Cerny Inuit Collection

Whalebone, walrus ivory, mammoth tusk and sealskin – these are among the materials used by artists from Canada, Siberia and the circumpolar regions on both sides of the Bering Strait to create the extraordinary works in one of Switzerland’s most intriguing collections. Shaped by nature, local traditions and shamanic culture, the sculptures and paintings on show here reveal both the singularity of the environments where they were created and surprising synchronicities with other ways of life. Other media on display include lithographs, wall hangings, digital work and performance, together giving a surprisingly rounded impression of life in some of the world’s most extreme environments, as well as sobering glimpses of the climatic changes their inhabitants have witnessed in recent years. The collection’s alluring oddness is only enhanced by the exposed industrial details of the renovated garage that is its home. A weird, wonderful one-off.