Visualizing cultural differences experienced by african immigrants in switzerland. Challenging the reduction of migrant identity to category or stereotype
Loading...
Authors
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2025
Typ of student thesis
Master
Course of study
Master of Arts FHNW in Digital Communication Environments
Type
11 - Student thesis
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Parent work
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Series
Series number
Volume
Issue / Number
Pages / Duration
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel FHNW
Place of publication / Event location
Basel
Edition
Version
Programming language
Assignee
Practice partner / Client
Abstract
When the term “immigrant” appears in public discourse, it often flattens complexity grouping diverse people into a single, ambiguous category. Yet African immigrants in Switzerland carry cultural narratives, expressions, and contrasts that differ profoundly not only from the host society, but from other migrant communities. Their experiences are shaped by histories of colonisation, layered cultural codes, expressive forms of communication, and values rooted in community and spirituality. These dimensions often remain unnoticed, subtle, unspoken, or misinterpreted within Swiss social norms. Without visibility, they remain hidden behind politeness, silence, or misinterpretation. Through a multimedia approach blending video, photography, audio, illustration, and text, this Master's thesis explores how culture is carried and expressed in everyday life. Rather than dramatising difference, the work invites understanding. It seeks not to explain but to evoke to create space where lived experience can be seen, heard, and felt in its full complexity. By visualising these realities, the thesis promotes deeper empathy and challenges the reduction of migrant identity to category or stereotype.
Keywords
Culture, Multimedia, Immigration, Africa, Switzerland
Subject (DDC)
Event
Exhibition start date
Exhibition end date
Conference start date
Conference end date
Date of the last check
ISBN
ISSN
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Review
Open access category
License
Citation
Meyer, M. (2025). Visualizing cultural differences experienced by african immigrants in switzerland. Challenging the reduction of migrant identity to category or stereotype [Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel FHNW]. https://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/53671