•User Rating•: / 0
•Poor••Best• 

SELECTED EVENTS

GENEVA -- Several times a month, The Essential Edge will highlight a selection of events in the Lake Geneva Region – both Switzerland and France - of interest  to visitors and residents alike. These will range from art exhibitions, bike races and culinary gatherings to concerts and public lectures. If you have any events that you wish to publicize, then please contact us at: •This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it•

The following events take place in Gemeva, Divonne, Lausanne, Yverdons, St Saphorin and Evian.

Geneva -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has teamed up with five of the world’s top photographers to create a fascinating new exhibit – Our World – At War – from 8 May to 30 June, 2009 in Switzerland at the Espace SIG at the Pont de la Machine in downtown Geneva overlooking the Rhone River but also in more than 40 other countries. This unique exhibit offers a firsthand look at the impact of war and armed violence on the lives of ordinary people.

The photojournalists - James Nachtwey, Ron Haviv, Chris Morris, Franco Pagetti and Antonin Kratochvil – depict the realities and brutalities of conflict ranging from the heartbreaking loneliness of an elderly woman made homeless by last year’s war (2008)  between Georgia and Russia to the unbridled joy of two brothers reunited after being separated by fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

According to ICRC’s Yves Daccord, however, the images also show that even in the darkest hours of despair there is a sense of hope and pride. "Too often we look at an image and we automatically put a label on what we see. There is a tendency to think of people simply as 'victims' or 'sufferers', but they are all human beings," he said. "War and violence can strip us of many things, but the one enduring and universal thing we all share is human dignity. Behind the suffering there is always a person and that really comes across in this exhibit."

As part of this project, which is being staged in the year of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Solferino which led to the creation of the Red Cross, the photographers, all from the New York-based VII photo agency, travelled to eight countries, such as Afghanistan, Philippines, Georgia and Ossetia, Columbia and Lebanon. There they met countless displaced families, prisoners, orphaned children, war surgeons, poor and widowed mothers, disabled volunteers, rebel fighters, rape victims, counsellors, midwives and others affected by armed conflict. The exhibition is a must for families, and particularly children, who should become aware of what war can do to the lives of people.

As photographer Antonin Kratochvil put it: "Although I've worked for many years in conflict zones, participating in this project with the ICRC gave me a new insight into how people cope in such dire circumstances…What struck me most during the trip was the heroism of women. They carry an enormous burden but they remain so strong – their spirit was not defeated. I wanted my photographs to give them a voice and show their dignity." For more information, please go to: www.ourworld-yourmove.org The exhibition is produced by the ICRC with the support of the SIG (Services Industriels de Genève).

Divonne, Pays-de-Gex, France – This increasingly active French spa town at the foot of the Jura mountains is organizing a series of circus workshops and other events - the Cirque o Lac – from 8-13 May, 2009 on the Esplanade bordering Divonne Lake. Offering various activities and shows aimed at young and old, it features rich and magical sessions on circus artistry, performance, makeup, technique, and presentation. Organized in conjunction with the Ain Department (part of the Rhone-Alp Region), groups such as L’Elastique Citrique (Ecole de cirque de Nyon), l’atelier cirque de Divonne, the MJC of Gex et l’ETAC are holding various “discovery” sessions to introduce audiences to all the different facets of circus art.

On Sunday, 10 May, for example, the Compagnie Milo & Olivia and the Circo Teatro Comico Poetico of Italy will put on a show of poetic acrobatics, while on Wednesday 13 May, the Generation Phare Ponleu Selpak Cirk  of Cambodia in partnership with the Collectif Clowns d’Ailleurs will explore the educational, artistic and technical side of the circus. Back in Cambodia, the this circus school works with 120 children and young people daily and is renowned throughout the country. It also seeks to work closely with vulnerable populations. For more details, go to the  Cirque o Lac site of the Divonne tourist office.

 

Nyons, Switzerland – The lake museum (Musee du Leman ) in Nyons is hosting a summer-long exhibition – Leman Maniac – in conjunction with France’s Annecy Museum on various posters and other art work depicting the spirit and culture of Lake Geneva. This museum just off the lake road as you come into Nyons from Geneva also has a permanent collection of artefacts relating to the daily life, work, culture and sport of Lake Geneva and serves as a worthwhile introduction for anyone wishing to know more about the lake itself. In a country, which unlike London and the UK, all jam-packed with people, charges for many of its museums - clearly missing the point on the need to attact ordinary folk - a single ticket to the Musee du Leman also allows you to the visit Nyon's excellent Roman Museum.

