SAKS invites the curator Denis Pernet to pursue his research on opera and contemporary art presenting "La Loge" : a group exhibition featuring works by Cory Arcangel, Pablo Bronstein, Elise Gagnebin-de Bons, David Gagnebin-de Bons, Julian Göthe, Oliver Laric and Mai-Thu Perret.

“La Loge” takes its title from the polysemous French word “loge” meaning both the dressing room in a theatre and the box in the amphitheater of an opera house. It also means a lodge from a Masonic order.

Obviously, the opera playing during “La Loge” is “The Magic Flute” (1791), Singspiel composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The Freemasonic references and the initiation journey of prince Tamino are a guideline and a metaphor for the metaphysical experience of an opera performance, and, by extension, of art in general. The version of “The Magic Flute” chosen connects in different ways to the exhibition “La Loge”. It is a stage direction by British actor and film director Peter Ustinov who lived near Geneva almost all his life. A version for the television was recorded at the Hamburg Opera house in 1971, conducted by Horst Stein, a leading figure of the German music, former director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Incidentally, he is also the father of one of the two directors and founders of SAKS. The direct relation between the personal, the magical and the music is the foundation of an experiment that confronts contemporary art works with the question of the fascination of the unknown.

The show is organized in parallel with “Maison Opéra. An exhibition about opera, nightclub and contemporary art” at Le Commun, BAC – Bâtiment d’art contemporain (08.03–08.04.2012) also curated by Denis Pernet