Culture for free

Young people, among others, will be familiar with this situation: it’s winter and you find yourself having to go to a bar, not necessarily because you want a drink, but because there’s simply nowhere better to spend time with your friends. After all, your own home is too far away, you’d be disturbing your parents or flatmates, and staying outside isn’t an option either due to the temperatures.

Generally speaking, it’s not that easy to get about in public spaces without spending money. Two friends of mine, Lili Aebli and Noemi Meier, therefore looked around for free cultural activities and compiled them into a city map. The project, created as part of the ZhdK Propaedeutikum, showcases 28 venues offering free activities in the city of Zurich. I’ve picked out my five highlights for you:

Right next to the central laundry, the free shop Josy. The concept is based on the circular economy: items can be given away and taken for free, but only those that people have brought in themselves. This means that nothing is thrown away and nothing is bought from outside the cycle. The range extends from clothing and furniture to books.

Many people tend to associate the Stadthaus Zürich with administrative matters and don’t even realise that there are exhibitions open to the public on the second floor. These focus on local political issues; for example, there was an exhibition on colonialism in Zurich and, previously, one marking 50 years of women’s suffrage in Switzerland. The exhibition Zurich Circular: A Future with the Circular Economy.

The squatted post office building at Wipkingerplatz serves as a non-commercial cultural venue. The programme includes film nights, jazz concerts and the ‘Kitchen for All’ – a dinner served on a pay-what-you-can basis. Anyone wishing to stay informed about what’s happening at the Post can join the Telegram chat.

An open space on the former site of the Hardturm football stadium: pending the possible construction of a new football stadium, the site has been used for temporary purposes since 2011. It features a bouldering cube, a garden and a homemade skatepark. Every Monday there is a lunch menu on a pay-what-you-can basis, and twice a month pizzas are baked in a wood-fired oven. The various activities on offer can be viewed on the website of the Stadionbrache.

Many people know Sphères as a café and bookshop – but not many realise that this cosy venue hosts free readings, book launches and concerts several times a week. So it’s the perfect place to broaden your horizons and find inspiration for your next book purchase.

For anyone interested in this topic, there is also the website Zurich: Priceless.

Free doesn’t mean for nothing

It is important to bear in mind that behind free cultural events lies a great deal of unpaid or low-paid work. That is why it is all the more important to value the contributors at these venues. After all, without them, this diverse range of activities in our city would not exist.