Presentation

La Bâtie-Festival de Genève is a multidisciplinary event (music, dance, theatre and performance) that features a wide range of national and international discoveries and creations, live performances, dance shows, concerts and DJs. Each year for 18 days in September, the public gets to enjoy the latest, most thrilling trends in more than 20 venues in the Geneva area, neighbouring France and the Canton of Vaud and to confront their own vision of the world with those showcased by the curated artists.

Every year for the past 45 years, the festival has used different venues in the city, such as theatres and concert halls, and also more unusual places such as museums, university halls and public spaces.

History
The first event of this summer festival (then Pop Estival) was organised in 1973 by the association Pop Show & Co. which consisted of members of the Geneva band Eruption: René Husser, Jary Joe, Michel Pasquier, and its president Philippe Castello at the Bois de la Bâtie (hence the name of this event). The festival continued for four years until 1976. In 1977 Jean-François Jacquet (founder of AMR – Amis de la Musique de Recherche) took over the direction of the festival with the aim of promoting alternative creation. The festival was still free of charge, as it had been in the past, and lasted three days in June. Thanks to its new president, the event gradually changed and expanded to a week, then two. Moved to September in 1983 (the year it left the Bois de la Bâtie), the festival became a major cultural event in the autumn and began its migration to the city centre. The organisers’ intention was clearly to present non-institutional cultural performances in urban venues and to give them a real place in the heart of the city.

At first the festival took place in theatres managed by the City of Geneva, community centres, independent cinemas, parks and places that were not devoted to culture. Then Geneva’s cultural landscape began to change. In the city of Geneva, the number of performance venues grew and several stages dedicated to independent artists emerged: Maison des arts du Grütli (inaugurated in 1989), L’Usine (1989), Théâtre du Loup (1993), etc., which naturally became partners of the festival.

The festival’s network of venues was not limited to the City of Geneva alone. Indeed, since 1992 La Bâtie has opened up to cross-border and trans-community collaborations and has taken over unconventional locations as well as cultural venues in Geneva’s municipalities (including Théâtre Forum Meyrin, Chat Noir in Carouge, Halle Weetamix in Vernier, Villa Bernasconi in Lancy and the Espace Vélodrome in Plan-les-Ouates).

In 2002 the Canton and the city of Geneva recognised the relevance of the activities curated for many years by La Bâtie and decided to support its existence and development. They signed a subsidy agreement with the festival that confirmed its artistic autonomy, with a delegated management team, while specifying its mission and activities.

In 2007 Patrice Mugny, Geneva’s magistrate in charge of culture, with the support of Charles Beer, the Canton’s minister of culture, launched a competition for the organisation of the festival. A call for projects was published at the beginning of the summer in the local press and 19 applications were studied. Finally, the project put forward by the former committee of La Bâtie was selected.

Continuing its development, the association became a foundation in 2010. This marked a major transition in the history of the festival, breaking with its community past.

Cutting-edge and popular, inquisitive and festive, La Bâtie features a programme that combines up-and-coming artists and recognised personalities on the international scene. Open to all possibilities, the festival has now become a major multidisciplinary event in Switzerland.

Artists booked at La Bâtie since 2008
Dance : Jakob & Pieter Ampe, Daniel Abreu, Cindy Van Acker, Simone Aughterlony & Phil Hayes, Franck Beaubois, Jérôme Bel & Theater Hora, Marco Berrettini, Hélène Blackburn, Maya Bösch, Guilherme Botelho, Alain Buffard, Gaspard Buma, Campo, Boris Charmatz, Boyzie Cekwana, Steven Cohen, De Maan, Anne Delahaye & Nicolas Leresche, Delgado Fuchs, Pierre Droulers, Olivier Dubois, Marcelo Evelin, Matija Ferlin, Jean-Claude Gallotta, Miguel Gutierrez, Thomas Hauert, Marie-Caroline Hominal, Hotel Pro Forma, Emmanuelle Huynh, Foofwa d'Imobilité, YoungSoon Cho Jaquet, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Patricia Kuypers, Benoît Lachambre, Clément Layes, La Ribot, La Ribot, Juan Domínguez & Juan Loriente, Thomas Lebrun, Faustin Linyekula, Liquid Loft, Àngels Margarit, Nasser Martin-Gousset, Rudi van der Merwe, Mathilde Monnier, Needcompany, Nevski Prospekt, Michèle Noiret, Selma & Sofiane Ouissi, Ovaal, Alain Platel, Peeping Tom, Pierre Rigal, Philippe Saire, Tino Sehgal, Nicole Seiler, Noé Soulier, Meg Stuart, Sud Sud, Wayn Traub, Hiroaki Umeda, Gisèle Vienne, Cie Virevolte, Laurence Yadi & Nicolas Cantillon, Perrine Valli, Sasha Waltz

