The National Museum shows an inglorious piece of Swiss history
Published: Wednesday, Sep 11th 2024, 13:02
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Although Switzerland itself had no colonies, it still benefited from the oppression and exploitation of countries in Africa, America and Asia. An exhibition at the National Museum shows how Switzerland was involved and how colonialism continues to have an impact today.
Museum exhibitions are otherwise rarely provided with so-called "trigger warnings". However, the "Colonial" exhibition at the Landesmuseum already warns on the website that objects, images and terms are used that are racist and discriminatory. They are deliberately not avoided.
"It is important for us to also convey this part of Swiss history," said museum director Denise Tonella at the exhibition presentation on Wednesday. Colonialism had an impact on the way the Swiss population thought. A racist world view emerged from a supposed superiority.
On display are slave whips and handcuffs that were used on plantations in Ghana. The Swiss became rich here, particularly from coffee and cocoa cultivation. "White gold", i.e. cotton, also made local families and companies rich. Well-known examples include Volkart from Winterthur and the Basel Mission.
Mercenaries maintained "colonial order"
From today's perspective, the Swiss mercenaries who used violence to help maintain the "colonial order" were also an inglorious chapter.
Advertising posters for "Völkerschauen" at Basel Zoo, where Africans were exhibited, wall panels for schools that informed people about "Bushmen" or a "Nicknegerli" that asked for donations in churches until the 1950s seem completely out of date.
When a coin was inserted, the black child bowed down and thus cemented the image of the "poor African". According to the Landesmuseum, this paternalistic image persists to this day - still visible, for example, on appeals for donations from aid organizations.
Globi with the "foreign peoples"
The exhibition also sheds light on the activities of the missionaries who converted supposedly poor souls all over the world and the settlement colonies in North and South America. Although Swiss emigrants were mostly poor, they profited from being "white" and displaced the indigenous population. The safari, which is still popular with travelers to Africa today, also had its origins in colonialism.
The exhibition also takes visitors into the present day and raises the question of whether it makes sense to tear down statues of slave traders and rename streets. Switzerland's favorite bird Globi also makes another appearance with his "Journey to the Foreign Nations", which underlines the otherness of the "foreigners".
The exhibition "Colonial - Global Entanglements of Switzerland" runs from September 13, 2024 to January 19, 2025
©Keystone/SDA
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