Reading girls have been and remain a sign that a society invests in the education of women and thus seeks to improve their economic and social status. Albert Anker (1831–1910) was not only concerned with the education of children as a politician; as a painter he also often represented girls and young women reading and writing.

Originating at Zeitz MOCAA, the Kunstmuseum Bern is mounting the large scale retrospective of South African artist Tracey Rose (b. 1974). The artist has been a radical voice in the international art world since the mid-1990s. Her works engage with post-colonialism, gender, sexuality, racism and apartheid.

The Kunstmuseum Bern owns an important collection of art from the late Middle Ages to the present. The current presentation of the collection shows a selection of around 190 outstanding works of Swiss an international art from the late 18th to the 21st century.