Video project Regiehochvier (2023-2025)

The inventory and digitization project aims to preserve the works - or rather their audiovisual testimonies in the form of performance recordings - of four female directors who entered the (independent) theater scene in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, who each left their mark in different ways and who were pioneers in women's stage work.

The project comprises video collections from four estates:

• Ruth Oswalt, Vorstadttheater Basel: Founded in 1974 under the name "Spilkischte", Ruth Oswalt and Gerd Imbsweiler (1941-2013) ran the first professional children's theater in Switzerland, which they ran until 2007.
• Yvonne Vogel, Bumper to Bumper: The independent theater group was founded by Yvonne Vogel and Knopp Ferro in 1979. Its artistic direction was influenced by contemporary dance and visual art and became a model for the Zurich youth movement.
• Liliane Hodel: In 1986, together with Dominique Meyer and Philippe Jeanloz, Liliane Hodel founded Théâtre A, one of the first independent theater companies in Lausanne. From 1993, she continued to run it alone as Cie. LH.
• Jolanda Meier: Born in Buenos Aires in 1949, Jolanda Meier received her first dance lessons in her home town of Basel. After professional training at the Academy for Artistic Dance in Vienna, her international career led her to a four-year engagement at Pina Bausch's Tanztheater in Wuppertal. Back in Switzerland, she developed her work as a choreographer in the 1980s and founded her own group in 1985, with which she created a music-oriented dance theater.

‍

Thanks to the generous support of Memoriav this project could be successfully realized.