Hibou Pèlerin

For many years, Hibou Pèlerin has been winging his way to cultural and historical exhibitions. For the Swiss National Museum’s blog, Pèlerin picks out one or two pearls and showcases them here.

A runway into the future

Hibou Pèlerin 08.10.2021 The new building of the Estonian National Museum, opened in 2016, is spectacular in every way. The building reveals a lot about the eventful history and the present day self-image of the smallest of the Baltic countries.

The Estonian National Museum is located on a former Soviet military airport.

Plastic hens and Snow White’s coffin

Hibou Pèlerin 11.08.2021 More than 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Vitra Design Museum is showcasing German design from 1949-89. Viewed through the prism of time, both the disuniting elements and the shared features become especially apparent.

Harf Zimmermann, from the photo series «Hufelandstrasse Berlin 1055».

A dark chapter in Switzerland’s history

Hibou Pèlerin 09.06.2021 Abused, not cared for – these few words sum up the fate of countless children, adolescents and adults in Switzerland up into the 1970s. Under the title ‘Vom Glück vergessen’ (Forgotten by happiness), the Rätisches Museum Chur vividly brings to life for its audience the reality of ‘enforced welfare measures’.

A view of the exhibition ‘Vom Glück vergessen’.

How the Great Plague changed the world

Hibou Pèlerin 31.03.2021 The plague epidemic in the Middle Ages, and its aftermath, readily invites comparison with the coronavirus pandemic. In his fascinating account of the ‘Great Plague’, however, historian Volker Reinhardt also warns of the limitations of such comparisons.

At the peak of the mass mortality, urban space for the numerous plague deaths was becoming scarce everywhere, as this dramatic depiction of Tournai in 1349 shows.

The museum, a global model of success

Hibou Pèlerin 17.02.2021 Due to the new lockdown of the museums, Hibou Pèlerin has been forced to take a compulsory break. He is using this time to read some new publications on cultural history. A brand new world history of the museum by Krzysztof Pomian has him riveted.

The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest, Willem van Haecht (1593-1637), 1628.

A pig’s head in a china shop

Hibou Pèlerin 05.11.2020 In Milan, Fondazione Prada’s ‘Porcelain Room’ is shining a spotlight on a particularly significant chapter in the history of globalisation. It’s also a story of design tailored to the tastes of customers willing to pay a premium for what they want.

Exhibition view of ‘The Porcelain Room – Chinese Export Porcelain’.

Museum of Futures

Hibou Pèlerin 04.09.2020 Futurium – that’s the name of Berlin’s new museum of technology and society. It’s a place of information, for reflecting on creative ways to solve current problems and co-imagining alternative futures.

Yves Saint Laurent as ambassador for Lyon silk

Hibou Pèlerin 19.02.2020 Soie ou saucisson – in the traditional Lyonnaise families, you belonged to either the silk camp or the sausage camp. Both have left their mark on the city’s economic development. Visitors to the Musée des tissus in Lyon can now discover what links the silk camp with the renowned fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.