Lausanne's Editions d'En bas mark 50 years with an exhibition of their entire catalogue
Nearly 700 titles from the Swiss publisher, founded in 1976 to give voice to those without one, are on display at Lausanne's Forum de l'Hôtel de Ville until 12 September.
An exhibition titled "Y'a de la vie dans les marges" lays out almost the entire catalogue of Editions d'En bas since its founding in 1976, according to Le Temps. The Lausanne publishing house has built its identity around what its director, Pascal Cottin, calls giving voice to "des choses tues ou inaudibles" — things silenced or unheard. The show runs at the Forum de l'Hôtel de Ville in Lausanne through 12 September.
Le Temps describes the roughly 700 books spread across long tables as forming a counter-history, or a "face cachée de la Suisse" — a hidden face of Switzerland. The catalogue mixes essays, personal testimonies, life stories, diaries, novels and poetry, all drawn from the house's founding mission to publish those without access to official narratives, whether social outsiders or figures questioning received history.
Le Temps recommends the exhibition especially to lovers of print books and archives, and to anyone interested in social and political history built from long-overlooked sources.
Sources
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