Zeitgeist and the National Exhibition - NEXPO's Curating Team

Juri Steiner: I came into contact with the expos as a young man browsing local flea markets. Souvenirs and books commemorating these events are second-hand stall mainstays. Shortly before the turn of the millennium, the idea for a new national exhibition arose, characterised by the unmistakable flair of its first artistic director, Pipilotti Rist. His initiative was met with surprise. Before Pipilotti's concept, the cultural sector had eschewed the idea of another expo. In those days, it was considered inopportune and unchic to participate in significant state-sponsored events.

Memories of the "Fichenskandal" and the 700^th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation in 1991 were still very fresh. The cultural community's relationship with the state was strained. In some ways, this tension explains why Expo.02 became a platform for younger artists and culturally active people who wished to take responsibility for something new. This is how I began to view the political processes and public discourse in the run-up to Expo.02 in a totally different light – it felt like going to the circus for the first time.

Anne-Outram Mott: I experienced Expo.02 very differently. I actually didn’t even know what a national Expo was, as I didn’t grow up in Switzerland. After all, this kind of national exhibition is unique worldwide.

For me, Expo.02 will always be defined by the Three-Lakes Region and the ingenious use of topography as a canvas to grapple with Switzerland's present and future. The event inspired feelings of solidarity and communalism which were completely new to me. It brought people of all ages together and still allowed them to express their local, urban, regional or rural idiosyncrasies. This openness made Expo.02 special.

Juri Steiner: The zeitgeist shows itself in the expression of a national exhibition, which is apparent in the evolution of the exhibition's format in regards to its identity over time. Reflecting on Expo.02, one is struck by the fatalistic hedonism that in many ways defined the turn of the millennium. Or, for example, take the Landi of 1939, which was characterised by a strengthening of traditional Swiss culture in a period of political instability and international threat.

When it comes to national exhibitions, the zeitgeist is a ubiquitous presence. However, it's only apparent in retrospect. In going back and examining the literature from Expo 64, the naivety of our nascent consumer society is evident, for example. The menace of the Cold War was expressed by the Swiss Army's enormous hedgehog pavilion. Expo 64's most memorable installation, Jean Tinguely's diabolical machine, the kinetic sculpture “Heureka” left an enduring if uncomfortable impression. Its constituent gears and crankshafts moved but didn’t produce anything, which was widely interpreted as a critique on consumerism – a wake-up-call even. My takeaway: at national exhibitions, some things are planned, and some things happen spontaneously. That said, I believe it's becoming increasingly difficult – and this applies to the NEXPO project as well – to cogently address the zeitgeist.

Juri Steiner: NEXPO's decentralised, participatory and evolutionary format demonstrates its relevancy and timeliness. It all began with the mayors of Switzerland's ten largest cities sitting down for an espresso together. They regretted the failure of a national exhibition project in eastern Switzerland, and reached a consensus: it was their mayoral duty to protect the “dinosaur”, as the expo was called by the Neuen Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), from extinction. Saving the national exhibition as a genre necessitated its re-invention.

This meeting gave birth to the decentralisation aspect of the NEXPO concept, which some might interpret as a drawback at first glance. Maybe it’s just the spirit of our times which lets us imagine a decentralised national exhibition. After all, decentralisation is a core principle of Switzerland's political structure and an expression of today’s zeitgeist. Take blockchain, for example, a revolutionary decentralised monetary system.

Anne-Outram Mott: The idea of a collective initiative and common will developing and implementing the project across Switzerland is exceptional. The allegorical issues of our time, globalisation, migration, climate change and, of course, digitalisation can only be addressed by the collective – all viewpoints must be considered. The only way to solve these problems is through collaboration. For us, networking, NEXPO's leitmotif, is the solution.

Anne-Outram Mott: What we want is a national Expo that is shaped in collaboration with the residents of Switzerland – the participatory element is essential. NEXPO poses the question, what does Switzerland stand for? We want the Swiss people to give us the answer. The participatory element stimulates curiosity and interest, supporting individual empowerment and promoting the feeling of community. We can define diversity together – shaping the collective into a homogenous unit is not our primary concern. Rather, NEXPO is a vehicle to explore diversity in Switzerland, recognising common denominators and finding positivity in our differences.

Juri Steiner: Incentivisation is the motivating factor when it comes to encouraging participation, and not only economic incentivisation. The national exhibition has always been an unfathomably expensive event organised by the federal state, cantons, exhibition venues, private sponsors and donors. Since the last exhibition, however, alternative forms of financing have come to the fore. Crowd-funding is a great example, where it’s more about defining values and less about making money; funds are supplied by people who wish to invest meaningfully.

NEXPO's participatory format has a certain playfulness. We are more than merely “homo oeconomicus", economical humans, we are “homo ludens”, playing humans. There exists the romantic notion that humans are only truly human when they are at play.

Anne-Outram Mott: NEXPO aims to catalyse existing initiatives, and encourage the creation of others that have not yet been created. To us, NEXPO is an ideation laboratory and a space for young people to express themselves. That's why diversity is the alpha and the omega – the beginning and the end. Inclusivity and openness towards the various regions, traditions, languages, and generations that make up Swiss societal fabric is imperative. In these times of rapid change, we must offer people the opportunity to exchange ideas. Whether the discourse revolves around homeland, progress, sustainability, tradition or tolerance, the values that define us going forward must be discussed, debated and decided upon. Diversity applies not only to regions but also to the various opinions and values across generations that define us as a nationality.

Anne-Outram Mott: Switzerland is a nation of will; a community that decided to be together yet has no common language and no common religion. A national exhibition is a testament to this will. Communalism will continue to define us well beyond the upcoming national exhibition.

Juri Steiner: For me, the “Verein” (club, association) will survive as the archetypical Swiss principle of community spirit, civic involvement and participatory rights. An association is a democratic and social success story. In keeping with this tradition, NEXPO is also an association.