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.

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

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

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.

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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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

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.

Kurt Hirschfeld’s biography is a prime example of the life of a committed individual in the 20th century. Under his leadership, the Schauspielhaus became a hub of cultural resistance against fascism in Europe.

Kurt Hirschfeld: late applause for a forgotten man

This content was published on Jun 9, 2026 Under Kurt Hirschfeld’s influence, the Schauspielhaus Zürich gained unprecedented political and artistic significance. A documentary now turns the spotlight on the Jewish theatre pioneer.

View from the stage of the auditorium and the stage machinery at the Schauspielhaus Zürich Pfauen.

Zurich city theatre, a sanctuary and sign of resistance, turns 100

This content was published on Jun 9, 2026 During the Second World War, the theatre became one of the most important places of refuge for persecuted artists from German-speaking countries.

The Zurich Museum of Fine Arts is still traying to get to terms with Bührle's complicated gift. This time, the museum put the whole collection together like diverse pieces found together in a chest.

Bührle’s troubled art collection is squashed together in new Zurich show

This content was published on Jun 5, 2026 As the Swiss biggest art museum takes on the provenance research of many of the paintings, it has also opened a new exhibition – the third since the museum first displayed the artworks in 2021.

Swiss immigrants who boarded the ship for Brazil in the port of Genoa (Italy) in 1898. Their destination is Núcleo Campos Sales.

How the largest community of Swiss descendants in Brazil became ‘German’

This content was published on Jun 4, 2026 In southern Brazil, thousands of Swiss immigrants were gradually absorbed into a broader German identity.

Future of work

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 roads could see driverless vehicles within three years

This content was published on May 27, 2025 A recent Swiss law change has raised the possibility of automated vehicles operating in real-life conditions in around three years.

How we work: artificial intelligence

This content was published on May 26, 2025 In this short video, editor-in-chief Mark Livingston answers your questions on how we use artificial intelligence (AI) at SWI swissinfo.ch.

Demographics

History

Swiss Identity

More

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

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

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

Kurt Hirschfeld: late applause for a forgotten man

More

Zurich city theatre, a sanctuary and sign of resistance, turns 100

More

Bührle’s troubled art collection is squashed together in new Zurich show

More

How the largest community of Swiss descendants in Brazil became ‘German’

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

More

Swiss roads could see driverless vehicles within three years

More

How we work: artificial intelligence

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