Ammann studied art history, Christian archaeology, and German literature at the Universität Fribourg before joining the Kunsthalle Bern, under Harald Szeemann, in 1967. Ammann was the director of the Kunstmuseum Luzern 1968-1977. He curated “Transformer: Aspects of Travesty” in 1974, which dealt with transvestism in contemporary art and performance, which is considered groundbreaking. In Luzern he focused on the generation of artists that included Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter. During the 1970s, he was a Swiss representative for the Paris Biennale and also worked on documenta 5.

-ULAN