EXHIBITIONS
Throughout the year, the pier is transformed to host a variety of exhibitions, often in collaboration with various institutions and Les Bains. The Association des Usagère.ers.x des Bains des Pâquis (AUBP) also plays an active role in this area, creating and producing its own exhibitions. These events focus mainly on subjects relating to Lake Geneva or the history and life of the Spa. Discover our exhibitions below.
Cataracts
The “Cataracte” exhibition will run from October 2 to November 10, 2024, with a vernissage on October 1, 2024 at 6pm at the Bains des Pâquis, accompanied by readings of Philippe Constantin’s poetic text and a talk by Dr. Tawfik Chamaa of UOSSM. A café-philo will also be organized. This work was presented at the ON/OFF festival in Arles in 2023 and at the Leica Galerie in Geneva. These exhibitions raise public awareness of humanitarian issues while offering a visual immersion in this essential mission. Cataracts, a scourge that indiscriminately affects young and old alike in Africa, were recently the focus of a campaign of ophthalmological operations carried out by the NGO UOSSM in Mozambique. This project was documented by Geneva-based photographer Denis Ponté, whose in-depth knowledge of Africa, acquired through many years of reporting, was brought face to face with a reality as unthinkable as it is harrowing.
Botanical Snapshots
Present in Geneva for 200 years, the Botanical Conservatory will be revealing its hidden treasures, its unsuspected missions and its key role in the conservation of the plant and fungal world. Immerse yourself in a never-before-seen photographic immersion! Closely linked to the Botanical Garden, but less well known, the Botanical Conservatory abounds in little-known and exceptional treasures. Through the talented photographs produced by Studio Fédéral and Flying Focus, discover the herbarium and library collections studied by botanists from all over the world. Discover also its different facets in research and conservation. Immerse yourself in this institution which, along with the Botanical Garden, is a key player in providing answers to the current global biodiversity crisis.
Public opening: September 24 at 12:15 pm
The Good Offices of Lake Geneva
Exhibition opening July 18, 11am
Exhibition from July 10 to September 15
Lausanne, Evian, Montreux, Nyon and above all Geneva have played and continue to play a leading role in world diplomacy. These cities have hosted countless summits, treaties and international institutions.
Among the reasons for the region’s diplomatic success are Switzerland’s neutrality and political stability, its geographical centrality, its transport infrastructure, as well as its history of tourism, its humanitarian tradition and Lake Geneva.
Indeed, the lake has played an important role in the diplomatic events that have taken place on its shores: a soothing landscape conducive to negotiations, a barrier to ensure security, an ideal recreational area for diplomats seeking to clear their heads between sessions, and an advantage for transport (by boat as well as seaplane).
In this exhibition, we only touch on a handful of the diplomatic events that took place on the shores of Lake Geneva. While some have left their mark on history, many have been nothing more than vain, hopeful attempts, with no solution or resolution.
Abysses
Opening July 18 at 11 a.m.
Long inaccessible domains, the abysses of the sea have always provoked a deep fascination, a mixture of curiosity and fear.
“How many have disappeared, hard and sad fortune! / In a bottomless sea, on a moonless night, / Under the blind ocean forever
buried! “sang Victor Hugo.
In the familiar and nurturing, yet often hostile and deadly, element of the seas and rivers, sailors, fishermen, explorers and even simple swimmers could, not without reason, fantasize about the strange creatures that swarmed beneath their ship’s hulls and feet.
Marcel Bolomey
The incredible bestiary of Lake Geneva
A lake monster, an elephant shot with a cannon, an alligator on the loose. Geneva’s last bear. Monkeys immersed in the depths of the lake. A disoriented pink flamingo, wild boars swimming across Lake Geneva and excommunicated eels and leeches. Remarkable animal sightings punctuate the history of Lake Geneva’s waters. Here we present the unique fauna that makes Lake Geneva an extravagance beyond all realities. This exposure is strongly discouraged for those who wish to continue swimming in the lake in peace.
Clap sur Léman IV
Films with Lake Geneva as their backdrop are actually quite rare. Yet Swiss and foreign filmmakers regularly set up shop on the shores of the lake to shoot a few scenes. Directors’ relationships with water vary greatly. For some, it’s just a distant backdrop, for others an integral part of the narrative. Unlike the mountain, which is a character in many films, the lake is not an actor in its own right in any fiction, except in the protean work of Godard, who lived on its shores in Rolle. Strangely enough, despite the presence of many talented directors and dream castings, virtually none of the films shot on Lake Geneva’s waters have been a hit with audiences. These films will be remembered only by cinephiles.
Enchanted journey
Enchanted journey: Amsterdam, Bamako, Geneva… but who knows the song?
Without songs, no places, no stories, no revolutions, no memories nide Love Story. Songs enchant the world, for better and sometimes for worse, as when their heady tunes conceal a racist or sexist vision. Songs recount, bear witness to and, in some cases, transform the world; they are the vehicles of our geographical imaginations. Welcome to this exhibition-game devoted to the relationship between popular songs and places. It is a playful extension of the three books Monde enchanté; Villes enchantées; Voyage enchanté (Editions Georg, 2021, 2022, 2024). We propose an enchanted journey like a treasure hunt, to be followed in the order of your desires.
Labyrinths
Deeply rooted in many civilizations since time immemorial, the figure of the labyrinth has never ceased to fascinate writers and artists. A place for representing space and reading the world, it houses at its heart the Minotaur, a half-man, half-beast creature whose dual nature reflects the bivalent aspect of the labyrinth: exploration and perdition, a structured yet confusing space, whose regularly laid paths nonetheless lead astray…
