From 1945 until 2002, thousands of men and women came to work in Geneva as seasonal workers to meet the need for labor, mainly in construction, agriculture and hotel industry.
Their status was precarious, and their living and working conditions particularly harsh. Presented both in the form of a visual and sound device installed in public space and a digital platform viewable on smartphone or computer, two memorial itineraries, historical and artistic seven stages each present testimonies of seasonal and seasonal as well as historical comments related to the different places in which these stages fit.
- L’“Life as a seasonal worker” itinerary presents their living and working conditions as well as the difficulties they had to face. It starts at Place du Reculet, behind Cornavin station, then passes through Place des Grottes, Chemin Annie-Jiagge, Parc Saint-Jean, Place Lise-Girardin, Rue du Mont-Blanc and Place des Alps.
- L’itinerary “The status of seasonal worker and its history” evokes political and social struggles to which this unworthy status gave rise until its suppression in 2002. It starts at Rousseau Islandthen passes through the English Garden, the Promenade de la Treille, the Place de Neuve, the Parc du 14-juin, the Parc des Bastions and the Rue des Chaudronniers.
For Alfonso Gomez, Administrative Advisor in charge of sustainable development, “it is about perpetuate the work of memory carried out towards those who have lived and worked in the shadows to build our city, in very difficult conditions.
Highlighting this episode in our history
It is also a way for the City of Geneva to express its gratitude to them. “Highlighting this episode in our history is all the more important as the disappearance of seasonal worker status has not put an end to the phenomena of exploitation of workers.”
Sami Kanaan, Administrative Advisor in charge of culture and digital transition, insists “on both the artistic and historical dimension of the approach, which allows, via digital tools, to make sensitive the destiny of these women and men who offered their work force to Genevaby reminding us and challenging us about the unacceptable reception conditions, which continue today, for example for undocumented people.
Jeanne Gillard, one of the designers of this project, emphasizes that “by combining memorial, historical and artistic approaches, these itineraries inscribe the words of seasonal workers in the urban space. They also recall the conflicts and power struggles to which the status of these workers has given rise.”
Like theexhibition presented in 2019 at the Le Commun spacethese two itineraries were designed by the Protest archivesTHE Labor College And Rosa Bruxat the initiative of the City of Geneva. The digital platform was developed by the Municipal Libraries. Its graphics were adapted by Rosa Brux in collaboration with Dimitri Delcourt.
Public and free guided tours
Of the public and free guided tours are offered on Wednesday, September 25 at 6 p.m., Saturday, September 28 at 4 p.m. and Thursday, October 3 at 6 p.m. Others will be organized later (see seasonal-saisonnieres.ch).
Guided tours intended for secondary education II classes will take place this fall, thanks to the support of the Department of Public Education of the Republic and Canton of Geneva.
We acknowledge Source link for the information.
