Whose Landscape: The Alps Between Nation and Planet

Through conversation and art, the afternoon invites us to reconsider the Alps not simply as a symbol of Switzerland, but as a landscape whose meaning, image, and future are shared. We will first gather at Swissnex for a panel discussion about the notion of ownership and image. As noted in the Harvard Art Museums exhibition On Location: Drawing the Outdoors , the “Swiss myth” was partially constructed by non-Swiss Romantics, such as J. M. W. Turner, John Ruskin, and Lord Byron. Two hundred and fifty years later, the same Alpine landscape is claimed at a larger scale still: as a planetary system of glaciers, biodiversity corridors, and atmospheric records that belong to no one country. Who has ever really owned the image of the Alps—and what role do cultural institutions (museums, embassies, organizations like Swissnex) play in mediating between national identity and planetary responsibility? LEARN MORE / REGISTER