Poetry in the City
2024-09-21 - 2024-09-29
POETRY IN THE CITY
From September 21 to 29 at various venues in the city: Bains des Pâquis, Ciné 17, Le Temps d’un Livre bookshop, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Alhambra, Centre d’Art Contemporain.
FREE ADMISSION TO ALL EVENTS
All the authors’ books are available at Le Temps d’un Livre.
For full program details, visit www.poesie-en-ville.ch
During the festival, the Buvette des Bains is open for drinks and food.
TPG buses 6, 8, 9, 25: “Mont-Blanc” stop
Mouettes genevoises: M1, M2, M3: “Pâquis” stop

Petanque. tournament
2024-09-22 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Zurich)
Sunday September 22, mixed triplet boules tournament.
Registration from 9am.

poetry in the city
2024-09-23 08:00 - 2024-09-29 21:00
September 21-29 Here and elsewhere… For further information, visit https://poesie-en-ville.ch/

Exhibition: Botanical snapshots
2024-09-24 12:15 - 13:30 | On the pier
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, 12:15 p.m.

Tribute to Lou Reed
2024-09-24 19:00 - 22:30
Tribute to Lou Reed
Lou Reed, the prince of night and anguish as Andy Warhol called him, has left a lasting imprint on our imagination through his lyrics, the way he sings them and the way he sets them to music. To pay tribute to him, Poésie en Ville invites you to an evening of readings, performances and a musical tour of his emblematic songs.
8:00 pm Doors open
8:30-10:00 pm Entertainment: performance by La Ribot, poetry readings by Lou Reed; in English by Katherine DeLand, in French by Philippe Constantin, concert by Rodolphe Burger.
Find out more about Poste en Ville on : https://poesie-en-ville.ch/

Exhibition: Cataracts
2024-10-02 - 2024-11-08
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.

Philo aux Bains: birth, what does it change?
2024-10-05 14:00 - 15:30 | Yurt
“We arrive in the midst of a conversation begun before us”, wrote Ricoeur, whose pupil and friend Olivier Abel was. Birth throws us both into history and into the vagaries of chance. The splendor of incarnation, which presents the newborn with the possibility of playing his or her own part, sometimes turns into the anguish of incarceration, of being trapped within oneself and doomed to death. But the desolation of our finitude finds consolation in the marvel of the plurality of existences and forms of life. Each of us is obliged to be born, and through our existence transforms raw chance into consented chance.

By making birth the perpetually renewed root of democracy, Olivier Abel offers us a superb existential and political meditation in which every birth changes something, not only for oneself (obviously!) but also for the world.

In the company of Olivier Abel, professor of philosophy and ethics at the Protestant theology faculty in Montpellier, and author of “La Naissance, qu’est ce que ça change?”, we’ll take a closer look at the term to understand its meanings, uses and imaginations.

Following the approach of the Qu’est ce que ça change? collection, which invites us to reflect freely on a vast subject that concerns us all, the idea is to share the philosopher’s viewpoint and to explore together what this notion evokes.

In collaboration with Labor et Fides Philo aux Bains invites you to question a simple yet complex notion: birth.

Cold water swimming lessons
2024-10-07 12:30 - 13:30 | On the pier
Would you like to start cold water swimming and join a movement of several hundred people who swim all winter at the Bains? Would you like to enjoy the many benefits of cold water swimming (immune defenses, mental well-being, etc.)?
From October 7, Les Bains will be offering classes every Monday between 12:30 and 1:30 pm in groups of up to 8, to give you all the keys you need to get started.
This course is designed for intermediate and advanced swimmers (we don’t teach you how to swim during the course).
Registration at the Rotonde des Bains, CHF 10 per course.

Poetic aperitif
2024-10-12 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday, October 12, 11 a.m. Resumption of the apéros poétiques with a carte blanche by Editions A côté de cela Reading of texts from the works of :
Francesco Micieli, Carin Caduff,
Pablo Jofré, Philippe Constantin,
Didier Jordan, Marcel Burger, Paul
Verlaine.

