‘Intolerable intolerance’ is the name of an exhibition that’s just opened in Switzerland. It’s a response to the Swiss ban on minarets which came into effect following a referendum six weeks ago. Minarets may be forbidden – but they’re everywhere in Geneva’s Halle de l’Ile gallery.
 

By Imogen Foulkes

Visitors to the gallery are greeted by a ten metre high cardboard minaret at the entrance – and are offered cut-out-and-keep minarets to take away when they leave. Chloe Bitton of the Swiss Creative Movement believes it’s important to provide a visual counterpoint to the infamous poster that dominated the campaign ahead of the referendum. Distributed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, it showed a woman wearing a black burqa, behind her a map of Switzerland bristling with minarets.

“The Swiss People’s party poster has been all around the world, and everyone could see a vision of Switzerland where intolerance and xenophobia were dominant. So what we are trying to do with this exhibition is show a different Switzerland, a different image of our country, and hope that this will contribute to a different view of country internally and internationally.”

Some of the works on show are comic, like one poster in the colours of the Swiss flag showing a church spire, a synagogue and a mosque. ‘Religion is the opium of the people,’ it reads, ‘so don’t discriminate against just some addicts’. Other work is more serious. Artist Jean-Philippe Kalonji’s ‘strange days’ poster depicts a dominant and sinister Swiss political figure, using fear as a means to motivate voters. Jean-Philippe believes his art is a necessary contribution to the political debate.

“I’m Swiss, I’m African, I’m born here, and I have something to say about this, because I live here and I’m not happy about the vote. So it’s totally in my democratic right to express what I feel.”

The opening night of the exhibition attracted over 300 people and most of them were positive about the work.

“Really cool, really nice, we need it because of that vote, Switzerland isn’t only racist people. I think it’s a very interesting exhibition, I want to prove that Swiss people are not all like that, we don’t want to kick the foreigners out. The people here don’t need to be convinced, so it’s quite useless, but it’s a good thing anyway, but it’s done now.”

The exhibition can’t do anything to reverse the ban on minarets: 57 percent of voters backed it, and it’s now enshrined in the constitution. But what this art can do, its supporters claim, is show that freedom of expression remains alive and well in Switzerland.

For more about the exhibition see: http://www.act-art.ch/