Swiss Identity

From fine arts to cultural traditions, demographics and the future of work, we look at factors shaping and representing Swiss life and how it compares to elsewhere in the world.

Changing everything, changing nothing: Locarno Festival keeps offbeat at 79

This content was published on Aug 5, 2026 The Locarno Film Festival opens its 79th edition preserving the event’s singular cinephile identity while navigating a changing film landscape.

Aging society

Detail view of a thousand Swiss franc note

Switzerland no longer wants to foot the bill for ‘suicide tourism’

This content was published on Feb 21, 2026 In Switzerland, all deaths through assisted suicide must be followed by a medical and legal investigation. This entails considerable costs for the state.

An assisted suicide room, with a glass and a vial labelled 'sodium pentobarbital' in the foreground.

Swiss politicians decide against monitoring assisted-suicide tourism

This content was published on Feb 2, 2026 How many people travel to Switzerland to end their lives? Swiss politicians do not want a precise count. Parliament has rejected a proposal to introduce monitoring.

Pegasos association rekindles controversy over assisted suicide in Switzerland

This content was published on Oct 29, 2025 British families have accused the Swiss association Pegasos of helping their loved ones to die without genuine medical justification. What is behind this accusation?

Readers share their thoughts on how to die with dignity.

What does a ‘dignified death’ mean to you?

This content was published on Apr 3, 2025 More European countries are legalising assisted dying because of the growing recognition of the right to die.

After the first ‘Sarco pod’ death, will Switzerland introduce stricter rules for assisted suicide?

This content was published on Feb 6, 2025 The first death to come about using the Sarco capsule has reignited debate on whether assisted dying should be more tightly regulated in Switzerland.

Actor Tilda Swinton in a scene from The Room Next Door.

How film and literature have influenced the acceptance of assisted suicide

This content was published on Jan 6, 2025 Powerful stories of assisted dying are etched in our collective memory. Now, a research project from Switzerland is gathering artistic works on the subject.

To what extent do you think assisted suicide should be a legally available option to those who want to end their lives?

Switzerland legalised assisted suicide in the 1940s. More than 1,000 seriously ill or disabled people end their lives with the help of suicide assistants in Switzerland each year.

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Dec 2, 2021

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Yoshi travels from Japan to Switzerland to die

This content was published on Sep 13, 2021 A Japanese man came all the way to Switzerland to die. SWI swissinfo.ch accompanied him on the final part of his journey. This is his story.

Why assisted suicide is ‘normal’ in Switzerland

In Switzerland, assisted suicide is considered a legitimate way to end your life.

Culture

Changing everything, changing nothing: Locarno Festival keeps offbeat at 79

This content was published on Aug 5, 2026 The Locarno Film Festival opens its 79th edition preserving the event’s singular cinephile identity while navigating a changing film landscape.

Taking catharsis to its limits, but still respecting the peace of the neighbourhood: viewer in a NIFFF open-air session with headphones.

Night of the living horror fans: Neuchâtel Fantastic Film Festival is the temple of Cult

This content was published on Jul 23, 2026 The NIFFF, which turned 25 this year, is Switzerland’s only big festival dedicated entirely to genre cinema.

Based on extensive research on the "invisible" poverty demographics of Switzerland, 'A Happy Family' delves in the question of what it feels like to be poor in one of the world's richest countries.

Swiss drama unmasks the country’s invisible working poor

This content was published on Jul 20, 2026 The Swiss film ‘A Happy Family” premiered in Karlovy Vary Film Festival, and took the Best Actress award for Anna Schinz.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 2021–22

From graffiti on trains to the global art scene: Nicolas Party’s pastel revolution

This content was published on Jul 16, 2026 With exhibitions across three continents in 2026, the Swiss artist reflects on a visual language that bridges graffiti, pastels, art history and mural-making.

Video still from Jiajia Zhang's "Domestic News", 2026 (HD Video).

Jiajia Zhang’s art turns Shanghai into a mirror of modern urban life

This content was published on Jul 12, 2026 The Chinese-born, Zurich-based artist showed “Domestic News”, her first solo exhibition in the US, at the Swiss Institute in New York.

Kunstmuseum Bern renovation setback shadows director’s tenure

This content was published on Jul 11, 2026 Departing director Nina Zimmer reflects on her future in Vienna and her role in reshaping Switzerland’s approach to Nazi-looted art.

Over the centuries, Basel, Switzerland, has become a major center for art, playing host to nearly 40 museums and to Art Basel, which draws tens of thousands of attendees each year.

How Basel went from art to Art Basel

This content was published on Jun 24, 2026 Basel’s art history predates the world’s most prominent art fair by a few centuries.

René Pulfer, «Turiner Monumente», film still, shown in «Frame in Frame – Swiss Design in Motion».

Flicker, form, future: how Swiss design learned to move

This content was published on Jun 21, 2026 A New York exhibition brings to life pioneering films from the Basel School of Design, linking analogue experimentation to today’s visual language.

At Art Basel, art is business – at Basel Social Club, it’s a party

This content was published on Jun 19, 2026 Since 2022, Basel Social Club has offered a free-spirited counterpoint to Art Basel.

Liste Art Fair: how Art Basel’s ‘younger sister’ became a launchpad for the next generation

This content was published on Jun 15, 2026 Born as a fringe alternative, Liste has evolved into a support system for young galleries worldwide, proving that not every successful art fair has to play by the market’s rules.

