Die message salon Ferienkolonie (The message salon holiday camp), Art&Appenzell, 1998
In the summer of 1998, Esther Eppstein was invited by curator Bice Curiger to present the message salon at the “Wahlverwandtschaften” exhibition in Appenzell. Esther Eppstein acquires a second-hand Tabbert caravan (Senator, 1973), which is to be the new home of message salon. Esther Eppstein places the message salon caravan in the small town of Appenzell and furnishes it with photos, a VHS video club, a record player, documentaries, ashtrays, fairy lights, woollen blankets and an open-air kitchen under the awning. The artists invited by Esther Eppstein stay in the caravan for a week at a time at the message salon Ferienkolonie. After the exhibition ends, the message salon caravan travels to Zurich.
message salon Campsite with snack bar, Pfingstweidstrasse 10, Zurich, 1998 to 2000
The message salon caravan is stationed in the industrial district, in the no man’s land on Pfingstweidstrasse between Vulkaro Occasion refrigerators and vegetable wholesalers, where meetings and small art interventions take place.
message salon caravan & special snack bar, Fri-Art, Fribourg, 2000
The caravan travels through Switzerland on a lorry to Fribourg. Esther Eppstein has been invited by Fri-Art director Michel Ritter to present the message salon caravan in front of the art institution for the exhibition “Etat des lieux”. During the exhibition, individual art interventions take place in the caravan.
“message salon caravan, 1998–2000”, Collection Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zurich 2001
The message salon caravan is staged by Esther Eppstein as an interactive, walk-in work of art and as a time capsule about the early years of message salon and its environment, and is filled with photos, photo albums, a VHS video club, a record player, souvenirs, documentaries and works of art. The message salon caravan was purchased for the collection in 2001 by Rein Wolfs, director of the Migros Museum, and has been exhibited at the Migros Museum in 2001, 2014 and 2023.