Schwamendingen, a northern suburb of Zürich incorporated in 1934 and known as District 12 or K12, is the focus of Swiss artist Ruth Erdt's photographic exploration. Initially foreign to Erdt when she moved there in the early 1990s, she captured the essence of this 'beyond the city' place through her lens. Her work, featuring themes like gardens, forests, and the local Chilbi fair, evolved as she documented the transformation of Schwamendingen from a marginalized area to one of pride, especially among its youth. Collaborating with Zürich's art initiatives since 2012, Erdt expanded her project, engaging in dialogues about gentrification and identity. Her exhibition, "K12 Schwamendingen," showcases over 5,000 of her 60,000 photographs, exploring the district through various photographic mediums. This project also highlights the community's fight for environmental improvements like the motorway enclosure, turning Schwamendingen into a study of ordinary life interwoven with dramatic changes. In this video we attend the opening reception of the exhibition and speak with Ruth Erdt about her project and her current exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich. The exhibition runs until January 19, 2025.
Ruth Erdt: K12 – Schwamendingen / Kunsthalle Zürich. Vernissage, September 27, 2024.
Ruth Erdt: K12 – Schwamendingen / Kunsthalle Zürich. Vernissage, September 27, 2024.
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00:30Schwamendingen is a kind of code, is a brand, is known far and wide beyond Schwamendingen,
00:42even beyond the Swiss borders.
00:45It is a city border, a district, a little bit of screaming and the city of Zurich,
00:55it is the ugly end or the truth.
00:59That is now changing through various structural measures
01:04and relatively large-scale conversions.
01:09And the motorway housing, which actually houses the motorway due to noise protection,
01:20somehow increases the quality, the quality of living.
01:26And that is really the case.
01:28The quality of living is increasing, the view is increasing.
01:32This is an exciting moment for Schwamendingen.
01:56I have been photographing since I was 17, 18, back then in the graphic class.
02:08That was a different time.
02:11Not many people had a camera, so photographing was expensive.
02:16And I started photographing my environment at that time,
02:20also the social environment, the people I live with, the friends, but also strangers.
02:26That has actually been part of my work for 45 years.
02:32And then I did that in Schwamendingen.
02:35But I always tried to make it look like it wasn't so accessible,
02:41both in terms of time and location.
02:47And you have to know, as a young mother, when I moved to Schwamendingen with two small children,
02:54there were still these open spaces.
02:58There is more and more space on the city side and there are more possibilities.
03:03And we thought it was great, we had a garden, but the reputation was really relatively bad.
03:12Our friends asked us, or me, what are you doing there?
03:17Why are you moving there?
03:19There was nothing you could go to.
03:21I know that I used to walk to the exit, to the so-called city,
03:30no, with a tram, and then sometimes I walked back for an hour
03:35before I discovered the bike.
03:38The reputation was different.
03:41And maybe that's why I didn't want to make it so accessible.
03:47It was also because of my situation, a small circle.
03:51I didn't have much freedom because of my family situation
03:55and photographed in a small circle,
03:58which I could then expand further the more free I became, let's say.
04:05And then I was fascinated that the young people discovered it for themselves,
04:11this Schwamendingen, this outskirts.
04:14They took it as strength.
04:17They identified with it.
04:19We are different.
04:21They identified with K12 and they really pushed it.
04:30We are behind the mountain, right?
04:32We are on the other side of the Zürich mountain.
04:35We are the others.
04:37And then I started to photograph more locally,
04:40so that it is more accessible.
05:03Of course, if you have been photographing for so long,
05:07let's say I've been photographing there for 35 years,
05:12then the work, the photography, also changes.
05:19And the look, I always had a relatively
05:25loving look at Schwamendingen,
05:28because I liked the outskirts,
05:31I could also identify with it.
05:34And I wasn't delivered these perhaps stricter codes,
05:39codes or laws, systems of the city center.
05:44So you could do what you just couldn't observe.
05:50You could make a fire at night or go into the forest
05:54or invite friends.
05:56You could grill, you could get up late,
05:59you couldn't wash your laundry,
06:01you couldn't get the mail out.
06:03It didn't matter.
06:05You could shop with the trainer.
06:07Nobody said anything.
06:09Everyone was busy with themselves,
06:11but there was still a strong social connection.
06:16And the work, when I'm photographing,
06:21it's not, of course it's also an observing look,
06:26but I'm always part of it.
06:28That means I'm a social person who's photographing.
06:32I'm not an outsider, I'm not an ethnologist,
06:35but I'm emotionally connected.
06:38And I think that's what characterizes the work.
06:42I have respect for the people, I have respect for the place.
06:47And maybe I'm trying to convey that in my work.
06:53It was like this that from 2012 I was supported
06:59by the city of Zurich for this work.
07:03And I was asked to do a kind of art observation
07:10and mediation.
07:14And then I decided that I would actually expand this series even more
07:20and, based on this series, build up a kind of communication
07:25with the residents of the neighborhood.
07:29It's about art, about location, about living, about cohesion,
07:35about very different topics.
07:38And that was actually a very nice job,
07:41because I also networked a lot of people.
07:44I was able to build something up with the people,
07:50a kind of cultural building,
07:53to create a connection, to create a presence
07:58with neighbors, with other people.
08:00There was a kind of group that then also
08:03pursued further developments.
08:06And that was really an important development at the time,
08:10that you also had something in Schwarmendingen
08:13and that you were able to continue to build up.
08:16There was really a great quality,
08:19a new great quality in the neighborhood.
