John miller 2 1200x — John Miller, *Untitled (12-18-24) 004*, 2025. Courtesy of the artist.

Schwarzescafé
Luma Westbau
Löwenbräukunst, Limmatstrasse 270
8005 Zürich, Switzerland

Regift: On Gifting, Mutual Obligation and Economies of Circulation is a conversation with artist John Miller, artist Nina Beier, Stefanie Hessler (Director, Swiss Institute), and Alison Coplan (Chief Curator, Swiss Institute), taking place in dialogue with the exhibition Regift at Luma Westbau.

Marking the 40th anniversary of Swiss Institute, the talk reflects on the exhibition’s ongoing inquiry into systems of gift exchange, mutual obligation, and economies of circulation. Expanding on the original 2009 exhibition concept, the conversation considers how practices of giving and receiving shape artistic production, institutional histories, and broader cultural frameworks of value, reciprocity, and exchange.

The conversation will be followed by a performance by artist Raúl de Nieves. Performing under the alias of La Mosca, Raúl de Nieves embodies a shifting figure that moves between innocence, decay, transformation, and transcendence. The performance follows the evolution of a character emerging from the consciousness of a child and descending into the fragmented perception of a fly, inhabiting a space where vulnerability and grotesque beauty coexist. Drawing on cycles of life, death, rebirth, and spiritual metamorphosis, the work uses voice as both ritual and possession: a channel through which emotion, memory, fear, and desire are released.

Please RSVP to rsvp@swissinstitute.net.