Don’t miss out: Events running for less than two weeks
For its 500th anniversary, the Grand Council is transforming this seat of power in the Old Town into a stage open to the public. Heritage becomes the medium for a narrative that connects the city’s past to its present. Through a visual and sound-based creation, this event offers a new way to discover the history of Geneva’s institutions.
Public visits in French offer an encounter with Joana Hadjthomas and Khalil Joreige’s temporary exhibition, where film, photography, installation, and archival material open a nuanced reflection on memory, image-making, and historical traces. The works explore how personal and collective narratives overlap, revealing tensions between absence, testimony, and representation.
In French.
10 November: A French Sign Language visit, led by Noha El Sadawy, a deaf cultural mediator, provides an inclusive interpretation of the exhibition for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences and for people learning LSF.
Choreographed by Olga de Soto, this intimate solo examines Kurt Jooss’s La Table verte through memory, political legacy and the choreographer’s questioning. On a bare stage, de Soto is accompanied by projected archival images and videos, narrating her research and creative process. The piece traces before-and-after echoes of the original ballet, combining investigative reflection with poetic movement. Co-created with Arta Sperto and Dance First Think Later, the work unfolds as a rigorous yet lyrical inquiry into art, history and witness.
In French.
The Geneva Challenge is an international competition launched by the Geneva Graduate Institute in 2014, thanks to the vision and generosity of Ambassador Jenö Staehelin and the patronage of the late Kofi Annan. This contest brings together graduate students from diverse disciplinary and contextual perspectives to provide innovative and pragmatic solutions to some of the world’s complex challenges.
FURTHER AFIELD
Choreographer Anne Nguyen, rooted in breakdance battles and informed by scientific studies, rebuilds hip‑hop vocabulary with a mathematical sensuality. Promenade Obligatoire stages an uninterrupted, ordered march across the performance space that becomes a meditation on life’s meaning and the passage of time. Popping—blocks, isolations and body dissociations—sharpens contrasts between rupture and mimicry. The explosive, precise gestures transform the inexorable walk into a hypnotic, transportive experience that explores repetition, synchronization and the poetry of everyday movement.
British‑Portuguese singer-songwriter Nessi Gomes and Barcelona‑based Mike Rauss present an evening of intimate, genre-blending song. Gomes weaves traditional Portuguese fado’s emotional depth with a contemporary British sensibility, producing haunting, lushly textured soundscapes and medicine‑singer mysticism; her acclaimed album Diamonds & Demons foregrounds this quiet intensity. Mike Rauss offers playful yet profound troubadour songs where funk, folk, oriental motifs and flamenco guitar meet a warm, grooving voice. Together they create an atmosphere of ritual, longing and raw presence.
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Events running for an extended period
Cameroonian photographer and visual artist Martin Abega presents a body of work that transforms image into material. Combining photography with textiles, embroidery, cowrie shells and charcoal, he stages photographic compositions and object-based pieces that investigate metamorphosis of body and mind. Themes of ordeal, fragility, trace, transmission and regeneration recur, often through the female figure as emblem. Curated by Ngalula Mafwata, the work opens a contemplative space that asks what remains after transformation.
Opening: 15 September, 18:00
Art’péro: 5 & 12 November, 18:00
Closing: 14 November, 18:00
Coffee & talk with Marc Coulibaly: 15 November, 10:00
Two short plays by Anton Chekhov staged by Tibor Ockenfels and Flavie Tapparel, presented as compact dramatic machines where romantic comedy masks escalating confrontations between desire, affection and material interest. Performances rely on precise physical timing, terse exchanges and a lean, playful design to reveal the simmering violence behind courtship rituals. The three actors — Estelle Bridet, Matteo Prandi and Raphaël Vachoux — inhabit heightened character types that shift between farce and darker comic truth, creating a sharply observed, kinetic evening.
In French.
EXEM aux urnes – 40 Years of Political Posters brings together 40 political posters by Geneva-based illustrator EXEM between 1988 and 2023. Spanning nearly four decades of Swiss direct democracy, the exhibition explores the distinctive language of political posters at the intersection of graphic art, satire, and political commentary.
Through EXEM’s sharp and engaging imagery, the exhibition traces the political issues and communication styles that have shaped Swiss public life, and offers insight into the artist’s creative process and the stories behind his iconic posters.
Opening: Tuesday 1 September, 18:00
Directed by Brigitte Rosset, this intimate comedy follows Lucie, a celebrated playwright trapped by silence, and Thomas, her eccentric new neighbour whose clumsy misadventures rekindle her imagination. Performed by Mauro Bellucci and Camille Figuereo, the staging plays with the boundaries between fiction and reality, mixing subtle humour, melancholic moments and theatrical invention. The production honours the original text by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière.
In French.
Christophe Godin and his team invite participants to take the stage, unleash roaring riffs, and trade blazing solos in an evening of raw live energy. Whether playing or watching, expect an electric, generous and unpredictable performance where musical passion is embraced wholeheartedly and with kindness. The repertoire offered encourages spontaneous collaboration, playful improvisation and an intense shared experience among musicians and audience.
The Forum of History is a series of academic lectures bringing together researchers from the University of Geneva and other Swiss and international institutions. The programme examines topics ranging from modern and diplomatic history to the history of gender, sexuality and violence. Sessions focus on methodological issues, archival practices and interpretive debates, offering comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives that illuminate changing historical narratives and social dynamics.
In French.
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Geneva Classics
Visiting for the first time? A quick guide to the city’s top attractions.
An intimate museum in the heart of Geneva, the Musée Tatiana Zoubov presents the refined collection assembled by its namesake collector. Paintings, furniture, porcelain, silverware and decorative objects evoke the atmosphere of a private European collection, offering a glimpse into the tastes and art of living of another era.
In the heart of Geneva’s Old Town, the International Museum of the Reformation traces the history and legacy of the Protestant Reformation from the 16th century to the present day. Historical objects, artworks and immersive displays explore a movement that profoundly shaped Geneva and influenced societies around the world.
Located in the historic heart of Carouge, the Musée de Carouge explores the artistic and cultural heritage of this distinctive town. Its collections and temporary exhibitions bring together fine and decorative arts, local history and contemporary creation, reflecting Carouge’s unique identity and creative spirit.
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Culture, curated weekly.
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