Swiss Pavilion Expo 2010 Shanghai // OOS

With CHina everything is based on comparison. What is Switzerland and what is China? What is typically Swiss for Switzerland and what is Chinese about China? With increasing globalization comes the need to compare and to distinguish between the ‚own‘ with that of the ‚other‘. Also it is becoming increasingly difficult to allocate clear definitions of the ‘own’.

The daily exchange is dominated by commonalities. Cultural differences are becoming a thing for museums and popular souvenirs. The Swiss pavilion in the 2010 world exhibition in China is presenting Switzerland as a globally networked country with a long history and tradition of international exchange in science, research, and culture.

For the dominantly Chinese audience a playful comparison between the two countries is being presented, with Switzerland as a noteworthy country for new ideas and inventions in the center of Europe. For European and Swiss foreign visitors a bridge is being created to the extraordinary historical value of the Chinese culture and the economical success of today’s China.

The Swiss experience shows that cultural and economical development is always based on intensive exchange and reciprocal motivation, to which China plays a central roll..