Exhibition opening – “The wolf is back. A human exhibition”

There is hardly another animal rising such contrasting emotions in humans as the wolf. On 6th May the Swiss National Park visitor centre in Zernez opens the exhibition “The wolf is back. A human exhibition” to shine an unvonventional light on the public opinion of the wolf. The exhibition lets eight people with different backgrounds and relationships with the wolf share their stories.

Human-wolf relationship

The wolf has been absent in Switzerland for over 100 years. Since 1995 wolves are coming back from the western Alps and only in 2012 the first pack established at the Calanda, near the city of Chur. In total, four wolf packs are confirmed in Switzerland at the end of 2018. Since December 2016 a female wolf resides in the Swiss National Park. Five more wolves have been genetically identified in that area over the last two years. So it will only be a matter of time till the National Park will host a wolf pack as well. However, the comeback of the wolf to Switzerland, and Central Europe, raises a lot of concerns in people.

The exhibition “The wolf is back. A human exhibition” was created by the Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern and lets humans speak. Eight people from different professional backgrounds give the wolf eight different voices. They share stories of their personal experiences with wolves and at the same time put it in the contect of the public opinion. This enables the visitors to get new approaches and new pictures of the wolf. It gives opportunities to build new points of views, away from everyday life and the ongoing polarising discussions.

The objective of the exhibition is to be throught-provoking and to stimulate discussions. The exhibition “The wolf is back. A human exhibition” starts on 6th May 2019 and is open till the end of March 2020. A public vernisage is scheduled for 28th May 2019.