Helvetia (2017) - Confoederatio Helvetica (Switzerland) — consists of 26 cantons whose inhabitants speak four languages and live together as a voluntary nation — a nation by choice.

I was born and raised in Switzerland. This unique political constellation of my country with its abundance of various local traditions and peculiarities was something that I took for granted, not giving it much thought.

Of course it was normal that in a certain region in Switzerland kids are allowed to smoke tobacco during two main festivities of the year. We were obliged by law to have an atomic bunker in our house where we would stash canned food, and I knew about the fact that there are more than 16’000 military bunkers spread all over the country, most of them perfectly camouflaged as houses, barns or rocks. Even though we have not been to war since the 1500s, it’s still very common for men to keep their military machine guns at home, usually stored in a closet next to the skiing equipment somewhere in the basement.

I left Switzerland early, spending all my adult life abroad in other countries away from my family and roots. Over the years Switzerland, being Swiss, became something that feels utterly strange and intimately familiar at the same time. I increasingly felt puzzled and mystified by the country’s hedgehog mentality and seemingly outlandish characteristics.

I travelled through the entire country, longing for reconnection with my roots and trying to make sense of the place I call “Heimat”.

Yet, I did not succed in finding a straight forward definition of what it means to be Swiss, as reality is far more complex, paradox and versatile than the stereotypical ideas at hand.