On museum, fondue and polar expeditions: struggling with Swiss cultural heritage

In Switzerland where the UNESCO convention was adopted in 2008, the term “intangible heritage” was replaced by the term “living tradition.” The list of Swiss “living traditions” counted 167 items. Among the selected traditions were not only the national cheese dish, i.e. fondue, but also famous motorbike fan gatherings in the town of Hauenstein near Solothurn, and many more. This list of traditional items was designed during a science project called “Intangible Cultural Heritage: the Midas Touch?”. In response, in 2013, the Ethnography Museum in Neuchatel took for the subject of its exhibition entitled “Hors-Champs” everything that usually stays beyond such classifications, and also the need of doing such a classification itself. The idea that underlies this exhibition is that defining heritage is a process that in fact freezes it, and freezes the living culture. This paper gives a look on Swiss thoughts on heritage, a look that is based on the Neuchatel exhibition and on the interview with its authors that was conducted during the museological research in 2013.