08:22An offer, let's say, where you could participate in it or not.
08:26So in that sense, this work is also really very social.
08:30And it doesn't just end with the photos,
08:34it goes on in the actions of neighborhood residents.
08:39And I also bear a responsibility,
08:43because the people I photograph know where I live.
08:47I still bear the responsibility for these photos,
08:56for these neighborhood encounters.
09:05That means you always maintain these contacts.
09:10It's really still close,
09:14it's kind of a job, a nice job,
09:17but it takes time and it's also intense.
09:22You continue to grow with a neighborhood
09:25or with different people from the neighborhood.
09:29And if you do such a work of art,
09:34I think you have to stay relevant and accountable.
09:39You can't just say,
09:42yes, I don't feel like it anymore.
09:44No, even the people who come today,
09:47I asked them,
09:49is it okay if I exhibit the picture here?
09:52And especially with young people,
09:54it is very important that they feel comfortable.
09:57And if something is not right
09:59or if a situation changes for the people,
10:01then I am also a person of contact.
10:03So I'm there.
10:05And that's why it's really an intense job.
10:19The Kunsthalle Zürich
10:37The Kunsthalle Zürich, Daniel Baumann,
10:39the curator and director, invited me
10:43and I think it's great of him
10:46that I can show this here.
10:48He also saw the potential.
10:51And we had a very exciting dialogue.
10:57I work from a huge archive.
11:00You have to imagine, let's say, 15 years of pictures.
11:04That's about 50,000, 60,000 pictures.
11:08And then the selection comes.
11:10And the selection can actually take years.
11:15That means you have to choose again and again.
11:21You have to look at every picture.
11:23You have to put them together.
11:25That's a big, big job.
11:27Most of the time you're not even aware of it.
11:30That means I actually made a pre-selection
11:34and then discussed it with Daniel Baumann
11:39how we could approach it.
11:43We wanted a part of the frame,
11:45a part of the curtains,
11:47which then bring in something tactile again.
11:51A different way of looking.
11:55Maybe also a game with the pictures,
11:58with the display options,
12:00because the curtain is still transparent.
12:03Then the posters were added.
12:05And I actually like to mix these pictures like that.
12:10I also find it interesting,
12:12when you come from photography,
12:14this is actually my first big exhibition
12:17where I show digital pictures.
12:22I used to work very analogously.
12:25This is really digital now.
12:27You can actually do everything with the digital.
12:32That's why it makes sense to show it on different carriers,
12:35on different media.
12:37We show screens, we show the posters,
12:39we show the curtains, we show curtains.
12:42Finding the right combination was enormously exciting.
12:49I did that in dialogue with Daniel Baumann.
12:53We had a good thread together,
12:56similar views.
12:58Or when I couldn't go any further,
13:00he had a good idea.
13:05On the other hand, he knew I knew the pictures,
13:07I'm good at these combinations.
13:10It was a very nice process until the end.
13:38There is still a book.
13:40We don't know if it will be published yet.
13:45Maybe there will be a few more copies.
13:48Urs Steul asked me in 2020
13:52if we would publish it in the Steidl Publishing House.
13:56We had thought about it for a long time.
13:59But the book is actually coming to the exhibition.
14:02We had thought about it for a long time.
14:05But the book is actually coming to the exhibition.
14:08I made this selection first.
14:11The book is immensely thick.
14:13It has 900 pages.
14:15It has over 600 pictures.
14:17We wanted to make a big book.
14:21Steidl almost killed it at first.
14:26They call it the monstrum in the publishing house.
14:31That was the first work.
14:34The book came first.
14:36But both are equally important projects.
14:42The book and the exhibition.
14:44And of course it's also in dialogue.
14:47Like with the book.
14:49You have your favorites,
14:51and in the end you have to take them out.
14:53You can't show everything.
14:54You are limited.
14:55I would have preferred to make a dozen books.
14:58That's a very hard process.
15:01But I think when the book is there,
15:03there will be a new level,
15:05where you can see the exhibition.
15:08You can also take something home from Schwammendingen.
15:11And above all, I think it's great
15:13that those who don't know Schwammendingen
15:15and who may have struggled a bit,
15:18why should I go to Schwammendingen?
15:20They can now come here to the Kunsthalle.
15:24That's actually very cheeky.
15:27But I think it's a wonderful process
15:32that you can now see the city,
15:34the outskirts of the city.
15:36And I'm really very happy with this place
15:40and with Daniel Baumann
15:42that he did it with me.
15:57I would like to thank everyone again,
16:01my team, and especially the many people
16:04I took pictures of.
16:06I couldn't take all of them,
16:08but I took a lot of pictures,
16:10and I'm very happy about that.
16:13I'm also very happy about the fact
16:16that I was able to take pictures
16:18of all of the people who came to the exhibition.
16:21I am very happy about that.
16:23I'm also very happy about the fact
16:26that I was able to take pictures
16:28of all of the people I took pictures of.
16:31I couldn't ask everyone.
16:33And without all these people,
16:35this work wouldn't be the way it is.
16:38Then it wouldn't have become what it is.
16:41So without my help,
16:43but also without the people
16:45who participated,
16:47who took pictures,
16:49or the people I took
16:51pictures of,
16:53and I didn't know
16:55how the work would develop.
16:57They all participated.
16:59It was all so uncomplicated,
17:01whether it was in the bathhouse
17:03or on the Chilbi,
17:05as we call it,
17:07Schwammendinger Chilbi.
17:09I would like to say a big,
17:11big thank you
17:13to all the Schwammendinger
17:15who are represented here.