Switzerland's colonial heritage

Editor Fabio Gassmann

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The "colonial" exhibition at the National Museum makes the complex links between Switzerland and the colonial era tangible in an exciting and moving way.

The grey Sunday not only attracted numerous visitors to the Christmas Sunday sales on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, but also to the exhibition on Switzerland's colonial history at the National Museum. I am personally very pleased and impressed that so many people are interested in this topic. It is also pleasing to see the mixed audience that the exhibition "Colonial - Switzerland's Global Interdependencies" attracts. Dealing with Switzerland's colonial history is not an easy task, but it is an interesting, impressive and instructive Sunday afternoon activity. Federal Councillor Baume-Schneider said at the vernissage in September: "For a long, long time, people in this country clung to the motto that Switzerland - as a country without colonies - had nothing to do with the colonial era."

What exactly is the exhibition about?

The exhibition "Colonial - Switzerland's Global Entanglements" is the first comprehensive presentation of Switzerland's colonial history. Based on new research findings, it uses biographies, artefacts, works of art and documents to shed light on Switzerland's global involvement since the 16th century. The first part of the exhibition focuses on eleven fields of activity, including the slave trade, missionary activities and mercenary trade. The second part is dedicated to the consequences of colonialism today, such as global inequality and environmental problems, and stimulates debates on how to deal with colonial heritage. The exhibition is rounded off with multimedia discussion contributions and interactive self-reflection.

How did I find it now?

The exhibition is very attractively designed. With the various thematic areas, the problematic aspects are presented in an easily understandable and comprehensible way. They are not all new facts and aspects, but seeing them compiled in a comprehensive exhibition has an impressive effect. I am therefore very pleased that this exhibition exists and that it attracts so many visitors.

Four tips

Dealing with colonialism takes strength and energy, and some of the images and facts that have to be processed are difficult to bear. I therefore recommend a visit if you have the resources to do so and take the time to engage with the content. I can highly recommend the audioguide, which you can use conveniently via the app of the Landesmuseum with your own smartphone and headphones. The audio guide perfectly complements the otherwise very visual exhibition. It's also worth choosing a time to visit when fewer visitors are expected. (Note to self: Sundays are not one of them.) It is very worthwhile to watch the multimedia discussion contribution at the end, which you should take into account when organising your time and ability to concentrate.

Conclusion

As the museum releases me into the twilight and I meander through the crowds in and around the station, I am still thinking about some of the theses of the multimedia discussion installation. And they will certainly keep me busy for the next few days. The question of whether Switzerland has a colonial past, on the other hand, is fully answered in the exhibition. Federal Councillor Baume-Schneider concluded her speech at the vernissage appropriately: "Swiss history does not need to be rewritten - but it does need to be supplemented by an important dimension. That of our country's colonial heritage."

More?

I recommend the website ZH Kolonial, which offers a city tour through Zurich's colonial past, if you want to find out more about colonialism. There is also an exciting guided tour with an insight into the colonial history of the natural sciences with the exhibition curator of the natural history collections at ETH Zurich: