From the Threatening to the Threatened

Tipping Points of Alpine Ice and Snow at the Morteratsch Glacier and in the Tödi Area

This transdisciplinary research and cultural project addresses the question of how the transformation of the Swiss Alpine landscape can be understood and mentally processed in times of climate change. It situates itself in the field of transdisciplinarity by establishing a link between scientific and practical knowledge and building a bridge to the arts, i.e. in concrete terms to participatory theatre work with the local population.

In the age of climate change, alpine ice and snow are no longer perceived as something threatening, but rather as something threatened. This project understands this radical change as a crossing of tipping points, which are traced in cultural history using the concrete example of the Morteratsch glacier and the Tödi area.

By dealing with alpine ice and snow, this project provides a historical examination of a central cultural identification myth of Switzerland. Addressing a new awareness of loss in the Anthropocene aims to make a relevant contribution to the active co-creation of challenges throughout the Alps.

The project is institutionally supported by:
·    Urner Institut Kulturen der Alpen, Altdorf
·    Institut für Kulturforschung Graubünden, Chur
·    Kulturgesellschaft Glarus
·    Theater Bruderboot, Hätzingen GL
·    Junges Theater Graubünden, Chur
·    University of Lucerne