International audience From time immemorial, Geneva, like the rest of Switzerland, has been a place of transit. Temporary residents and guest workers are often the rule. In this respect, artists are no exception. As with politically active persons, the specific situation usually offered no permanent protection, nor was there much hope of recognition. But because Switzerland lay apart from the general European geopolitical fields of tension, and since as a result there had developed a culture of unconcerned laissez-faire, it often offered a possibility for a temporary retreat. Frequently, what happens here is a retreat within Switzerland, an inner emigration.