Tribute to Ella Maillart at the Musée Rath

Discover the exhibition devoted to the exceptional life of the Geneva-born explorer, Ella Maillart, at the Musée Rath until 21 April 2024.

Through a collection of photographs, articles and other archive documents, rediscover the extraordinary life of Ella Maillart. This writer, sportswoman, traveller and photographer, born in Geneva in 1903, tirelessly shared her notion of “global unity”.

More than a mere tribute, this exhibition – organised in partnership with the Association Les Amis d’Ella Maillart and Photo Elysée – aims to build bridges between the generations. That is why the MAH has invited the contemporary artists Anne-Julie Raccoursier and Pauline Julier to bring their work into dialogue with the life and works of Ella Maillard, opening up new perspectives.

These two artists, each with their own distinct personalities, have taken up the challenge: keen travellers themselves, their approaches – at the crossroads of fiction and reality – also serve to deconstruct clichés.

Anne-Julie Raccoursier

Anne-Julie Raccoursier’s work consists of conceptual interventions, videos and installations. In her works, she focusses on questions of identity, paradoxes, the culture of entertainment and its rituals, as well as the art of mobility. She feels that Ella Maillart was a non-conformist who chose her destiny and forged her life following her own chosen path. Echoing the work of Ella Maillart, Anne-Julie Raccoursier seizes the opportunity to bring together a collection of older and more recent elements of her work.

Pauline Julier

This artist and film-maker explore how stories, rituals, knowledge and images create and structure the ties between humans and their environment. Her installations and films incorporate elements from different origins to reproduce the complexity of our relationship with the world. On being invited to the MAH, Pauline Julier delved into her archives to bring out one of her first films, “La Disparition des Aïtus” (2014).