Music : Anna Aaron, Absinthe Music’s Cinematic Dreams, Adieu Gary Cooper, The Amplifetes, The Animen, Apparatschik, Lail Arad, Argent Sale, Steve Arguelles Quartet, John Armleder, Au Palais, Daniel Avery, Carl Barât, William Basinski & l'OCG, Bélo, Best of Ciné-Concert, Bang Bang, Baptiste & Elisa, Beach Fossils, bEEdEEgEE, Bedroom Community Night (Valgueir Sigursson, Paul Corley, Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne) Biru, Blonde Redhead, Blouse, Bonga, Boodaman, Sonic Boom & Sinner DC, Rodolphe Burger, Cascadeur, Brice Catherin, Chassol, Christine, Edwyn Collins, Crowdpleaser, Cursor Miner, Cyril (Frères Souchet), Maxence Cyrin, Fiona Daniel, Dear Deër, Dean & Britta, Death on the Balcony, Rudy Decelière & Vincent Hänni, Philippe Decrauzat & Alan Licht, Brian Degraw, Demdike Stare, Dirtymadsound, Double Agent 7, Olivier Ducret, Dj Elephant Power, Ensemble Contrechamps, Ensemble Franui, Jessie Evans, F.M., Fanga, Faust, Fauve, Lugano Fell & Yann Gourdon, Féloche, Fennesz & Lillevan, Heike Fiedler, Filewile, Arnaud Fleurent-Didier, French Cowboy, Friendly Fires, Fudge Fingas, Gag Vogt, Gangpol & Mit, Andrès Garcìa & The Ghost, Christian Garcia, The Genevan Heathen, Get The Blessing, Gong Gong, Grand Atlas Mondial, Gwenno, Heidi Happy, Hark!, Hausfrauen, Hell’s Kitchen, The Hiiters, The Honshu Wolves, Hurlak, Paco Ibáñez, Imaz’elia, Imperial Tiger Orchestra & Hamelmal Abaté, Jack is Dead & son orchestre iranien, Phoebe Jean & The Air Force, Jerrycan, Junip, Kabbalah, Miles Kane, Kap Bambino, Kassette, Adam Kesher, Koch-Schütz-Studer & The Young Gods, Komaton, Koumekiam, La Cherga, Lamb, Larytta, James Lavelle, Cate Le Bon, Leo, Loccomotion, Lole, Love Motel, Lulúxpo, Luz, Mandrax, Mami Chan & Norman Bambi, Maroc Urbain, Martin Matalon, Syd Matters, Michelangelo Trio, Midnight Juggernauts, Mimetic & Sigmasix, Miss Li, Mix Master Mike, Connan Mockasin, Moi j'connais Records all Stars, Monoplage, Morning Star, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Mr Cheeky & The Dude, Munk, James Murphy, Neekko, Neotantrik, Sean O'Hagan, l'OCG & Radiomentale, Oha Aho, Oof, Dj Olesenski, Pierre Omer, Oneohtrix Point Never & Nate Boyce, Oram Modular, Oscar & The Wolf, Oy, Genesis P-Orridge, Planningtorock, Peter Von Poehl, Pol & Eklekto, Poney Express, Lynn Pook & Julien Clauss, Porcelain Raft, The Postmen, Amancio Prada, Quilt, Dj Ramax, Raphelson, Dj Reas X Dj Raze, Mathilde Reichler, Marco Repetto & Christine Lauterburg, Gruff Rhys, Sal P, Saycet, Schtärneföifi, Sébastien Schuller, Sei A, Sinner DC, Sivu, Slowdive, The Slow Show, Smadj, Juliana Snapper, Peter Solo, Bruno Spoerri, Dj Stiff, Sela Sue, Damo Suzuki & Robor, Verity, Tahiti 80, (TBC!), TanzTanz, Alexis Taylor, Tété, Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu, Tiga, Tim & Puma Mimi, Tindersticks, Tomorrow's World, Jonathan Toubin, Franz Treichler, Evelinn Trouble, Ukrainian Connections, Under Byen, Jean Claude Vannier & Band, Verveine, Veto, Villa, Fredo Viola, Andy Votel, Anthony Cédric Vuagniaux, Vvolves, Kate Wax, Warpaint, Krystle Warren, Andrew Weatherall, Emilie Weibel, WhoMadeWho, Woodkid, Y Niwl, Yellow Teeth, Zigitros, 4-5/AM-PM

Theater : Sandra Amodio, Belinda Annaloro, Jalila Baccar, Mathieu Bauer, Julie Beauvais, Berlin, Roger Bernat, Nicole Borgeat, Marie Brassard, Campo, Guy Cassiers, Romeo Castellucci, Hélène Cattin & Anna Hohler, Isabelle Chladek, Le Club des Arts, Hubert Colas, Compagnie CREW_eric joris, Collectif du Cyclone, Emma Dante, Antoine Defoort, Kris Defoort, Gérard Desarthe, Alexandre Doublet, Yan Duyvendak, Exos, Christophe Fiat, Forced Entertainment, Massimo Furlan, Rodrigo García, Omar Ghayatt, Heiner Goebbels, Halory Goerger, Gob Squad, Fabrice Gorgerat, Gérard Guillaumat, Handspring Puppet Company, Helgard Haug, Oriza Hirata, Fadhel Jaïbi, Christiane Jatahy, Wang Jianwei, Stefan Kaegi, Amir Reza Koohestani, Franck Van Laecke, Jean Lambert-wild & Stéphane Blanquet, Jan Lauwers & Needcompany, Angélica Liddell, Hervé Loichemol, Los Torreznos, Vincent Macaigne, Joël Maillard, Denis Marleau, Richard Maxwell, Karelle Ménine, John Menoud, Motus, Kornél Mundruczó, Fabrice Murgia, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Dieudonné Niangouna, Stanislas Nordey, Markus Öhrn, Toshiki Okada, Mariano Pensotti, Marielle Pinsard, Alain Platel, Philppe Quesne, Philippe Quesne & Campo, Milo Rau, Jérôme Richer, Falk Richter, Rimini Protokoll, Dorian Rossel, Dirk Roofthooft, Éric Salama, Lina Saneh & Rabih Mroué, Scopitone & Cie, She She Pop, Skappa !, Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, Philippe Soltermann, Pierrick Sorin, Javier Swedzky, Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes, Teatro delle Briciole, Ubus Théâtre, Marie Vayssière, André Wilms, Dominique Ziegler, Matteo Zimmermann

Posters since 1977