Many people have experienced and continue to experience the canton of Uri primarily as a corridor and bottleneck on Europe's most important north-south transport axis. In the past, it was transit via the Gotthard Pass and the Scheiteltunnel that shaped perceptions of the canton; today, it is transit via the motorway and the base tunnel. From the perspective of the local population, however, this reality as a ‘transit area’ is now primarily perceived and discussed in terms of the burden of traffic and the associated infrastructure. However, the diverse and ambivalent cultural effects that have arisen from this significance as a transit region are often overlooked. Five cultural writers are dedicated to these cultural phenomena in the transit area of Uri.
Cultural Writer
Joachim Schloemer, choreographer, director, author, and dramaturge, develops literary material into precisely composed scenic spaces in which inner conflicts and social fault lines can be experienced emotionally and physically. His texts, especially his plays, often refer to mythological material. Based in Basel, he works interdisciplinarily in the fields of film, literature, dance, theater, and media art.
Cultural Writer
Dr. phil. Christian de Simoni is a writer and lives in Bern. He also works as an editor and ghostwriter. Between 1999 and 2009, he studied German language and literature in Bern, Cologne, and Zurich and earned his doctorate with a thesis on contemporary literature after 9/11. He participated in the prose workshop at the Literary Colloquium Berlin and received the Prenzlauer Berg Literature Prize for an excerpt from his novel Rückseitenwetter (2011). He is particularly interested in customs, political discourse, and folk poetry. In two volumes of essays, he dealt with folk songs (Das Rigilied, 2017) and hiking as a cultural practice (wandern/schreiben, 2023).
Cultural Writer
Zohra Felicitas Briki works at the intersection of artistic practice, knowledge production, and cultural mediation. She studied history and philosophy of knowledge at ETH Zurich and German language and literature and media studies at the University of Basel. She is active in the arts, culture, and science in Switzerland and the US. Her practice includes the development of dialogical formats, curatorial work, and text development and editing. The focus is on collaborative experimentation, reflection, and action. As part of the Kulturschreiber:innen scholarship, she is developing Index Uri, an open, processual writing project that examines Uri as a transit region. The research will culminate in a dynamic lexicon that serves as the basis for participatory formats and opens up different readings of the space.
Cultural Writer
Seraina Kobler, born in Locarno in 1982 and raised in Basel, studied linguistics and cultural studies before working as a journalist for publications including the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" newspaper. She then went on to become a freelance author and writer. Her debut novel, "Regenschatten" (Rain Shadow), was published in 2020. Her first Zurich crime novel featuring lake police officer Rosa Zambrano, "Tiefes, dunkles Blau" (Deep, Dark Blue), published by Diogenes Verlag, remained on the Swiss bestseller list for months. Her Swiss adventure novel "Tal der Schwalben" (Valley of Swallows) will be published in spring 2026. Seraina Kobler is the mother of five children and lives with her family in Zurich.
Cultural Writer
Andrea Keller, born in 1981 in the Zurich Unterland region, works at the intersection of literature, cultural mediation, and participatory formats. She studied journalism and communication at the Institute for Applied Media Studies at the ZHAW in Winterthur, and holds a master's degree in cultural journalism (ZHdK, Zurich) and another in writing pedagogy (Alice Salomon University, Berlin). As the initiator of interdisciplinary cultural projects and writing workshops, she combines social issues with artistic, often dialogical formats. For several years, Andrea has also been intensively engaged with the relationship between humans and nature.
The annual programme of the cultural writers provides an insight into their projects, public formats and encounters throughout the year. It brings together events, discussions and other occasions that take place within the framework of the cultural writers' studio.
The complete annual programme is available for download as a PDF file here.
As part of the Kulturschreiber:innen-Atelier, five Culture Cafés are taking place at the Kulturkloster Altdorf. Each culture café is dedicated to a single culture writer who is currently working on their own project on the common theme of «Culture in the Transit Area of Uri.»
The culture café focuses on the ongoing project, key issues, and individual working methods. The personal and concentrated atmosphere creates space for conversations, questions, and discussions with the interested public. Each Kultur-Café is independent and offers a specific approach to the topic of «Culture in the Transit Region of Uri.»
Next Kultur-Café: May 27, 2026, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. Kultur-Café with Christian de Simoni
We look forward to seeing you there! Register at veranstaltungen@kulturen-der-alpen.ch.
Your Uri Institute «Cultures of the Alps»
In a monthly column series in the Urner Wochenblatt newspaper, scholarship holders from the Kulturschreiber:innen-Atelier share stories about the transit area of Uri. We hope you enjoy reading them!
Here you will find updates, articles, and insights related to the Kulturschreiber:innen. Here we publish interviews, reports on current projects, and more.