As part of their U.S. book launch, Rachel TonThat and Tobias Bärtsch will be reading from their project, Die Alp an sich, a bilingual collection that translates folklore from the Sarganserland region in eastern Switzerland into English and high German for the first time.

Following their readings, TonThat and Bärtsch will discuss the reframing of these tales, the evolution of the project, and the shift from a simple translation project into a feminist and environmentally conscious engagement with the source materials. They will outline the problematic legacy of legend collecting in Switzerland where male collectors have framed themselves as rescuers of an “authentic” oral tradition, while producing moralizing texts that have erased the voices of their largely female, working-class storytellers.

Rachel TonThat is an interdisciplinary artist and writer working with narrative structures around themes of possible futures, memory, and space-time. She is co-founder of the social art and publishing project, Oreades Press, and curates the project space Airtight Garage. She was selected for the inaugural She Who Has No Master(s) writing mentorship through the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network and completed her MA Fine Art at Zurich University of the Arts. Her work has been supported by the city of Zurich, Canton St. Gallen, New England Foundation For the Arts, Mass Cultural Council, Collective Futures Fund, Tin House Writing Workshop, Fondation Jan Michalski, and more. Her essays and art criticism have appeared in Diacritics, The Amp, and Boston Art Review.

Tobias Bärtsch is a Swiss-Polish artist and writer based in Zurich, Switzerland. His interdisciplinary practice spans various media, often beginning with text. In 2024, he participated in the group exhibition Uncanny Unchained at Kunsthalle St. Gallen. He wrote for various publications, such as PW Magazine and transversal texts. His work has been supported by the Canton of St. Gallen through a Werkbeitrag grant in 2024.

Please enter by the Athenaeum garden gate on Botts Ct.
(The front door will be locked at 6:00 pm.)
Please bring a folding lawn chair if you have one.
In case of rain, the salon will be indoors.

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