Fête du Théâtre: Band(e) à part
2024-10-13 15:00 - 17:00
Band(e) à part is constructed as a theatrical documentary, with the audience taking on the role of the camera. We follow a pop rock band as they go about their daily business and tour Europe.
Between interviews with band members, live concert scenes and backstage footage, Collectif Duncan explores in music the social mechanisms that govern the evolution of individuals within a group. What remains of each individual in a shared project? A comic and sensitive show, full of disagreements and unison.
A creation by Collectif Duncan
Text, musical composition, direction and acting: Paul Berrocal, Boris Degex and Coralie Vollichard
Artistic collaboration: Alain Borek
Sound: in progress
Photo credit: Aurélia Thys 50 free tickets Reservations: 022 908 20 31 / fetedutheatre.ch From age 12 Running time: 55 min

Apéro Poétique
2024-10-19 11:00 - 12:00
Apéro poétique with a tribute to the centenary of Surrealism.

Philo aux Bains: Humanitarianism, a surge of solidarity or a field of contradictions?
2024-10-20 10:00 - 11:30 | Yurt
Does humanitarian aid create more dependency than it solves problems? Are the motivations of humanitarian actors always as altruistic as we think? How can we prevent humanitarian aid from becoming a vehicle for neo-colonialism? Come and discuss this fascinating topic at our next café-philo with Tawfik Chamaa. Together, we’ll explore the profound motivations behind humanitarian commitment, as well as its paradoxes and sometimes unexpected consequences: dependence, new colonialism, good intentions that backfire… This café-philo is an invitation to reflect on the ethical challenges of international aid, through questions that concern us all. Come and share your ideas, thoughts and doubts in a convivial atmosphere open to dialogue. Dr. Chamaa is currently Director of the Service Medical Junction (multidisciplinary medical group) which he founded in 1997 and which serves a large number of people in the center of Geneva. In September 2011, following the Syrian uprising, he co-created the Geneva-based association Syrian Democrats (DS) to support Syrians in their demand for democracy and freedom. He is also a board member of UOSSM International, HRI and President of GLOCA (Global Organisation for Civil Society Advancement _ Shabab Pro project). The café-philo is organized as part of the Cataracte exhibition, and will take place under the yurt on the Bains pier.
Free admission.

Journal des Bains no 31
2024-10-21 08:00 - 17:00
Summer/Fall 2024

Poetic aperitif
2024-11-02 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday, November 2 poetry reading with André Petitat
Red-footed kisses
André Petitat’s first passion was the social sciences, in Geneva, Montreal and Lausanne. But throughout his career as a researcher and teacher, exploring themes such as education, the gift, secrecy, narrative and interpretation, he has never forgotten the other voice. The voice of emotion and surprise, the one that goes straight to the heart of the matter or wraps itself around it, the one that, picoti and picota, dances and makes the other words, held for a few moments in silence, tremble.

Philo aux Bains: Café mortel
2024-11-05 18:00 - 19:30 | Yurt
Philo aux Bains invites you to join us in the Yurt on the pier for a Café mortel, where you can share your experiences of death in a convivial atmosphere.

The brainchild of Bernard Crettaz, sociologist, founder of the Société d’études thanatologiques and fervent Christian, who wanted people to “talk about death in the bistro”, these Cafés were created to free up discussion about death and dislodge the strongest taboos.
Today, Rita Bonvin is one of the people who have taken up the torch with the association Envie de dire la mort and who is perpetuating these special exchange spaces, whose objective is: “living orality”, i.e. an exchange in the presence of others that invites encounters – “civic orality”, which concerns everyone – “non-specialized orality”, which recognizes experience, lived experience. In this sense, to encourage non-judgmental exchanges between full-fledged human beings, we ask you to express yourself without “professional posture (…) without theory (…) or therapy”.
The anthropologist’s latest work will be available on site thanks to the collaboration of Labor et Fides, who have republished it and whom we thank for their participation.

Night swims
2024-11-06 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-11-27 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-12-11 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-01-22 18:00 - 20:00
Come and share the pleasure of swimming in cold water at night, in an atmosphere like no other! Les Bains offers food and drink to warm you up, and lifeguards are on hand to help. Night swims resume on November 6. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dates to follow :

November 27
December 11
January 22
February 26
March 26

Full Moon Sauna
2024-11-15 20:00 - 23:30 | Sauna
On full-moon evenings, the saunas are open until 11:30pm.
Enjoy the magic of the Night Baths with a brazier, clay to spread on your body, ice cubes and orange pieces.
Dates: October 17, November 15, December 15, January 13, February 12, March 14, April 13 and May 12.

