Daimler at the St. Moritz Art Masters 2009 Festival

STUTTGART/ST. MORITZ – July 31, 2009: As a committed patron of the arts and culture, Daimler AG is once again supporting the "St. Moritz Art Masters" (SAM) with its Mercedes-Benz, smart, Maybach, AMG brands this year, as well as with the Daimler Art Collection. Now in its second year, this festival of the contemporary arts is being held in the famous holiday resort and the surrounding Engadine region from 21 to 30 August 2009. The Stuttgart-based automotive group will be contributing to the proceedings with various exhibitions and events. On the opening weekend, Daimler will be host at the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains, where the 2009 "open your mind" award will be presented to a promising young artist. The Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains will also be the venue for the video installation "Paris commissioned" by Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury, which forms part of the Daimler Art Collection. The installation comprises six films which blend the legendary allure of historical Mercedes-Benz cars with contemporary ideas from the world of art and fashion.

In a display window in the centre of St. Moritz, the smart brand will be providing a foretaste of its art project "2010", which is being evolved in cooperation with the American publication Visionaire. For this project, 52 renowned curators and art collectors from all over the world are to choose a total of 365 works by internationally known artists. The resulting compendium of modern art will accompany the launch of the second-generation smart fortwo electric drive in the form of an electric calendar. On 25 August the innovative car brand will be staging "smart kids' day", offering children an opportunity to paint on smart body panels. A selected set of these "works of art" will then be fitted to a smart fortwo.

The Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and AMG car brands will be providing a shuttle service and presenting current models at various locations. Exhibits by Mercedes-Benz will include the new E‑Class Coupé, which will be on show in front of the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains. Also in front of the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains, Maybach aficionados can look forward to two saloons designed by Tim Berresheim. The German artist creates his pictures on a computer, combining photographs and computer-generated images to fashion bizarre scenes. His designs for the two Maybach saloons were created using the ornamental Gilouche design application which, like the Maybach brand, stands for distinctiveness, quality and uniqueness. In the Badrutt’s Palace the luxury brand presents an exhibition of the individualisation book “Maybach Inspirations”. Therein Maybach illustrates eight worlds of colours with artistic collages around the topics creation, light, time, energy, power, alchemy, temptation and sensuality to inspire customers for the individual design of their Maybach.

AMG is presenting the "Red Couch" project by the German artist Horst Wackerbarth. Last year the artist already put on a display with his red couch and the Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG. Together with further impressions from the art project, this self-portrait will be exhibited at the Postparkplatz car park. In addition the high-performance brand will be presenting the E 63 AMG Masters of Business Acceleration, with an opportunity for visitors to the St. Moritz Art Masters to enjoy an intensive product experience on individual test drives in various AMG models through the Engadine mountain scenery.