Between exile and hope: the forgotten story of nine Moroccan men in Bellechasse (Frigourg, Switzerland)
In 1925-1926, nine Moroccan men, deserters from the French army, were locked up in the Bellechasse penitentiary (Fribourg). Their hopes of freedom were dashed by their internment and extradition. Their extraordinary trajectory was a reflection of very ordinary state violence: Morocco had been a protectorate since 1912 and men from the colonies were frequently conscripted in metropolitan France. In Switzerland, the end of the First World War marked the beginning of repressive federal management of immigration, in the hands of an institution riven by massive anti-Semitism. Somewhere between theatre and academic research, Anouk Essyad and Julien Blasutto's performance retraces this history while questioning our present: how many worlds did these men cross to end up in the Swiss countryside? What does this reveal about Swiss involvement in colonial ventures? What can be done with the administration's sanitised archives?

The performance will take place in the Salon of the temporary exhibition.

A collaboration with l’Abri.