Poetic aperitif
2024-11-16 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday, November 16, 11 a.m., with Xochitl Borel
Born in 1987, Xochitl Borel is a French-speaking writer. She is the author of L’alphabet des anges, (L’Aire, 2014) for which she won the Prix Lettres Frontière 2015 and the Prix du Roman des Romands 2016, Les oies de l’Ile Rousseau(L’Aire, 2017), a soft thriller set in Geneva, and Le siècle des couronnes (Dashbook, 2022), a short contemporary story in which she depicts an irrational and poetic universe that is ironically reminiscent of the “covidélirant” world. August 2024 saw the publication of her first collection of poems: Trognes (L’Aire).
She currently lives in Vevey (Switzerland), where she founded the Maison suisse de la Poésie.
A lover of words and mother of three children as beautiful as the singularity of each being, she continues to write the world to understand a little of this humanity capable of great cruelties and infinite tenderness.

Advent cabins and Enchanted Yurt
2024-12-01 - 2024-12-29
The month of December at Les Bains is like no other… it’s a month of festivities from December 1 to 29, filled with magic, human warmth and wonder, to end the year with a fireworks display. December is all about Advent Cabins: every day from December 1 to 23, an artist opens the door of the cabin he or she has decorated to let us discover his or her universe on the theme of re-enchantment. Daily vernissage at 7:00 p.m. with mulled wine and fondue. December also means La Yourte Enchantée , with its magical and eclectic program of encounters, songs, shows and clowning, every day from December 2 to 29. See the full program of La Yourte Enchantée.

Philo aux Bains: What does the obsession with tanning reveal about our modern societies? with Margaux Cassan
2024-12-01 10:30 - 12:00
We invite you to an exceptional café-philosophique around Margaux Cassan’s latest book, Ultra Violet. This book explores our complex and ambiguous relationship with the sun, blending personal narrative and philosophical reflection. What is a tan, if not a symbol of both vitality and fragility? Why has this obsession with “looking good” become a social marker, sometimes to the detriment of our health?
Ultra Violet is an intimate journey that examines tanning as a “total social fact” – through the history, sociology, mythology and beliefs that surround our relationship with sunlight. Margaux Cassan tackles the dreams and illusions of a generation fascinated by the sun, right down to its most insidious risks. At this meeting, we’ll discuss how tanning has become a sign of social distinction, the tensions between the desire to look good and health, and what this says about our times. Margaux Cassan will talk about her writing, her questions, and her way of deconstructing a phenomenon so intimately linked to our lives.
Margaux Cassan is a philosopher and writer. In 2021, she published a critical bibliography of Paul Ricoeur, Le courage du compromis. In 2023, she published Vivre Nu, a fascinating reflection on nudity and our relationship with the body.
The café-philo will take place in the yurt on the Bains pier. Free admission.

Apéro poétique with Nuria Manzur-Wirth
2024-12-07 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday, December 7, 11am, reading by Nuria Manzur-Wirth Nuria Manzur-Wirth is a Swiss poet, translator, playwright, director and actress, born in Mexico City in 1979. With a doctorate in Human Sciences and a thesis on the poetic thought of Paul Celan, her research and artistic concerns have led her to explore a variety of disciplines and languages. Co-founder and artistic director of Cie Les Eaux Courantes, since 2019 she has co-created and produced several interdisciplinary projects with poetry at their core. She writes and publishes in several languages. Following the publication of her collection Esquilles (Vevey, Éditions de l’Aire, 2020), she is on the jury for the Prix de Poésie Pierrette Micheloud. Her latest collection, Peaux, was published by Éditions d’en Bas in Lausanne in September 2023. In film, she co-directs a documentary on the Prix de Lausanne with Alain Wirth, which can be seen on the RTS play Le Prix documentary section. Co-founder and active member of the Maison Suisse de la Poésie for the past three years, she heads its interdisciplinary pole and works on the development of its various activities alongside Xochitl Borel. Links : Portrait of the artist, by Alexandre Bugnon, commissioned by the cultural department of the City of Vevey: https://www.culturevevey.ch/nuria-manzur-wirth-poete/

Climbing Jass Tournament
2024-12-11 21:00 - 2024-12-12 07:00 | Refreshment bar
Ah la belle Escalade ????

Tournoi convivial de jass se déroulant la nuit du 11 au 12 décembre. On vous attend par équipe de 2 déguisés pour l’occasion! On en profitera pour casser la fameuse marmite et profiterons pour entonner quelques chants traditionnels de cette belle fête genevoise. Ouvert à toutes et à tous! Des prix sympas seront à gagner!

