Music National Museum Zurich tells the story of Swiss techno culture
The new exhibition at the National Museum Zurich takes visitors on a journey through the emergence and development of Swiss techno culture. It is the story of a subculture that has developed into an industry worth billions.
19.03.2025, 10:00
SDA
The exhibition is divided into a prologue and five chapters, as the museum announced on Wednesday. It was created in collaboration with protagonists from Switzerland and offers a comprehensive insight into a multi-layered scene.
In the prologue, the exhibition shows the historical conditions under which the techno phenomenon emerged at the end of the 1980s. A milestone for Swiss techno culture was the first Zurich Street Parade in 1992, inspired by the Love Parade in Berlin.
It was the time when electronic devices and consumer electronics became more affordable and formed the basis for the digital world. But these were also years characterized by social upheaval.
Of DJs and clubs
The "DJ" chapter shows how DJs continued to expand DJing through the experimental use of technologies such as turntables and mixing desks. The "Music" chapter shows a staged record store and also offers the opportunity to discover different genres using selected tracks.
A photo gallery comprises the "Space" chapter, which shows how techno culture conquered and transformed spaces. Empty industrial buildings became techno clubs, but the great outdoors and urban niches were also discovered for parties.
At the transition to the "Club" chapter, clubbers have their say in an audio collage: they describe their very personal relationship to techno, dancing and community. Sound and video installations stage a club room in which original objects from various techno clubs can be seen. And the final chapter, "Style", is dedicated to the visual universe of techno - from fashion and graphic design to photography.
