Posted on March 26, 2025
Sand is everywhere. Used in concrete, glass, electronics and ceramics, it shapes landscapes and habitats. However, its extraction is often unregulated and has serious consequences for ecosystems worldwide. The exhibition ‘Before and After Sand’ at the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur explores this complex resource.
How is sand formed? What is its value? Are there different kinds of sand? The exhibition Before and After Sand, on view at the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur from 4 April to 24 August, explores these and many other questions.
The exhibition was curated by the Material Archive of the Sitterwerk St. Gallen in collaboration with the London-based architecture collective Material Cultures. The Gewerbemuseum Winterthur is expanding the exhibition with additional projects, stations and exhibits. Alongside analytical investigations, the exhibition also presents artistic and design perspectives. Monica Ursina Jäger’s work Liquid Territories highlights processes of sedimentation and erosion and places them in a geopolitical context. The design duo Studio Eidola explore the material cycles of minerals, showing the potential of previously unused by-products of sand and gravel extraction. In this way, sand is experienced not only as an industrial raw material, but also as a creative medium.
An interactive area invites visitors to compare sand samples from different regions of the world. Under a magnifying glass, fascinating structures are revealed: wood fragments, shell particles in natural sand versus purified building material. Processed granules demonstrate their versatility as raw materials for glass, abrasives or high-tech products.
A Resource at Its Limit
After water, sand is the world’s most used natural resource. More than fifty billion tonnes of sand and gravel are used every year in the construction industry alone. Yet the United Nations Environment Programme has been warning of a sand crisis for years. ‘Before and After Sand’ examines these issues and presents case studies that illustrate the complex relationship between people, materials and the environment. A portrait of the active Typpenhanger quarry, by Material Cultures, documents a geological and economic journey through time from 15,000 BC to the present day, focusing on the transformation of quarry sites into nature reserves.