Inscriptions dès 21h au prix de CHF 10 par personne, début du tournoi à 22h.

Apéro poétique with Sarah Veyron
2024-12-21 11:00 - 12:00
Saturday, December 21, 11am, reading by Sara Veyron After studying communications at university, completing an internship at the Théâtre de l’Est Parisien and obtaining a BAFA in “Theater and Video”, Sara Veyron joined the Institut d’Etudes Théâtrales at Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle for a BA in Theater and Pedagogy and a Master’s degree, for which she began research into writing and the memory of movement, as well as the object, the key to Tadeusz Kantor’s theater. In-depth training through workshops with artists broadened her scenic and dramaturgical scope. These included Noh theater with Shiro Daïmon and Naohiko Umewaka, body-puppet and movement theater with Claire Heggen at the Institut International de la Marionnette de Charleville-Mézières, set design with Jean Pierre Merchadour and Gilone Brun, Théâtre musical Le Grain around works by Georges Aperghis, and aerial dance with Annie Bourdié. Since 1991, Sara has also taken part in numerous shows as an actress, assistant director and producer (short film), director and performer in French and German productions (“L’Opéra des gueux” by J. Gay, “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes, “La Voix des gens” by Nicolas Frize, “Der Geizige” by Molière). At the end of 1997, she founded the Compagnie Sara Veyron within the Théâtre du Chaos, and has staged some twenty previously unpublished plays by Georges de Cagliari, moving seamlessly from the interactive theater for which the Théâtre du Chaos has become a benchmark to the theater

Poetic aperitif
2025-01-11 11:00 - 12:00
APEROS POETIQUES – CARTE BLANCHE WITH CERISE ROSSIER
Saturday 11.01 2025 at 11 a.m.
Cherry Rossier will kick off the year with an unusual reading, since it’s more a question of creating language than original texts.
The 50-minute session will be divided into two parts:
The “reading” of a text chosen especially for the occasion, transcribed in DURCH language and accompanied by subtitles;
and, after a talk that sheds light on the ins and outs of the articulation of these human letters, an original exquisite corpse composed with the audience in attendance.
You’ll also be able to stroll among the drawings of this research into language in motion, which will be displayed on the walls of the circular tent.
It’s an opportunity to immerse yourself in the work of a local artist, in the intimacy of the Yurt at the Bains des Pâquis.

Philo aux Bains: The environmental cost of happiness with Gaël Brulé
2025-01-11 14:00 - 15:30 | Yurt
In a world where consumption is often synonymous with well-being, what are the environmental consequences of our choices? And above all, is it possible to redefine happiness in a more sober, planet-friendly way? In his book Le coût environnemental du bonheur, sociologist and researcher Gaël Brulé explores the links between our individual aspirations and their ecological impact. Combining philosophical reflection and sociological analysis, he suggests ways of rethinking happiness in the light of environmental challenges. In this café-philo, we’ll discuss some key questions: is our definition of happiness compatible with a world of limited resources? How can modern societies evolve towards sustainable models of well-being? And what concrete solutions can be implemented to reduce the environmental cost of our quest for happiness? Trained as an engineer, Gaël Brulé is a sociologist and professor of environmental health at the University of Applied Sciences in Geneva. He has worked in sociology on happiness. His research focuses on the links between well-being and social, institutional and ecosystem conditions. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Sciences & Bonheur. The café-philo will take place at the Bains des Pâquis, on the pier under the yurt, and will be broadcast live on Facebook and recorded on YouTube.
Free admission.

Lantern workshop
2025-01-18 08:30 - 11:30, 2025-01-19 08:30 - 11:30 | Refreshment bar
Come and make your own lanterns for the parade of the unloved!
Let’s celebrate our fears and prejudices towards all those ugly, nasty, prickly, creepy, hairy, naked, obscure and misunderstood animals. All those who frighten, repel and disgust us.
** Workshops on January 18 and 19, 2025, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Bains des Pâquis refreshment center **
No registration and free admission, materials provided, all ages and accompanied children. Allow around an hour for the workshop to create your own lantern about your beloved animals!

Then come along with your beautifully lit lanterns to the two great parades of the unloved on the last weekend of the Geneva LUX festival, January 31 and February 1 at 6.30pm, starting from the Jardin Anglais.
Music and giant puppets accompany this luminous parade, with a grand acrobatic finale. Parades open to all, with access for wheelchairs, strollers, and all kinds of scaredy-cats!
