Johannes Gachnang was a Swiss artist, curator and writer who directed the Kunsthalle Bern from 1974 to 1982, Gachnang served on the artistic advisory board of documenta 7 in Kassel. Gachnang founded and directed of the Institute for Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (Institut für Gegenwartskunst an der Akademie der Bildenden Künste) from From 1983 to 1985. In 1983, Gachnang established the well reputed—among contemporary art circles—publishing house Gachnang & Springer, Bern and Berlin, together with the Berlin art dealer Rudolf Springer.,