Founded in 1974 as Geneva’s “Kunsthalle,” the Centre is the first contemporary-art institution in French-speaking Switzerland. A “Kunsthalle” is a space for production, research and experiment. Its purpose is to develop exhibitions and to actively put the public in contact with these exhibitions, with a view to opening up a space for dialogue around contemporary culture, as well as to publish art catalogues and books. Unlike a museum, the Centre has no collection. The Centre’s program involves all the fields of contemporary practice: architecture, dance, design, drawing, new media, installation, music, painting, performance, photography, sculpture, and video. More than 300 pioneering exhibitions have been presented at the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, with artists including Joseph Beuys, Olaf Breuning, Maurizio Cattelan, Nan Goldin, Dan Graham, On Kawara, William Kentridge, Pipilotti Rist, Ugo Rondinone, Thomas Scheibitz, Shirana Shahbazi, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner, Ingrid Wildi, Christopher Wool, Joan Jonas, and many more.

Located since 1989 at Rue des Bains, within the Contemporary Art Building, which it shares with the MAMCO, the FMAC and the Centre de la Photographie Genève, the Centre has a two-story 1,000 square meter exhibition space, a cinema, an artist’s residency, a Project Space and a library.