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| Established | 1988 |
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| Location | Avenue de la Paix 17, Geneva, Switzerland |
| Coordinates | 46°13′38″N6°8′13″E / 46.22722°N 6.13694°E |
| Type | museum |
| Website | https://www.redcrossmuseum.ch/en/ |
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum is a museum located in Geneva, Switzerland.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum asks a central question: how does humanitarian action affect us all, here and now? In order to reflect on this question with our visitors, we invite artists and cultural partners to examine the issues, values and the current situation of humanitarian action. It thus asserts itself, in an open, agile and warm manner, as a place of memory, creation and debate. Through the production of original artistic content and the development of ambitious partnerships in Switzerland and throughout the world, the museum contributes to the outreach of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and of Geneva.
The mission of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum is to promote understanding of the history, current events and challenges of humanitarian aid by a wide audience in Switzerland and throughout the world, by encouraging contemporary artistic creation and developing innovative content with public and private partners from very different backgrounds and cultures. It thus constitutes and enhances a unique heritage, while stimulating a broad social, cultural and economic ecosystem in which it plays a central role.
An exhibition named “The Humanitarian Adventure” presents three contemporary problems through three distinct spaces; each created by a different architect: Defending human dignity (Gringo Cardia, Brazil), Reconstructing family links (Diébédo Francis Kéré, Burkina Faso), Reducing natural risks (Shigeru Ban, Japan).
Although it gives pride of place to knowledge and reflection, the museography introduces a new dimension into its device: emotion. As they enter each of the three thematic areas, visitors are invited to engage in an awareness-building experience even before they discover the area's informational content.
Twelve witnesses trace the main thread of “The Humanitarian Adventure”. They first welcome visitors in a scenographic device and then accompany them on their tour of the exhibition. The witnesses are there to remind us that human relations are at the heart of all humanitarian action.
In addition to its permanent exhibition, the Museum presents three temporary exhibitions each year. The aim of the Museum is to create a space where a wide range of voices are brought into the discussion and debate on what is happening within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the cultural scene and day-to-day life. Since 2021, it has also been focusing on an annual theme. In 2021, it inaugurated its first thematic year entitled "Gender & Diversity".
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 16 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering. Within it there are three distinct organisations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organisations.
Henry Dunant, also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, social activist and the co-founder of Red Cross movement. His humanitarian efforts won him the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
The First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, held on 22 August 1864, is the first of four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It defines "the basis on which rest the rules of international law for the protection of the victims of armed conflicts."
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Humanitarian relief efforts are provided for humanitarian purposes and include natural disasters and human-made disasters. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may, therefore, be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency. There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. However, the conflation is viewed critically by practitioners.
The ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, a cultural institution, was founded in 1989. and, since 1997, is located in a listed industrial building in Karlsruhe, Germany, a former munitions factory. The ZKM organizes special exhibitions and thematic events, conducts research and produces works on the effects of media, digitization, and globalization, and offers public as well as individualized communications and educational programs.
The emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, under the Geneva Conventions, are to be placed on humanitarian and medical vehicles and buildings, and to be worn by medical personnel and others carrying out humanitarian work, to protect them from military attack on the battlefield. There are four such emblems, three of which are in use: the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and the Red Crystal. The Red Lion and Sun is also a recognized emblem, but is no longer in use.
Protocol III is a 2005 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem. Under the protocol, the protective sign of the Red Crystal may be displayed by medical and religious personnel at times of war, instead of the traditional Red Cross or Red Crescent symbols. People displaying any of these protective emblems are performing a humanitarian service and must be protected by all parties to the conflict.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signatories) to the Geneva Convention of 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005 have given the ICRC a mandate to protect victims of international and internal armed conflicts. Such victims include war wounded persons, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants.
Protective signs are symbols to be used during an armed conflict to mark persons and objects under the protection of various treaties of international humanitarian law (IHL). While their essential meaning can be summarized as "Don't shoot" or "Don't attack", the exact conditions implied vary depending on the respective sign and the circumstances of its use. The form, shape and color of these signs are defined by the rules of IHL. Usually, they are easy to draw in order to make even an improvised use as easy as possible, and they were chosen to be as concise, recognizable and visible as possible under all circumstances.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. It does so independently and with impartiality as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class and political opinions.
Sphere is a global movement started in 1997 aiming to improve the quality of humanitarian assistance. The Sphere standards are the most commonly used and most widely known set of core humanitarian standards. Sphere's flagship publication is the Sphere Handbook.
Barthélémy Toguo is a Cameroonian painter, visual and performing artist born in 1967. He currently splits his time living and working in both Paris, France and Bandjoun, Cameroon. He works in a variety of media aside from visual and performing arts including photographs, prints, sculptures, videos, and installations.
The Museum of Cultures of Lugano (MUSEC) was inaugurated on September the 23rd 1989 with the aim of preserving most of the ethnic artworks collected by Serge Birignoni and coming in particular from the Far East, India, South-East Asia, Indonesia and Oceania.
The International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) is an independent, “non-profit, humanitarian association having social values as its objectives”, founded in 1970 in Sanremo, Italy. Its headquarters are situated in Villa Ormond, while a liaison office of the Institute is established in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term Geneva Convention usually denotes the agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–1945), which updated the terms of the two 1929 treaties and added two new conventions. The Geneva Conventions extensively define the basic rights of wartime prisoners, civilians and military personnel, established protections for the wounded and sick, and provided protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone.
Fabiana de Barros is a Swiss artist of Brazilian origin. She is the daughter of a well-known Brazilian photographer and contemporary artist, Geraldo de Barros, and is also the sister of the artist Lenora de Barros. She works and lives in Geneva and São Paulo.
The Africa Centre, in Cape Town, South Africa, is structured as a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to provide a platform for Pan-African arts and cultural practice to function as a catalyst for social change. All the projects it conducts, facilitates or supports have some social intention. These projects are supported by a variety of Pan-African artists.
A Memory of Solferino is a book of the Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant published in 1862. It proved decisive in the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Museum of Communication is an interactive museum dedicated to the subject of communication in Bern, Switzerland. In 2019 it was awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize. It was founded in 1907 as the corporate museum of Swiss Post, the national postal service of Switzerland. The restructuring of the museum into a foundation of Swiss Post and Swisscom led to a broadening of the overall theme and a new name, the Museum of Communication. The latest incarnation of the museum, which opened its doors with a redesigned permanent exhibition in 2017, is focused completely on its visitors.
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