Zurich faces up to its colonialist past

Editor Gabriella Alvarez-Hummel

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An exhibition and numerous accompanying events throughout the city are intended to make blind spots in Zurich's history visible.

Anyone who has taken the city tour with ZH kolonial will see Zurich with different eyes forever. Wiedikon station: houses a mural with colonial stereotypes. Globi: a racist. The old town: full of traces from colonial times, including numerous uses of the M-word.

Switzerland never had its own colonies. Which doesn't mean it doesn't have a colonial past. One that reaches into the present.

The city of Zurich decided some time ago to face up to its own colonial past. For example, the inscriptions on two municipal properties in the Old Town are to be covered up because the M-word creates a racist effect. The building applications are still pending.

Die Ausstellung im Stadthaus

In the first half of the current year, the city will now deal with its colonial past and present in public and with the involvement of numerous institutions. At the centre is an exhibition in the town hall entitled Blind Spots: Zurich and Colonialism.

The exhibition brochure states that numerous connections to the colonies contributed to the city's rise as an economic metropolis - and that the exhibition aims to create greater awareness of these colonial ties of Zurich. All Zurichers are affected by them in one way or another.

The vernissage of the exhibition Blind Spots: Zurich and Colonialism is open to the public and will take place on 19 January 2023 from 7 pm. Among those present will be the curators and City President Corine Mauch. The exhibition will officially run from 20 January to 15 July 2023 from Monday to Saturday.

Accompanying programme throughout the city

To complement the exhibition, events will be held in numerous Zurich institutions to contribute to the discussion of Zurich's colonialism links as well as racism in general. Below are some recommendations from the first weeks of the programme:

Discussion about the colonial heritage of a museum

Museum Rietberg invites you to a curator's tour and debate on 8 February 2023: How did the objects get into the museum in the first place? And what does that mean for how we deal with them?

Postcolonial Puppet Theatre

The visual artist Daniela Ortiz is known for her anti-racist and anti-colonial works with imaginative and humorous imagery. She developed a play with the Neumarkt Ensemble in Zurich. The premiere is on 16 February 2023.

City walk ZH colonial

On 4, 11, 18 and 25 March 2023, ZH kolonial will conduct the city tour mentioned at the beginning. Apart from these dates, the online audio guide is available at any time.

Public anti-racism workshop

Anti-racism expert Anja Glover, who helped develop the exhibition at the Stadthaus, will lead an anti-racism workshop at the Stadthaus on 6 March 2023. It is about where racist thinking starts, what racism is and where it comes from. And above all, the question: What can we do against it?

"The most disrespected woman"

On 17 March, Yvonne Apiyo Amolo-Brändle (human rights expert, fem-artivist and politician) will talk with Fana Asefaw, MD (specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy) and Scotty Williams (Reformed pastor) about the "most disrespected woman", an artwork based on extended reality statements by Black women in Zurich.

Karl der Grosse

«The most disrespected Woman» / Die am meisten missachtete Frau

Kolonialismus war in Zürich lange kein Thema. Heute wissen wir: Es bestehen blinde Flecken. Im Rahmen der Ausstellung «Blinde Flecken: Zürich und der ...