Tip of the week

Seventy years ago, in January 1956, Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s «The Visit» premiered at the Schauspielhaus Zurich. The tragic comedy made the Swiss author world-famous and continues to be performed on stages around the globe. The plot is universal: a woman returns to her hometown and puts its residents to a moral test using the power of money. The story has been adapted for film multiple times – the most striking adaptation comes from Africa. Djibril Diop Mambéty relocates the European village of Güllen to Colobane in Senegal. The questions remain the same: Is humanity for sale? Does morality have a price? And where is the line between justice and revenge?

“Alien:Romulus” has just been released in cinemas across the globe, another sequel to the 1979 science fiction classic ‘Alien’ by Ridley Scott. The famous monster was designed by Swiss artist HR Giger (1940-2014). Giger was born the son of a pharmacist in Chur and achieved world fame as a representative of Fantastic Realism. He was awarded an Oscar in 1980 for the design of “Alien”. His art still fascinates countless people around the world today. In «Passagen», Fredi M. Murer sets out in search of the sources of inspiration for HR Giger's art. A documentary that is as personal as it is revealing.

The Kunstmuseum Bern is dedicating the first extensive posthumous retro to the Swiss artist Markus Raetz, who died in 2020, with a focus on his three-dimensional works. Emphasis on focus, because Markus Raetz has shown us how much our perception can change depending on our point of view. With playful joy, quiet mischievousness and apparent lightness. Iwan Schumacher accompanied the artist and lets us marvel.