Burning Booegs in Zurich
May 13th, 2010 by sophie smith
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland, and there’s a remarkable cultural scene to visit here. It has some of the most innovative musicians and artists anywhere in Europe, and was the home for the beginning of one of the most influential art movements in modernity. Dadaism had a very short life with a very long reach. Tristan Tzara, who would deny inventing Dadaism, invented Dadaism while in Zurich, as a response to World War One. The irrationality of the war needed an artistic response that was appropriate to the moment, and the artistic moment suggested and demanded an irrational approach.
There may be evidence of Dadaism in the art practices today, in the music, performance, and visual arts in Zurich, but none are so powerful as a moment that precedes Dada by far, appropriately. The Burning of the Booeg is possibly the most remarkable spectacle in town, and certainly is the highlight of the festival for the Guilds, Sechselaeuten. This comes around every year in April, usually, and marks the end of the long winter and the beginning of a new season.
The particularities of the festival have their origins in the 19th century, but chances are fairly good that it comes from something much, much older. Zurich has been continually inhabited for 7,000 years, after all, and some of the old traditions stick. Those who are fortunate enough to have booked Zurich hotels during this time will be treated to an event that brings people out by the thousands.
Although the image of men marching and wearing traditional clothes is a pretty striking one, it’s hard to compete with the public burning of a snowman, culminating in the blowing up of his head. For many people, the Booeg is another version of the scapegoat, the object that takes on all the dark thoughts of the population so they can expel their demons publicly. For others, it’s a simple moment that marks the changing of the seasons, and the faster the snowman burns, the better the summer will be. Tristan Tzara surely found something inspiring in this.
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