Manifesta Director Hedwig Fijen was invited by the only Zurich womens guild to walk with them at the traditional Sechseläuten parade on 18 April 2016 in Zurich. It’s only since a couple of years that the women of the 'Zürcher Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster' are welcome by the male guilds to take part, but they walk separately and are not accepted as a official guild yet, only to participate as guests. The gender specific situation can be interpreted as a mirror of the situation for working women in Switzerland, which is among the worst in OECD countries concerning the chances to have equal treatment at work.
Hedwig Fijen: 'I am very impressed by the intergenerational and interdisciplinary approach of the female members and their knowledge of the history of Zurich'. Mrs Fijen invited all the members of the 'Zürcher Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster' to the opening of Manifesta 11 on the 9 -10th of June 2016.
Meanwhile John Arnold, Christian Jankowski and other members of the guild of artists were on a friendly mission to greet the other guilds at the parade. Symbolically they carried to the parade the bay of the ’Cabaret der Künstler – Zunfthaus Voltaire’, the new guild house for artists.
