LAUSANNE.- Pristine, precise and prosperous; attractive, safe and reliable – Switzerland and Japan have much in common in the collective imagination. This resonance is simultaneously real and imagined, embodied and fantasized, experienced and mediatized.

Idealized societies; an abundance of unspoiled nature; immaculate and picturesque countryside; technological engineering and progress; medical biotechnology: all these fragments tell the story of a seemingly perfect order.

This exhibition explores the cultural seeds, underlying myths and narrative dynamics that foster this remarkable image. Most importantly, it asks how we can reclaim these myths to better address today’s challenges. By looking into one another’s mirror, both countries may be able to better understand themselves by questioning the image they transmit.

Six Swiss and Japanese artists examine our relationship with nature

Across wide, wild landscapes and urban fragments, Ester Vonplon (CH, 1980) and Taisuke Koyama (JP, 1978) reveal the traces of a seemingly untouched nature.

Photographs by Rumi Ando (JP, 1985) of a former landfill island and by Delphine Burtin (CH, 1974) of the artificial representation of mountains explore the themes of humankind’s transformation and appropriation of nature.

And last but not least, thought-provoking works by Maxime Guyon (CH/FR, 1990) and Keita Kojima (JP, 1985) examine the complex relationship between nature and cutting edge technological innovations.

A dialogue between Japan and Switzerland

To mark the 160th anniversary of Swiss-Japanese bilateral relations, Super Natural! was showing simultaneously at the YAU Center in Tokyo (from 11th September to 9th October) and in the UBS lobby in St-François, Lausanne. The exhibition is an initiative of Photo Elysée and the Swiss Embassy in Japan in collaboration with Tokyo Photographic Research.

Daido Moriyama. A Retrospective

In parallel, Photo Elysée is putting on a major exhibition devoted to one of Japan’s greatest photographers, Daido Moriyama (1938). This retrospective, produced by the Instituto Moreira Salles (São Paulo, Brazil), is making a stopover in Switzerland after showing in Berlin and London until 23rd February 2025.