Swiss Body and Freedom Festival will seek bare truth
When it comes to banking, the Swiss pride themselves on utter discretion. In other areas, they are happy to reveal all.
Take a festival this month in Bienne, a historic city known as the home of famous watch brands such as Omega, Tissot and Swatch.
Dozens of performers will take over the town’s pedestrian zones as far as a naked eye can see Aug. 21. They won’t be wearing fancy timepieces — or any other clothing, for that matter.
Billed by its organizers as “the world’s first naked event of its kind to be officially authorized,” the Body and Freedom Festival will expose — literally — actors performing in the buff.
The performers will bare all “to break the taboo of the naked body in public spaces,” the event’s organizer, artist Thomas Zollinger, told USA TODAY.
The weekend-long fest will feature a variety of naked scenes performed by Swiss and foreign actors. One American, New York artist Miru Kim, will take part. Her role: sleeping in a bed wearing only her birthday suit.
Uninhibited members of the public will be able to participate by standing buck naked, of course, on the sidewalk and watching clothed passersby.
Zollinger does not expect any backlash. “Most people here are liberal, tolerant and open toward nudity,” he said. So are the officials who contributed $20,000 of public funds to the event. The only condition is that naked performers stay clear of traffic, so drivers won’t be distracted.
Zollinger noted a similar event would not be allowed — or subsidized by taxpayers — in the USA and other countries.
In Switzerland, laws are more lenient. The, um, penal code does not ban public nudity, as long as it is not indecent or disorderly. This right and a constitutional amendment guaranteeing freedom of artistic expression enabled Zollinger to put together several smaller shows that featured nude performances.
As Zollinger and the other artists prepare for the festival and flesh out their acts, they — unlike the bankers — vow to keep nothing under wraps.