Project
The glaciers are melting. Switzerland’s physical and cultural landscape is disappearing. Throughout the summer of 2024, a new exhibition draws on the eye-opening power of art to address the concerns raised by this change. With the participation of museums and other cultural spaces, the event unfolds indoors and outdoors across Switzerland, from Geneva to Graubünden, and from Valais to Zurich. As the horizon recedes, the artists unveil their works – in some cases within the glaciers themselves.
Genesis
The Rhône Glacier provided the initial inspiration for the exhibition and serves as its starting point. It features prominently in a project by Geneva-based artist Carmen Perrin, from which the exhibition takes its name.
In June 2019, Perrin took up a three-month artist-in-residence position at Furkablick, on the Furka Pass. She observed that parts of the Rhône Glacier near the ice cave – a popular attraction – had been covered in sheets in a vain and misguided attempt to slow the melting and protect the highly profitable tourist trade. She recorded her thoughts and went on to produce Là où ça se plie, the first in a series of publications on the topic under the generic title Regarder le glaciers’en aller.
Watching the Glacier Disappear is a nationwide exhibition curated by art historian Bernard Fibicher. Museums and other cultural spaces around the country join forces to show historical and modern pieces from their collections. These are updated or prepared for display with outside support. Newly commissioned pieces from artists go on show, while several sites host one-off events spanning music, dance, literature and performance art, with most of them featuring newly created works.
Watching the Glacier Disappear seeks not to cause alarm or despair, but simply to draw on the power of art to open our eyes to the truth and imagine possible futures.
Team
Carmen Perrin, Artist
Bernard Fibicher, Curator
Lorette Coen, Writer
Ruth Gilgen Hamisultane, Partnerships and communications
Léa Hunziker, Communications
Françoise Jaunin, Editorial (artistic projects)
Anne-Outram Mott, Coordination
Association
The association Aux arts les glaciers! was founded to better understand and highlight the perception of artists in relation to a changing world through exhibitions, performances and various events. The focus is on how they experience and narrate change and on how they bring their views into line with the environmental upheavals affecting human societies today
Christiane von Roten, President
Monique Keller
Anne-Catherine Lyon
Cyril Veillon
Support committee
They have had confidence in the project from the outset:
Katharina Ammann, Director, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
Philippe Descola, Anthropologist; former holder of the Chair of Anthropology of Nature at the Collège de France
Ruth Dreifuss, Former Swiss Federal Councillor
Jacques Dubochet, Biophysicist; winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Olivier Français, Engineer; former Swiss State Councillor
Yvette Jaggi, Former Swiss State Councillor; former mayor of Lausanne; former president of Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council
Christiane Leister, Entrepreneur; philanthropist active in culture, the arts, science and polar expeditions
Frances Morris, former Director, Tate Modern, London
Luc Recordon, Lawyer; former Swiss State Councillor
Sonia Seneviratne, Climatologist; professor, Department of Environmental Systems Sciences, ETH Zurich
Uli Sigg, Entrepreneur; diplomat; art collector
Nancy Ypsilantis, Radio broadcaster, journalist and producer