Kunsthaus Zürich Reports 539,953 Visitors in 2025, Bolstered by Abramović Retrospective
The Facts
Kunsthaus Zürich announced it recorded 539,953 visitors in 2025, one of the highest attendance figures in the museum's history. The Marina Abramović retrospective drew a total of 118,903 visitors (59,490 within 2025), while the permanent collection accounted for 363,588 visits. Publicly accessible works by Jeffrey Gibson (a mural in the Haefner foyer, installed June 2025) and Monster Chetwynd (the slide sculpture "Zardoz" in the garden, used over 30,000 times since autumn 2025) provided free art experiences. The museum also reported growth in international visitors, particularly from the US, the Middle East, and Asia, and a rise in Zurich Card redemptions from 4,881 in 2024 to 15,915 in 2025. Education programs reached 10,463 children and youth across 516 events.
The Signal
The strong attendance figures signal the Kunsthaus's sustained appeal both locally—75% of visitors come from the canton of Zurich—and increasingly internationally. The free, playfully accessible commissions by Gibson and Chetwynd reflect a strategic push to lower barriers to contemporary art, engaging families and casual passersby. A large visitor survey (2,477 members, 1,008 representative respondents, and 443 on-site visitors) found 92% satisfaction, with Alberto Giacometti cited as the most frequent identification figure. For collectors and curators, the museum's ability to balance blockbuster retrospectives with ongoing collection growth—including a new private donation set for mid-January 2026—underscores its model of steady institutional investment and community grounding.
- Artists: Marina Abramović, Jeffrey Gibson, Monster Chetwynd, Alberto Giacometti
- Museums: Kunsthaus Zürich
- Locations: Zürich
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