Coolturalia - Explore Geneva's Vibrant Cultural Scene

Don’t miss out: Events running for less than two weeks

Tuesday 12 May, 12:30

Jean Liermier

Journalist Patrick Ferla leads a conversation with Jean Liermier, an experienced theatre director reflecting on his long tenure and creative approach. The discussion traces Liermier’s staging choices, visual and sound strategies, and the playful reinvention of season presentations. Attendees will gain insight into the director’s methods, memorable productions and the role of surprise and memory in theatrical curation. The session emphasises artistic process, theatrical language and the relationship between director and audience.

In French.

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26 May, 9 & 23 June

Fiona G. – Trauma & Chill

Performances

Caustic Comedy Club

Fiona G. brings a razor-sharp solo hour of dark, observational stand-up that mixes Swiss deadpan with Parisian stage instincts. Fluent in several languages and armed with a precise sarcasm, she navigates subjects from everyday rituals to taboo topics with a playful cruelty and agile improvisation. The piece is a work-in-progress that plays with ego, irony and timing, offering unpredictable moments that pivot between biting malice and sudden tenderness.

In French.

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12 – 24 May

La Tectonique des Sentiments

Performances

Théâtre des Grottes

Written by E.-E. Schmitt, La Tectonique des Sentiments probes how love can turn to hatred in an instant. The plot follows Diane and Richard as imagined betrayals unleash seismic emotional shifts, toppling certainties and stirring violent tenderness. The piece balances sharp comedy and quiet cruelty, dissecting contradictions of desire through intimate exchanges and sudden tremors of feeling. The staging favors psychological clarity and a charged, oscillating atmosphere that leaves the audience unsettled and moved.

In French.

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Tuesday 12 May, 18:00

Rousseau at Auction

Lectures & Workshops

Jardin botanique

Speakers include Flávio Borda D’Água (Conservateur, Bibliothèque de Genève), Estelle Fallet (Conservatrice, Musée d’art et d’histoire), Olivier Fichot (commissaire-priseur, Genève Enchères) and Patrick Bungener (Adjoint scientifique, Jardin Botanique de Genève). The session is moderated by journalist Huma Khamis Madden.

The roundtable examines the ethical and scientific challenges of auctioning cultural and scientific objects, using Rousseau’s herbarium as a case study. Participants investigate how high market prices restrict access to collections, explore best practices for preservation and scholarly access, and discuss ways to reconcile collectors’ interests with institutional and public research needs.

In French.

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Tuesday 12 May, 19:30

“Dans le vent des mondes”, Southern Lands and Gypsy Rhythms

Performances

Victoria Hall

The concert “Dans le vent des mondes” features Michel Tirabosco on the pan flute along with the Bella Terra Ensemble. With Sophie Tirabosco on guitar and vocals, Michèle Lubicz on the duduk, Nicolas Curti/Ted Beaubrun on percussion, David Perrenoud on bass guitar, Stéphane Mayer on piano, and Giacomo Grandi on cello, this performance offers a musical journey bridging the southern landscapes and vibrant gypsy rhythms.

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12 – 13 May

Marion Mezadorian – Craquage

Performances

Salle Communale d'Onex

Craquage, the second solo show by French comedian and writer Marion Mezadorian, presents a vibrant gallery of everyday characters — sixteen in total — each facing a silent personal crisis. From a weary mother to a local bartender or hairdresser, they all eventually break down and open up, sparking both laughter and emotion.

Through their loud, heartfelt confessions, Mezadorian gives voice to the unspoken, turning trauma into comedy with warmth and perspective. Her infectious energy and charisma bring these very human moments to life, making Craquage a moving, funny, and unmissable gem.

In French.

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Events running for an extended period

6 May – 4 June

Leila Alaoui – Photography

Art & Exhibits

Centre des Arts

Leila Alaoui’s photography presents a humane, boundary-crossing vision that interrogates identity, migration and the lives of migrant workers. This exhibition brings together iconic series, rarely seen photographs and coherent photographic ensembles to reveal the dignity of her subjects and the visual language that frames their stories. Through portraiture and documentary practice, Alaoui explores gender, displacement and cultural interconnection with formal rigor and emotional clarity, forging intimate encounters that bridge histories and territories.

Opening: Wednesday 6 May, 18:30

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6 – 25 May

Secrets and Mountains

Art & Exhibits

Fabienne Levy Gallery

Carlo D’Anselmi presents paintings that emerge from imagination, assembling figures, animals and landscapes into dreamlike compositions defined by colour, textured surfaces and a quietly emotive atmosphere. The exhibition considers painting as a silent language that unfolds through attention, light and time, while mountains assert themselves through scale and presence. Developed during the artist’s first stay in Switzerland overlooking the French Alps, the works respond to shifting rhythms and seasonal transformations in the landscape.

