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Urich readily embraced techno music and in the 1990s, the city became a top spot for the genre in Europe. Techno parties started as occasional gatherings in underground locations before evolving into a popular club scene with frequent events.
The Swiss city’s techno scene was shaped by Street Parade, which was authorised in 1992 as a “demonstration of love freedom, generosity and tolerance”. Kicking off with fewer than 1,000 participants, they have grown steadily to attract 1 million visitors each year – three times the number of the city’s inhabitants.
In the mid-1990s, Jules Spinatsch captured images of individuals and small clusters of people, often on the outskirts of the bustling parades.
According to Spinatsch, the photograph aims to capture the individuality of people who have become lost in a crowd. From a distance, even vibrant individuals can appear dull and indistinguishable as a group. The photograph creates a sense of isolation and stillness, separating the subjects from the movement around them.
The current display of the photographer’s pieces as a multi-image slideshow aims to create a sense of a lively procession of pictures and people.
During a time of widespread change, the photographs capture not only Zurich’s transformation, but also the end of the Cold War. The city had evolved into a vibrant party destination, with a more diverse and lively atmosphere. The Street Parade served as a reflection of these changes and also held a significant political meaning.
The [parades] promoted peace and acceptance in a lighthearted and non-ideological manner, in contrast to the present day. However, it is worth considering the balance between protesting and partying, and whether these events serve as activism or simply a means of escapism.
I experienced a strong sense of being involved in a fresh and unfamiliar movement. However, I lost interest in capturing images of protests, not just the masses as a mere spectacle, nor the strength of the political movement in photographs. Rather, it was those on the outskirts of the event who exemplified these concepts through their presence and appearance.
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Frequently, I would take a photograph at the precise moment that the subject noticed the camera. However, their facial expression had not yet responded to my presence, resulting in a candid and surprising look that would catch both myself and my subjects off guard.
“Nearly three decades have passed, and it appears that those captured in the photographs are now gazing at us, the attendees of the exhibition, with curiosity about our present, which we are familiar with but they are not. Simultaneously, we are also looking back at that time, studying the faces in an attempt to connect and provide answers to their inquiries. In this process, we also reconnect with our own personal history. Revisit your past.”
During my initial year of taking photographs, it seemed as though everyone in attendance was either dancing on or near the lovemobiles. However, in the span of one year, between 1996 and 1997, the number of visitors skyrocketed from 150,000 to 475,000. This marked a significant change in the Street Parade, as it transformed into a spectacle where onlookers watched the lovemobiles pass by, dividing the participants into mere spectators and active participants.
The transition from politics to entertainment may have been necessary for the Street Parade and Zurich’s techno culture to be recognized as part of Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage. In 2017, the Federal Office of Culture included it on Switzerland’s list of living traditions.
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It may be questioned which Swiss tradition is being referenced here – that of the impartial observer or the actively involved activist?
Source: theguardian.com
