Swiss cities have some of the best cultural venues in Europe, a joy for tourists and scholars. Aviel Cahn, Grand Théâtre director, highlighted Geneva’s museums, performance venues and flourishing contemporary art and music.
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Geneva (pop 205,000) is a smallish city with a huge cultural impact and artistic community, and historical literary and humanitarian heritages. Theatre, visual arts and film came late to Geneva. Then a new theatre opened: Comédie de Genève. The special facility, designed by FRES Architectes, was one of the most advanced theatre buildings in Switzerland. And the Grütli cultural centre showed contemporary cinema and experimental theatre.
The Grand Théâtre
Geneva (pop 205,000) is a smallish city with a huge cultural impact and artistic community, and historical literary and humanitarian heritages. Theatre, visual arts and film came late to Geneva. Then a new theatre opened: Comédie de Genève. The special facility, designed by FRES Architectes, was one of the most advanced theatre buildings in Switzerland. And the Grütli cultural centre showed contemporary cinema and experimental theatre.
For contemporary art to establish itself in Geneva, it took artist John Armleder to inspire others. Today the scene is rich, with interesting artists, and galleries like Wilde Gallery. Of the art institutions, see the Musée d’art moderne et contemporain and the Centre d’art contemporain, the city’s Kunsthalle. And note the Fondation Bodmer with its great collection of manuscripts and early books.
Art Geneva has brought new energy, and the fair is improving each year. Its director has launched initiatives like the biennial Sculpture Garden. It recently included a monumental sculpture along the lake.
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The Old Town is a maze of small streets and charming squares, filled with attractive cafés, restaurants, galleries and museums, lined by historical buildings and their masonry facades. The favourite sites are Maison Tavel Museum of Geneva’s History and the Old Arsenal/Battery in front, Place du Bourg-de-Four Square and Treille Promenade-Artillery Post. And the Cathedral.
The C12th St Peter’s Cathedral was vital to John Calvin (1509-64), French theologian & reformer in Geneva in the Protestant Reformation. The cathedral has since developed an interesting architectural mixture, including towers for panoramic views over the city and lake. The excavated archaeological site beneath the cathedral revealed the city's rich history and explored Christianity’s Central European origins. Examine the underground passage connecting the cathedral to the adjacent International Museum of the Reformation, presenting the era’s historical importance.
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In this post, I was interested in whether Calvinism slowed down C20th theatre and visual arts in Geneva, although not music. The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, founded 1918, was one of the leading symphony orchestras in Switzerland. The Grand Théâtre, built 1879, used to be a rather insular, old-fashioned place, serving only an established audience. Now there’s a new restaurant and a terrace for night parties.
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Art Geneva has brought new energy, and the fair is improving each year. Its director has launched initiatives like the biennial Sculpture Garden. It recently included a monumental sculpture along the lake.
Dance also came late to Geneva, especially contemporary dance. The Grand Théâtre has just appointed its Director of Ballet, a Sadler’s Wells choreographer from London. There is a large festival called La Bâtie each Sept, inviting major contemporary theatre, dance and music productions to Geneva. Pavillon de la Danse is a place that regularly gave young choreographers the chance to develop their skills. But dance is thriving in other venues too eg Bâtiment des Forces Mortrices, an old factory in the middle of the Rhône, was turned into a wonderful theatre.
Old Town
The C12th St Peter’s Cathedral was vital to John Calvin (1509-64), French theologian & reformer in Geneva in the Protestant Reformation. The cathedral has since developed an interesting architectural mixture, including towers for panoramic views over the city and lake. The excavated archaeological site beneath the cathedral revealed the city's rich history and explored Christianity’s Central European origins. Examine the underground passage connecting the cathedral to the adjacent International Museum of the Reformation, presenting the era’s historical importance.
Built to honour the greats who influenced the movement, the sculpture documented the Protestant Reformation that took place in the C16th. The Reformation Wall was built in 1909 in University of Geneva, originally founded by Calvin.
