Christoph Doswald (born 1961) is a Swiss publicist, curator und university lecturer.
Doswald spent his childhood and youth in Wettingen and his birthplace, Baden. From 1981 to 1989, he studied history, art history and political science at the University of Zurich, interrupted by relatively long stays in Spain and Latin America.
In the mid-1980s, he began to work as a publicist, writing about themes and exhibitions of contemporary art, e.g. for Kunstforum International,[1] [2] [3] [4] Parkett, neue bildende kunst, Artis, Eikon, SonntagsZeitung, Neue Zürcher Zeitung,[5] Weltwoche und Tages-Anzeiger. Under the pseudonym Dr. Kuno, Doswald wrote a weekly lifestyle column from 1991 to 2000, first for SonntagsZeitung, then in Schweizer Illustrierte.
In 1998, together with Monica Glisenti, he conceived the cross-culture magazine "cashual" for the publisher Ringier. This monthly magazine combined artistic and journalistic strategies, e.g. hiring Nan Goldin as a photojournalist and Pipilotti Rist as a model, but was already discontinued after just six issues. From 2002 to 2008, Doswald headed the Society section of the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung.[6]
Together with Paolo Bianchi in 1985/86, Doswald managed a space for ephemeral art projects in their shared flat in Baden – an artist-run space "avant la lettre". In this informal setting, they exhibited the works of befriended artists and organised performances. From 1988 to 1992, Doswald was a member of the board (and chairman on an interim basis) at Zurich's Shedhalle, where curator Harm Lux ran an ambitious exhibition programme, e.g. with projects by Jordi Colomer, Francesca Woodman, Christian Marclay, Sylvie Fleury, Christopher Williams, Pipilotti Rist, Thomas Hirschhorn and Daniele Buetti.
In parallel, from the mid-1980s onwards, Doswald curated exhibitions, e.g. at Kunsthaus Graz, Villa Arson in Nice, Kunstmuseum Bern, Centre Pasquart Biel and the Academy of Arts in Berlin. From 2001 to 2007, he was a member of the "Comité technique", the purchasing committee at Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain (FRAC PACA) in Marseille,[7] where he realised various exhibitions, e.g. with Ugo Rondinone and Maria Marshall.[8]
Doswald has been the chairman of the City of Zurich's Work Group for Art in Public Spaces (AG KiöR) 2009 until late 2020.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]