Alois Carigiet

Hello everyone,

Here I am, with my second post.

Last Friday I was in Zurich for the day, as I wanted to visit the exhibition of Alois Carigiet at the Landes Museum of Zurich.

Alois Carigiet was the illustrator of many of my favourite books as a child, although he is not as well known outside of Switzerland. The most famous of these books is "Schellen Ursli", authored by Selina Chönz. 

A sketch of "Schellen Ursli"

It has been a long time since I last read their books, so visiting this exhibition felt a little bit like walking down memory lane. Rooms of the gallery had been transformed to resemble scenes from Carigiet’s books, as well as the town where Carigiet lived. 

As an example, one room had the feeling of being in a typical "grabündner" square, with the distinct architecture and tiny windows. In the middle of this square is an old sledge, a reference to one of Carigiet’s works (“Der grosse Schnee”). Each detail elicits a childhood memory of Carigiet’s work.

The square with the sledge

As one might expect, the exhibition included many pieces from "Schellen Ursli", but it was particularly interesting to see the inclusion of some of Carigiet’s less well known work, which included several scenery paintings and sketches.

View from a mail-bus ("Postauto")

A New Year's card

The timing of this exhibition was presumably chosen to coincide with the release of the new film adaptation of "Schellen Ursli", which I have not had the pleasure of seeing yet, although I intend to do so. I know it's a kids’ movie, but who doesn't enjoy a good nostalgia trip, especially when it’s produced by the Oscar winning Xavier Koller?!

If you are in the region and would like to see the exhibition, it's still open until the 3rd of January 2016 at the Landesmuseum in Zurich.

Have a good one
S