Société des Arts de Genève is a historic cultural institution founded in 1776 and based at the Palais de l’Athénée in Geneva. A true hub for knowledge and interdisciplinary exchange, it offers a year-round program including conferences, exhibitions, concerts, trips, and public events. Rooted in a long tradition of supporting arts, sciences, and applied knowledge, it now serves as a meeting point between heritage and contemporary creation, fostering the dissemination of ideas and the sharing of knowledge.
An anniversary exhibition examining 250 years of drawing in Geneva, bringing together historical holdings and contemporary commissions. The show juxtaposes patrimonial studies, preparatory sketches and finished works with twenty-five newly commissioned pieces, alongside student works from the local drawing school. Themes include portraiture and landscape, technical innovations, urban and territorial perspectives, ornament and botanical motifs. Curated by Silvia Zuccherini Martello, Nicolas Buri and Tom Tirabosco, the presentation traces the medium’s evolving practices and social significance.
Opening: Thursday, 17 September 2026, 18:00
Closing event – Mystery Fresco: Thursday, 17 December 2026, 18:00
Laurent Christeller, head of the Historical Archives at the Pictet Group and of the Pictet family archives foundation, presents the origins and impact of the Bibliothèque britannique. He examines the journal’s editorial project, its translations from English and Scottish sources, and how anglophilia among Geneva elites helped disseminate scientific, literary and technical advances across Europe. The lecture explores editorial networks and the role of print in shaping ideas.
In French.
Emmanuel Guibert presents a lecture illustrated with projected drawings exploring dilemmas we face when indecision or wrong choices lead us to a crossroads marked only by ‘pest’ and ‘cholera’. The talk examines how recurring moral and practical dilemmas shape personal narratives and collective attitudes, combining reflection with moments of humor. Attendees will gain insights into the creative process behind visual storytelling and how comics interrogate ethical ambiguity.
In French.
Conservator Nathalie Strasser guides a focused tour of select works on paper from the Jean Bonna collection, assembled over more than thirty years. The presentation traces drawing across techniques and supports — from preparatory sketches and prints to pastels and watercolours — revealing shifts in material practice and visual language across nearly five centuries. Emphasis is placed on technique, materiality and historic context to deepen understanding of the medium’s formal and conceptual evolution.
In French.
Elke Berr, gemmologist and illustrator, traces the living journey of a gemstone from the depths of the earth to the finished jewel. She shows that drawing a stone is already a form of understanding—translating intuition into lines to anticipate the balance of light, material and movement. Berr also discusses her fieldwork near deposits, where scientific expertise meets sensitive intuition, and how this dialogue produces an ethical, human value chain with no intermediaries.
In French.
German baritone Benjamin Appl presents a programme themed around water and travel with cellist Lionel Cottet and pianist Jorge Viladoms. In three parts he traces a traveller’s trajectory—departure, nocturnal crossing and the solitude that leads to calm—through songs from the German, French and South American repertoire. The recital features works by Schumann, Brahms, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Fauré and Villa-Lobos, emphasising narrative singing and chamber intimacy.
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