St Saphorin, Switzerland – The Lavaux Panoramic: Discovering St Saphorin and the Lavaux Wine Region by special train. The beautiful lakeside wine village of St Saphorin between Lausanne and Vevey has set up a 50-minute return “wine train” from the railway station of Chexbres to Saint Saphorin, Rivaz, Ruidoux and back to Chexbres to discover this UNESCO World Heritage site. Costing 10 CHF per adult (5 CHF for children 6-16 years old) it operates twice a day on weekends until 25 October 2009 plus once a day Wednesday and Fridays from mid-June to the end of September. For more information, go to the Lavaux Panoramic site.

Yverdons-les-Bains, Lake Neuchatel – An unusual museum, the Musee d’Ailleurs in this lakeside town 30 minutes north of Lausanne is dedicated to science fiction, utopias and extraordinary journeys. It is currently hosting an evocative exhibition by a young contemporary artist, Didier Graffet (29 March to 6 September, 2009) in the Jules Vernes Section (Espace Jules Verne), whose work focuses on the spirit and vision of Verne himself, such as 20 Leagues Under the Sea. The Espace Jules Verne, of course, also hosts some 20,000 documents of the great writer himself. Graffet is widely regarded as the most important illustrator of Verne’s visionary subject matter but is equally influenced by the fables of Brittany and the Normandy countryside. He is particularly fascinated by the great literary explorations of the imagination, but also Nordic and Celtic myths with his illustrations depicting fantastic assaults on unexplored worlds and journeys to far-off lands…Both the museum and this current exhibition should entice both adults and children, including those obsessed by computers and science fiction movies.

Lausanne – The Fondation de l’Hermitage offers a last chance to check out this exceptional exhibition – until 24 May, 2009 – of Over The River, A Work In Progress. This is the latest proposed work of one of the world’s great contemporary artistic couples, Christo et Jeanne-Claude (Christo Vladimiroff Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, both born in 1935). Started in 1992, and planned to take place in the summer of 2012, Over the River will consist of a horizontal flow of silvery, luminous fabric panels stretching some 9.4 kilometres (5.9 miles) above the Arkansas River in the southcentral part of Colorado in the United States. In effect, a second “aerial” river, the artwork is expected to remain in place for two weeks and can be viewed from several different standpoints, including by raft from the river itself, on a 40-mile stretch between Salida and Canon City. Over The River is a two-week temporary work of art to be created by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists will suspend horizontally a total of 5.9 miles of silvery, luminous fabric panels high above the Arkansas River along a 40-mile stretch between Salida and Cañon City in south-central Colorado. The panels will be suspended at eight distinct portions of the river that have been selected by the artists for their aesthetic merits and technical viability.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who pay all the costs themsevels, are currently working to obtain the necessary permits so that they can begin the anchor installation process. Through the sale of Christo's original works of art, the artists are also fully funding the costs associated the environmental impact assessment which will permit the process of manufacturing, installation and removal of Over The River. The temporary work of art will be created without public subsidy or taxpayer support, and the artists do not accept viewing fees, sponsorships or outside investments of any kind. The Hermitage museum provides a fascinating insight into the design and preparation of this ambitious – and for some – controversial project. For more information, Fondation de Hermitage

Evian, France – It is also last days for the Palais Lumière exhibition (ends 10 May, 2009) dedicated to “La Ruche, cité des artistes, 1902-2009,” the renowned artists’ village in Paris. Established in the 15^th arrondissement of Paris in 1902 by sculptor Alfred Boucher, la Ruche housed some of the 20th century’s most important artists. It was originally created to help artists with little or no resources to work and included the likes of Modigliani, Soutine, Brancusi et, above all, Chagall.

The exhibit brings together some 240 works, paintings, sculptures, videos and diverse installations to illustrate the breadth of creativity by these contemporary and modern artists. The name  "la Ruche" was created by Boucher, who likened the work of artists to the creativity of bees. Today, la Ruche is residence to some 60 artists working in its studios of varying size. For more information, Evian Tourist Office.