Located in the heart of the Old Town, in the birthplace of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the MRL is a six-story cultural hub centered on literature. The venue features a permanent exhibition on Rousseau and engages with contemporary issues related to his works. It hosts debates, performances, and educational activities, while also offering residencies for writers and researchers. Additionally, visitors can enjoy a café within the space.
Jacques Berchtold presents a study of Rousseau’s self-identification with exile, in dialogue with Chake Matossian (Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, Brussels). He situates Rousseau’s gestures within artistic and textual traditions.
The lecture examines Rousseau’s abrupt adoption of Armenian dress and its representation by painters, linking classical (Ovid at Tomis) and Christian (John Chrysostom) models. Berchtold investigates the Enlightenment re-reading of Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat and argues this purification of origin frames Rousseau as a new Noah confronting modern degeneration.
In French.
Michele Poretti, sociologist and economist at the Haute école pédagogique du canton de Vaud, works on policies for children and youth with a focus on inclusion and citizenship. Martin Rueff, poet, translator and philosopher at the University of Geneva, is a Rousseau specialist.
Drawing on Rousseau and social sciences, the discussion examines how schools both welcome difference and reproduce socioeconomic and cultural inequalities. Speakers investigate tensions between inclusion ideals and performance-based assessment, explore consequences for disadvantaged pupils, and outline conceptual avenues to rethink educational aims and citizenship in schooling.
In English.
Mélanie Plouviez, philosopher and professor at Université Côte d’Azur, coordinates the PHILHERIT project and is author of L’injustice en héritage (2025). Gabrielle Radica, professor at Université de Lille, specializes in Rousseau.
This lecture examines Rousseau’s account of the family as both source and amplifier of social inequalities and of patrimony as a mechanism that reproduces disadvantage. The speakers explore whether family structures and inheritance can also serve as levers for reducing inequality, mobilizing classical and contemporary texts to illuminate the debate.
In English.
Set off on mythic adventures with Odyssey heroes and wild goddesses. Through animated storytelling and live double bass accompaniment, children follow Ulysses and Artemis across tales of love, courage and daring quests. Projected illustrations spark imagination while voice and music bring characters to life. The show invites playful listening, vivid visual moments and gentle surprises that stimulate curiosity and storytelling skills.
In French. Kids ages 4 and up.
Conceived and performed by Alexandre Pateau, La Panne transforms Dürrenmatt’s black comedy into a gastrotheatrical solo that turns a dinner table into a tribunal. Pateau inhabits every role, blending sharp comic timing with moral unease as three former lawyers re‑try history’s great cases over a feast. Sound designer Clément Rousseaux and props designer Nicola Sartorio shape a tactile, immersive stage world. The piece oscillates between farce and cruelty, probing justice, guilt and complicity in intimate, sensory detail.
In French.
An audiovisual parcours immerses visitors in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s life and work, arguing that his writings continue to provoke contemporary debate. Through seven thematic niches, the presentation examines Rousseau’s paradoxes — from individual freedom to social critique — and invites reflection on how his ideas anticipate modern challenges. The session explores tensions in his thought and encourages critical questioning of present assumptions, revealing why Rousseau remains relevant for current political and cultural discussions.
In English at 11:30 am
In French at 2 pm
Culture, curated weekly.
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