Nestled in the heart of Geneva’s Old Town, the Museum of Art and History ranks among Switzerland’s largest museums. Boasting a collection of around 650,000 objects spanning applied arts, fine arts, and archaeology across five floors, the museum embraces a dynamic and innovative approach to showcase its treasures through unexpected exhibitions. Annually, it hosts approximately ten temporary exhibitions, frequently inviting contemporary artists to contribute. The museum organizes a variety of surprising events, including yoga classes in the galleries and after-work parties.
Facilitated by Fabienne Regad, a bereavement support companion who accompanies bereaved people, together with a cultural mediator. Regad draws on practical experience in group listening and peer support.
This conversation explores personal experiences of loss, examining emotions, needs and coping practices in a respectful, secular and non-therapeutic setting. Participants are invited to share and listen, investigating communal modes of support, empathy and meaning-making around bereavement.
In French.
Jean-Étienne Liotard’s portraits of the imperial family, notably Marie‑Antoinette, include eleven drawings widely regarded as masterpieces. This project examines the identification of the sitter children and the works’ provenance through a cross-disciplinary investigation. In collaboration with the University of Oxford, the Idiap research institute and the School of Criminal Sciences at the University of Lausanne, historians of art and specialists in the eighteenth century join AI researchers and forensic experts to reveal new insights into authorship and history.
Serval, a Geneva graffiti artist, and Kalonji, an illustrator, are local practitioners of street and graphic art with complementary approaches to mark-making and visual storytelling.
The session investigates creative exchange and collective making in front of works, examining processes, techniques, and collaborative dialogue. It explores observation-led practice and shared experimentation, encouraging participants to reflect on artistic methods, material choices, and the relationship between image, surface, and audience.
In French.
American artist Rachel Marks presents an original work conceived during a research residency responding to the museum’s collection, notably the Pozzi fonds. The project is research-led and site-specific, articulating a dialogue between archival objects and contemporary practice. Using material inquiry and layered processes, Marks investigates provenance, display conventions and the traces of personal histories embedded in collections. The commissioned piece will enter the museum’s permanent holdings, extending the collection’s narrative through contemporary intervention.
Opening: Thursday 8 October, 18:00
Presented as a convivial evening-format encounter, Oh! MAHself! brings together artworks and short proposals in a speed‑dating rhythm. The event foregrounds artistic experimentation and modes of encounter, prompting fresh perceptions through brief, concentrated interactions with works.
Varied formats and curatorial propositions are showcased, and the programme reflects cross-disciplinary exchange and collaborative practice. In partnership with the Fête du Théâtre, the evening reveals how fleeting encounters can amplify narratives, provoke questions, and reframe audience–art relations.
Claire Rufenacht, dance therapist, Pedro Ratto, dancer, and Murielle Brunschwig, cultural mediator, bring complementary expertise in dance therapy, performance and cultural mediation to guided sessions for people with neurological conditions and their caregivers.
The workshops explore Argentine tango integrated with museum-inspired movement and sensory activities, addressing mobility, balance, expression and social connection. Sessions focus on practical movement exercises, improvisation and listening, adapted for participants with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, post-stroke and other movement disorders, fostering wellbeing and mutual support.
In French.
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Culture, curated weekly.
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