does not produce cheese or sausages, but still wanted to embrace this tradition. Instead, we set up a high-quality espresso machine that visitors are welcome to use at any time.

ONLINE SHOP 

For centuries, the pass (today a tunnel) through the San Bernardino has been one of the most important trading routes, delivering goods from southern to northern Europe. The farm shops and this trading route inspired us to open our own small online shop, selling goods from artists, designers, and publishers we are either close to or simply admire.

ARTISTS RETREATS

Part of The Estate in Mesocco is a simple rustico (the local term for traditional stone buildings with dry walls), available for artists, designers, and creatives from any field for retreats. These are unbureaucratic residencies, a simple email to retreat(AT)theestate(DOT)ch is enough, and no work proposal or finished artwork is required.

The Estate also operates a second retreat house in the forest near the small port city of Salacgrīva in Latvia, along the route from Riga to Tallinn. Like the rustico in Mesocco, it is available to creatives at very low cost. As mentioned above this house was first presented in the 2019 exhibition The Estate at Riga’s contemporary art center Kim?.

HOSPITALITY

Non-creatives or those with higher incomes can rent the two retreat house via designated hospitality platforms such as e-domizil, Airbnb, and booking.com (link to Airbnb). Rental income helps maintain The Estate’s activities, such as artists’ retreats.

Waterfall House, Mesocco, Switzerland. 4 bed room, livingroom, kitchen, toilet, bathroom, garden and nearby waterfall for swimming. Rustico above the village of Mesocco in the Swiss Alps, near the San Bernardino Pass. Available all year around. Up to 9 persons.

Retreat House “Induli”, Salacgrīva Pagalms, Latvia. Off-grid house with 2 bedrooms, living room, sauna, small barn and pond for swimming. Available between April and November. Car recommended. Up to 5 persons.

Two apartments in downtown Riga serve as a gateway to the Retreat House. Parkview Apartment 1st floor and Parkview Apartment 2nd floor.