Set in Burkina Faso before the French colonization, 'Tilaï' chronicles the plight of Saga (Rasmane Ouedraogo), who returns to his family's village and discovers that the woman he was in love has married his father.

Swiss co-produced African masterpiece ‘Tilaï’ revived in Cannes

This content was published on Jun 11, 2026 A newly restored version of Idrissa Ouedraogo’s ‘Tilaï’, a milestone in Burkinabe cinema, was back this year in Cannes, where the film won the Grand Prix in 1990.

Future of work

We asked an AI about the future – its answer might scare you

This content was published on Jul 30, 2026 A few prompts in, Google’s Gemini paints a dark future. In conversation with a language model.

Robots are unlikely to replace human workers any time soon

How artificial intelligence is shaping the Swiss job market

This content was published on Jul 22, 2026 AI experience is fast becoming an essential skill for hiring companies.

A board with dummies and name tags; two tags are missing.

Swiss birth rate hits all-time low as new challenge looms

This content was published on Jun 20, 2026 In times of economic crisis, couples put off having children. Now, on top of this, comes an existential fear: will AI make us superfluous?

KPMG’s study is the latest in a number of apparent AI hallucinations in reports by professional services firms.

KPMG report contained AI hallucinations on benefits of . . . AI

This content was published on Jun 12, 2026 Bogus case studies on UBS and transit systems exaggerated adoption of AI technology.

A view of Zurich and the Prime Tower on a stormy night

Will AI secure or shake Swiss prosperity?

This content was published on May 4, 2026 AI may close the productivity gap left by ageing populations, or instead drive mass job losses and reshape global wealth. Which scenario emerges will depend on choices made today.

The banking sector has been particularly affected by redundancies.

Why unemployment in Switzerland is increasing more than elsewhere in Europe

This content was published on Feb 24, 2026 The number of people in Switzerland who are out of work increased for the second year in a row. This contrasts with the situation in the European Union.

The 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation redefined the role of Christianity in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

How a conference in Lausanne changed the Protestant faith

This content was published on Dec 4, 2025 A conference in Lausanne in 1974 permanently shaped the way the Protestant faith was to be lived and interpreted.

Is AI for sign language promising or futile?

This content was published on Oct 2, 2025 Labs and start-ups in Switzerland are working on using AI to advance sign language interpretation, but they face many challenges.

Jean-Stéphane Bron directing his first fiction series, 'The Deal'.

Behind the cranes, Jean-Stéphane Bron exposes the architecture of inequality

This content was published on Sep 13, 2025 The Swiss filmmaker talks about “The Deal” and “Le Chantier”, two films about power, labour and architecture that premiered in Locarno this year.

Damien Hauser revamps the tenets of Afrofuturism - a genre that centers Black history and culture and incorporates science-fiction, technology, and futuristic elements - by mixing indie filmmaking (low budgets, non-professional actors) with AI tools to create grandiose sceneries.

Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker sets lo-fi love story in hi-tech future

This content was published on Sep 7, 2025 Damien Hauser’s ‘Memory of Princess Mumbi’ awed audiences at the Venice Film Festival by exploring the ethical and creative tensions of using AI in cinema.

A man standing in front of an image of a smartphone

How semiconductors are made

This content was published on Aug 4, 2025 Making semiconductor chips for computers, machinery, transport and other devices is a costly and a lengthy process. How exactly is it done?

Swiss Identity

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Changing everything, changing nothing: Locarno Festival keeps offbeat at 79

More

Switzerland no longer wants to foot the bill for ‘suicide tourism’

More

Swiss politicians decide against monitoring assisted-suicide tourism

More

Pegasos association rekindles controversy over assisted suicide in Switzerland

More

What does a ‘dignified death’ mean to you?

More

After the first ‘Sarco pod’ death, will Switzerland introduce stricter rules for assisted suicide?

More

How film and literature have influenced the acceptance of assisted suicide

More

To what extent do you think assisted suicide should be a legally available option to those who want to end their lives?

More

Yoshi travels from Japan to Switzerland to die

More

Why assisted suicide is ‘normal’ in Switzerland

More

Changing everything, changing nothing: Locarno Festival keeps offbeat at 79

More

Night of the living horror fans: Neuchâtel Fantastic Film Festival is the temple of Cult

More

Swiss drama unmasks the country’s invisible working poor

More

From graffiti on trains to the global art scene: Nicolas Party’s pastel revolution

More

Jiajia Zhang’s art turns Shanghai into a mirror of modern urban life

More

Kunstmuseum Bern renovation setback shadows director’s tenure

More

How Basel went from art to Art Basel

More

Flicker, form, future: how Swiss design learned to move

More

At Art Basel, art is business – at Basel Social Club, it’s a party

More

Liste Art Fair: how Art Basel’s ‘younger sister’ became a launchpad for the next generation

More

Swiss co-produced African masterpiece ‘Tilaï’ revived in Cannes

More

We asked an AI about the future – its answer might scare you

More

How artificial intelligence is shaping the Swiss job market

More

Swiss birth rate hits all-time low as new challenge looms

More

KPMG report contained AI hallucinations on benefits of . . . AI

More

Will AI secure or shake Swiss prosperity?

More

Why unemployment in Switzerland is increasing more than elsewhere in Europe

More

How a conference in Lausanne changed the Protestant faith

More

Is AI for sign language promising or futile?

More

Behind the cranes, Jean-Stéphane Bron exposes the architecture of inequality

More

Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker sets lo-fi love story in hi-tech future

More

How semiconductors are made

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