Fifty years of the Maison d’Ailleurs: a mecca for science fiction fans
From prison to sci-fi wonderland, Yverdon's Maison d’Ailleurs is more than a museum – it’s an adventure.
“Science fiction is important because it nourishes people. Human beings are creatures who recount their lives, their thoughts and their imaginations,” says Frédéric Jaccaud, director of the Maison d’Ailleurs in Yverdon-les-Bains.
The building housing the science fiction museum was built in 1806, originally as a prison. Since 1991, it has housed a vast collection of fantastical works: books, comics, magazines, newspapers, films and computer games. These form the basis for the museum’s exhibitions.
“We follow a thematic approach based on the world of the imagination – on everything that mankind has devised since it began telling stories,” explains Jaccaud.
Science fiction has always been a trailblazer
Sci-fi used to be a niche phenomenon, says Jaccaud: “In the 2000s, and now in the 2020s, science fiction has been and remains very popular, predominantly in cinema and US comics.
“The genre enriches and enlivens our world because it influences contemporary thinking. The technology that surrounds us today is often inspired by concepts devised as far back as the 1950s.”
Video calls, moon landings, virtual reality headsets and telemedicine, for example, all appeared in science fiction literature long before they became a reality. Conversely, says the director of the Maison d’Ailleurs, the present day inspires new imaginings among today’s science fiction authors.
A donation as a starting point
The Maison d’Ailleurs’ journey began in 1975, when French author Pierre Versins donated his vast collection to the town of Yverdon. Versins, a Resistance fighter who had survived Auschwitz, wrote the well-known Encyclopédie de l’utopie, des voyages extraordinaires et de la science-fiction. He did not want his books and documents to be divided up after his death.
The Maison d’Ailleurs offers 300 square metres of exhibition space. This year, the town of Yverdon is providing a grant of CHF620,000 ($761,956) to the museum’s supporting foundation. This funding covers 3.4 full-time posts and the running costs. Its influence extends far beyond the region, says Frédéric Jaccaud.
Over 10,000 people visit the museum each year, including 100 school classes. In addition, numerous researchers in the fields of literary studies and design carry out research using the collection, which now comprises 120,000 objects.
At first, he ran his museum from his three-room flat. In 1991, the town of Yverdon made the former prison available and, since 2008, the museum has also had an additional floor for the Espace Jules Verne in the neighbouring former casino.
This is where the museum’s small permanent exhibition is housed: objects from a collection dedicated to the visionary French author, also donated by collector Jean-Michel Margot.
Not a museum for the masses
The Maison d’Ailleurs is well established in the museum landscape, explains its director. Its themes are “a bit like Art Brut”.
So it is less a museum for the masses and more of an adventure – aesthetically, but also in terms of the visions that the fantastical brings to the fore. It is a unique space for reflection and exhibition.
The exhibition ‘Expedition inside Peeters’ (on display at the Maison d’Ailleurs until January 2027) showcases 200 works from every creative phase of the Geneva-based comic artist Frederik Peeters.
“A tremendous talent of international renown,” says Frédéric Jaccaud. “He creates not only a fictional, fantastical body of work, but also one that is enormously diverse.”
This diversity is showcased in the current exhibition.
Translated from German, sub-edited by Alexandra MV Andrist/ac
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