NEXPLORER – Searching the values of the Switzerland of tomorrow

NEXPLORER is a new, playful survey about the topic “Who am I, what is Switzerland and how do we live in it in the 21st century?” Results and data are used in collaboration with sociologists, political scientists and artists to create value cards (and perhaps also sculptures) that go beyond the visualisation and discourses of conventional political and consumer surveys and provide a new perspective on Switzerland, its inhabitants and their values. NEXPLORER feels the pulse of the new, next-generation Switzerland.

Historically, we refer to the notorious Gulliver survey of the Expo64 in Lausanne and to our own Com&Com project “Point de Suisse”, which we realised in 2014 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Gulliver in Lausanne at the Festival de la Cité and a year later in the Historical Museum in Basel. What all these surveys had in common was that they were playful projects, initiated in a socio-cultural manner, aimed to stimulate discussions about Switzerland and the national self-image. As an artist, curator and mediator, I've been working on this interface for a long time.

NEXPLORER will develop its own value compass for the visualisation of the survey results. The compass will be based on a fusion of the well-known Smartspiders model with the Swiss Cross and its 12 corner points.

Every Swiss resident is different; in the future, this individuality will be communicated with an own, personalised Swiss cross.

The Swiss Cross as a symbol of our country and of the Swiss identity is being recharged and individually rejuvenated: the personal, moving cross will be the visual, communicative centrepiece and emotional tagline of NEXPLORER.

It is part of the unique profile of national exhibitions and their subprojects that they should appeal to the entire population. The same applies to us, but we also want to specifically encourage the next generation – the young ones – to join in. They shape the future of Switzerland.

On the one hand, it is a derivative of “NEXPO – the new Expo”. On the other hand, we also like the image of the expedition and adventurous explorers that the name suggests. The survey and, above all, its results can and will lead us into unknown worlds of the Swiss sensitivities.

In more general terms, NEXPLORER illustrates the principle of common sense and the shared values of Switzerland, and it offers orientation regarding values and change.

The participants will not only share their personal impressions and values with NEXPLORER but, from 2021 on, they will also be able to formulate and propose questions themselves. After our initial surveys, we want to invite the population to start their own surveys and look for the next set of key questions that people in Switzerland will be asking.

The Citizen Science Center (ETH and the University of Zurich), which deals with such bottom-up processes – allowing citizens to not only participate in research but also take an active part – has accompanied us since the first meeting about a year ago.

If things go as planned, NEXPLORER will continuously raise awareness of the central topics of NEXPO and also serve as a compass for further project development. NEXPLORER can respond relatively quickly to events and topics at national and international level.

We are in the process of testing our model based on a first set of questions and are developing prototypes. We want to go online with a first version on 1st August 2020.