The Reformation Wall
University of Geneva
In this post, I was interested in whether Calvinism slowed down C20th theatre and visual arts in Geneva, although not music. The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, founded 1918, was one of the leading symphony orchestras in Switzerland. The Grand Théâtre, built 1879, used to be a rather insular, old-fashioned place, serving only an established audience. Now there’s a new restaurant and a terrace for night parties.
St Pierre Cathedral gallery
Best day-trips from Geneva? For lovers of the picturesque architecture of Geneva’s Old Town, then the historical houses & chateaux around the lake are striking eg Villa Diodati, where Mary Shelley created Frankenstein, and Chateau de Coppet, once home to Madame de Staël. Montreux-Vevey is worthwhile, to see Chaplin’s World Museum and the Château de Chillon. The Jura mountains are wonderful, with great wine-producing villages between Geneva and Lausanne eg Mont-sur-Rolle.
Explore Geneva’s cultural riches with the Intensely Cultural Package: 40+ museums, a region dedicated to contemporary art, and wide musical choices. To discover more about Switzerland’s leading art museums and exhibitions, visit Art Museums of Switzerland website.
Now my favourites. The Ethnographic Museum of Geneva was founded in 1901. People could visit the 300,000+ objects and documents until the Ethnographic Museum was filled! Then in 2014 the museum exhibits moved in the new building by Zurich architects, Marco Graber and Thomas Pulver. This bright building with bevelled façade has an Archives of Human Differences, showing how different cultures evolved and separated.
Explore Geneva’s cultural riches with the Intensely Cultural Package: 40+ museums, a region dedicated to contemporary art, and wide musical choices. To discover more about Switzerland’s leading art museums and exhibitions, visit Art Museums of Switzerland website.
Now my favourites. The Ethnographic Museum of Geneva was founded in 1901. People could visit the 300,000+ objects and documents until the Ethnographic Museum was filled! Then in 2014 the museum exhibits moved in the new building by Zurich architects, Marco Graber and Thomas Pulver. This bright building with bevelled façade has an Archives of Human Differences, showing how different cultures evolved and separated.
Museum of Art and History
Geneva’s Museum of Art and History, built and opened in 1910, was the city’s largest art museum, home to an extensive collection by Swiss artist Jean-Etienne Liotard. With 7,000+ exhibits on display, the Museum ranged from prehistoric to modern works. Thematically categorised collections were shown, with important finds from antiquity in the Archaeology Dept.
The Department for Applied Art was personally set up for me, exhibiting Byzantine Art, icons, musical instruments and textiles. Another section was devoted to fine arts and housed collections of paintings ranging from the Middle Ages to the C20th. The collections also had many works by Ferdinand Hodler, Félix Vallotton and Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot.
Alfred Baur lived in Geneva from 1900 and collected art objects on business trips to the Far East. Over 45 years he bought classy Chinese and Japanese art objects and ritual artefacts, making the Baur Collection a great site. The antiques included ceramics or jade, snuff boxes, Japanese prints, netsuke/small figurines, furniture and swords. Later Baur bought an elegant house near the Art and History Museum and the Russian Church as a site for his collection, accessible to the public.
The Department for Applied Art was personally set up for me, exhibiting Byzantine Art, icons, musical instruments and textiles. Another section was devoted to fine arts and housed collections of paintings ranging from the Middle Ages to the C20th. The collections also had many works by Ferdinand Hodler, Félix Vallotton and Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot.
Alfred Baur lived in Geneva from 1900 and collected art objects on business trips to the Far East. Over 45 years he bought classy Chinese and Japanese art objects and ritual artefacts, making the Baur Collection a great site. The antiques included ceramics or jade, snuff boxes, Japanese prints, netsuke/small figurines, furniture and swords. Later Baur bought an elegant house near the Art and History Museum and the Russian Church as a site for his collection, accessible to the public.