The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Nationwide exhibition to highlight Switzerland’s disappearing glaciers

The Rhone glacier, flanked by brown mountains on either side.
The idea for the project came about two and a half years ago, not least because the melting of the glacier is intensifying due to climate change. Keystone / Peter Schneider

More than 35 Swiss institutions and 60 artists will be taking part in the nationwide exhibition ‘Watching the Glacier Disappear’, officially opening on the Rhône glacier in canton Valais on June 29. 

“The Rhone glacier is the most depicted Swiss glacier in art,” curator Bernhard Fibicher said in an interview with Keystone-SDA news agency.  

He said the idea for the project came about two and a half years ago, not least because the melting of the glacier is intensifying due to climate change. Initially, the plan was to organise a show in a museum.  

“But we don’t actually need to attract people to a museum, we need to take them outside – to the glaciers,” said Fibicher, and so the project has expanded.  

+ Focus: why melting glaciers affect us all

Exhibitions that are part of the project have been running since January, with institutions from Valais to Graubünden involved. The Aargauer Kunsthaus, for example, is exhibiting relevant works from its collection, and the Lucerne Glacier Garden is displaying two art installations.  

“We wanted to broaden the discourse on glacier melting, and bring in the voice of culture,” said Fibicher. This is why historic and contemporary artworks, music and literature are all part of the project. Organisers are also trying to include positive aspects. 

The exhibition’s official opening will take place at the end of June, when the mountain passes are open and visitors can see the dwindling Rhône glacier. Geneva-based artist Carmen Perrin will be showing documents onsite that argue that the covering of the glacier is linked to private commercial purposes, of which she is critical. A sound performance is also planned. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kp 

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

In some Swiss regions, less than half the normal amount of precipitation has fallen so far.

More

Swiss rivers and lakes remain low as dry weather persists

This content was published on The start of the year has been far too dry for Switzerland's rivers and lakes. Some of them have fallen to record levels, and the situation is not about to improve, warned MeteoNews on Tuesday.

Read more: Swiss rivers and lakes remain low as dry weather persists
Finma wants to be able to intervene before crises arise

More

Swiss financial watchdog demands more powers

This content was published on The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is calling for legal changes to enable it to intervene early on if banks violate corporate governance rules.

Read more: Swiss financial watchdog demands more powers
Record-breaking Bocion sold at Basel auction for $270,250

More

François Bocion painting fetches record at Swiss auction

This content was published on The oil painting La chasse aux grèbes by Lausanne artist François Bocion (1828-1890) fetched a record CHF270,250 ($315,530) at an auction in Basel in early April, the highest price ever paid for one of his works.

Read more: François Bocion painting fetches record at Swiss auction
House price rises accelerate

More

Swiss property prices continue to climb

This content was published on The prices of owner-occupied properties continued to rise in the first three months of 2025. But large regional disparities remain.

Read more: Swiss property prices continue to climb

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR