The Cabinet of Realities: A fruitful dialogue supported by the nccr – on the move.

The Cabinet of Realities at the Belluard Festival brought together a diverse group of people who exchanged about a currently very lively debated topic “Fortress Europe”: Inspired by science while – at the same time – going beyond science.

On Sunday afternoon, 28 June 2015, the Cabinet of Realities took place in the medieval fortress of the Belluard in Fribourg, Switzerland. The Cabinet was part of the 32nd Festival Belluard Bollwerk International. Eighteen specialists shared their knowledge on a specific aspect of the “Fortress Europe”, the festival’s thematic focus. In charge of the whole project, I carefully selected people who would represent various perspectives on this controversial thematic. Among them were three researchers from the nccr – on the move. Céline Bauloz talked about the externalization of asylum outside of the European borders. Teresia Gordzielik questioned the juridical reality of the so-called Fortress Europe. And, Laura Rezzonico explained the practice of administrative detention of migrants in Switzerland.

Photo: © Margaux Kolly 

In the middle of this very hot summer, six saloons are set up inside the beautiful and fresh fortress Belluard. The atmosphere is smooth and concentrated. In each saloon, about ten people are sitting together. They are talking, exchanging, asking each other questions. The discussions are rich, passionate and focused. In the Cabinet of Realities, different worlds are connecting with each other: researchers share their knowledge to a wider public, practitioners discuss with activists, and artists question the societal importance of their work. In this special space, there seems to be no hierarchy and there is something magic in observing all these people talking together, thinking together.

Anne Kristol, nccr – on the move, doctoral student in the project Gender as Boundary Marker in Migration and Mobility: Case Studies from Switzerland