Goings-On Summer'24. Part II

12 outstanding events around Switzerland

Switzerland is not an obvious summer destination. Which is a shame! I find the mountains to be just as powerful and beautiful in the summer, as they are in winter. Since my first visit there, which was around twelve years ago, I have been dreaming of taking the Bernina Express. It goes from Davos to Tirano in Italy, but the scenery is fascinating all the way..

This dispatch continues to explore summer entertainment in different parts of Europe. Listed up to August, it covers 2 music festivals, 3 fairs, 5 exhibitions, 1 ballet and 1 opera, spread between 5 different cities of the most neutral country (possessing the strongest army) in the world.

12-16 June / Ballet / Forces by Aszure Barton and Sharon Eyal / Grand Theatre Geneva

Strong by Sharon Eyal

I’m glad that no matter what happens, you can always depend on Sharon Eyal to fix it. This time her performance Strong is being shown together with Aszure Barton’s Busk. They both look very dark and mysterious. 

13-16 June / Fair / Art Basel, Design Miami and Liste

Art Basel in Basel is the most expensive shop in the world. Every single piece presented there should belong to a museum collection, but is most likely going to end up in the living room of yet another magnate. Design Miami is the same type of institution, but based around design work. Liste, on the other hand, is dedicated entirely to emerging galleries, so although it is still steeped in the money of Switzerland’s biggest pockets, it is something I would be more interested in exploring.

Until 11 August / Exhibition / CLOUD CHRONICLES / Fondation Beyeler

This place is in my top three museums. This summer they are collaborating with LUMA Foundation in order to make a site specific experiment with contributions by Federico Campagna, Marlene Dumas, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Wade Guyton, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Philippe Parreno, Tino Sehgal, Rirkrit Tiravanija and many others. 

Until 15 June / Opera / Mozart’s Requiem by Romeo Catellucci / Theater Basel

I’ve mentioned Castellucci’s Requiem a couple of times (here as well). Even if you’re not particularly paying attention to the outstanding musical part of the performance, every scene is a piece of art of its own.. 

Until 18 August / Exhibition / Dan Flavin: Dedications in Lights / Kunstmuseum Basel

In the second half of the 20th century, Dan Flavin was one of the biggest artists working with light. It was only James Turrell who could compete with him for ‘the king of light’ title. I loved the curator’s decision to frame his works through references their titles made to concrete events, such as wartime atrocities or police violence, or as dedications to other artists. I rarely see major Flavin shows around Europe - this might even be the first one that I can remember. 

5-20 July / Music / 58th Montreux Jazz Festival / Montreux

I believe this landmark festival doesn’t need an introduction. As the official web-site says, this year’s line-up will be legendary. And who could doubt that? Asaf Avidan, PJ Harvey, Paloma Faith, Róisín Murphy, Massive Attack, Lenny Kravitz, Sting, Janelle Monáe - and it's only a third of the artists involved. Have a look (and a listen?) to the playlist below:

18 July - 4 August / Classic Music / Verbier Festival / Verbier

I’m not an expert on classical music, but I know such names as Evgeny Kissin, Yamen Saadi, Yunchan Lim, Mikhail Pletnev, Lahav Shani and Daniel Lozakovich. If you know a bit more, the programme will impress you even more. 

Until 4 August / Exhibition / Objects of Desire. Surrealism & Design / MUDAC Lausanne

A beautiful show from the Vitra Design Museum, exploring surrealism in furniture, fashion, tableware and other objects that we enjoy the presence of despite their weirdness.

Until 11 August / Exhibition / Alchemy. Surrealism & Glass Art / MUDAC Lausanne

The Alchemy exhibition will take visitors back to the origins of mudac’s contemporary glass art collection, now the largest in Europe. Glass works by Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, and Max Ernst trace the links between the history of the collection and the surrealist movement. Alchemy will also bring together contemporary works—some displayed for the first time—that attest to the legacy of the movement among artists.

Until 4 August / Exhibition / Cindy Sherman / Photo Elysse Lausanne

To create the fractured characters, Sherman has photographed isolated parts of her body–her eyes, nose, lips, skin, hair, ears–which she cuts, pastes and stretches onto a foundational image, ultimately constructing, deconstructing and then reconstructing a new face.

Until 4 August / Exhibition / Man Ray. Liberating Photography / Photo Elysse Lausanne

All museums in Lausanne are taken over by Surrealism, and obviously once you get to this point, there is no chance you won’t mention Man Ray. He is a major figure in photography development in the XX century, but also a great master of surrealism. 

Suddenly, an unplanned business trip to Berlin came up. I have to fly there at the end of the week, so to my own surprise I’ve opened my own newsletter to check if I could catch anything I mentioned. I’m definitely going to see Sex: Jewish Positions and maybe I’ll fortify this visit rereading of A Curious History of Sex by Kate Lister. 

Meanwhile, I went through several great episodes of The Grand Tourist podcast, watched The Challengers and started to read New Animal by Ella Baxter. I’m happy that reading became a safe space for me again. I don’t need anything more than a good story in my headphones. 

Have a nice week!

Yours,

Miri