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16 March – 17 October

Geneva cafés: life itself

Art & Exhibits

Bibliothèque de Genève

Dany Gignoux (photographer) and poet Georges Haldas present a compelling dialogue between documentary photography and lyrical prose. The exhibition brings together photographs and written fragments that register everyday life in Geneva’s cafés, combining on-the-spot reportage with memory-infused “prose inspirée.” Through intimate black-and-white images and spare, evocative texts the works transfigure mundane scenes into poetic testimony, revealing social undercurrents and human tenderness. Archival materials frame this historic encounter between two generations of cultural chroniclers.

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7 – 28 mai

Gérard de Palézieux

Art & Exhibits

Illibrairie

Gérard de Palézieux’s illustrated books are presented in a curated selection of some fifty volumes showcasing original prints—etchings and lithographs—that reveal the artist’s draughtsmanship and graphic sensibility. The presentation focuses on the dialogue between image and text, highlighting sequence, typography and the hand of the illustrator. Many volumes come from the library of a prominent European bibliophile; a new catalogue accompanies the selection, documenting plates, editions and printing techniques.

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29 April – 28 June

Childish Things and Oddities: Vertigo of a Collection

Art & Exhibits

L'Arcade

Presented from the private collection of Giuseppe Garrera and curated by Andrea Bellini and Giuseppe Garrera, this exhibition assembles an array of diminutive found objects — trinkets, charms, gadgets, toys, lucky charms and fragments of wood, cloth and glass — rescued from mundane life by artists’ gestures. Hovering between toy, everyday artefact and artwork, the presentation explores the thaumaturgic qualities of objects and childhood as a site of refuge and wonder.

Opening: Tuesday 28 April, 16:00 – 21:00

Guided tours (in English)
Sunday 17 May, 16:00
Thursday 21 May, 18:30 – 19:30 (FR or EN)
Sunday 7 June, 16:00

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29 January – 25 October

Observatories — Carte Blanche to John M Armleder

Art & Exhibits

MAH

John M Armleder is invited for the museum’s sixth Carte Blanche, presenting over 500 works in a thematic traversal that juxtaposes heritage and contemporary creation. The installation-driven exhibition stages dialogues between animals, abstract painting, musical instruments and lighting, using assemblage, ephemeral structures and situational interventions to encourage wandering and reinterpretation. Paintings, sculptures and installations are layered and superimposed to prompt new readings of the collection and to foreground process, chance and visual play.

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Geneva Classics

Visiting for the first time? A quick guide to the city’s top attractions.

MEG (Musée d’ethnographie de Genève)

The MEG is a renowned museum dedicated to the exploration and presentation of cultural diversity from around the world. Located in the heart of Geneva, it houses an extensive collection of over 80,000 objects, including artifacts, textiles, and artworks that highlight the rich traditions and histories of various communities. The museum emphasizes interactive and immersive exhibitions, engaging visitors with contemporary issues related to culture and identity.

Cool fact: The e-MEG app serves as a digital twin of the permanent exhibition, providing an audio guide and detailed descriptions along with photographs of all displayed objects.

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MAMCO (Museum of Contemporary Art)

– CLOSED FOR RENOVATION –

Since its opening in 1994, the MAMCO Geneva (Musée d’art moderne et contemporain) has staged 450 exhibitions with works dating from the 1960s to the present day. Mamco’s holdings include works by Christo, Martin Kippenberger, Jenny Holzer, Dan Flavin, Sarkis, Franz Erhard Walther and Sylvie Fleury, among many others.

Cool fact: The MAMCO is the epicenter of the “Nuit des Bains”, held three times a year. During this event, the district around the museum is transformed into a large gallery and attracts thousands of art lovers and sightseers each night.

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Ariana Museum

With a collection of 27,000 items from Switzerland, Europe and the Middle and Far East, and a witness to twelve centuries of ceramic art from the Middle Ages to modern times, the Ariana is one of Europe’s great museums specializing in glass and ceramics.

Cool fact: On the first Sunday of each month, the Ariana Museum opens its temporary exhibitions to the public.

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Jean Liermier

Fiona G. – Trauma & Chill

La Tectonique des Sentiments

Rousseau at Auction

“Dans le vent des mondes”, Southern Lands and Gypsy Rhythms

Marion Mezadorian – Craquage

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Leila Alaoui – Photography

Secrets and Mountains

Geneva cafés: life itself

Gérard de Palézieux

Childish Things and Oddities: Vertigo of a Collection

Observatories — Carte Blanche to John M Armleder

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are no events matching your selection!

MEG (Musée d’ethnographie de Genève)

MAMCO (Museum of Contemporary Art)

– CLOSED FOR RENOVATION –

Ariana Museum

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– CLOSED FOR RENOVATION –

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