The long road that Swiss women have had to tread to civil and political rights is retraced in an immersive light show that can now be seen at the National Museum Zurich.

Women were long excluded from exercising civil and political rights in Switzerland. From its beginnings in the 19th century, the fight for those rights has been tenacious, the path to political participation an uphill struggle. The introduction of full suffrage for women in 1971 was pivotal in the battle for equality before the law. To mark half a century of the right to vote, the Hommage 2021 organisation wove together more than 350 historical images into a multilingual, multimedia show. It is an impressive record of the immense achievements of women as they fought for their political rights.

The 50th anniversary of full suffrage may have passed, but there is still quite the tale to tell about women in Switzerland. Thanks to a partnership with Hommage 2021 and the support of the Gebert Rüf Stiftung, the immersive show can be seen at the National Museum Zurich from 9 February to 16 April. First projected onto the facade of the Federal Palace in the summer of 2021, from mid-March onwards the show will be joined by a major temporary exhibition, entitled ‘Happy you have rights day – 175 years of the Federal Constitution’, which offers another perspective on the history of civil and political rights in Switzerland.

More on the exhibition

Watch the show