Visualizing cultural differences experienced by african immigrants in switzerland. Challenging the reduction of migrant identity to category or stereotype

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.