Hello, hello, hello and welcome aboard travel with annita & friends.  Glad to have you here with me today for a show to take a look at our expectations when we travel and how we find countries we visit are not so different from what we experience at home. 

When we travel, we often imagine we’re slipping out the side door of our own country’s troubles—leaving behind the social tensions, the political noise, the racial debates that feel stitched into our daily lives here in the U.S. We like to think that stepping onto foreign soil means stepping into a different mindset entirely, as if other places operate outside the gravity of the issues we wrestle with at home. But the truth—well, it travels, too.

Every city, every village, every postcard-perfect destination carries its own history, its own blind spots, its own deeply rooted ideas about identity, race, and belonging. And sometimes, the very conversations we think we’ve left behind come and tap us on the shoulder in the most unexpected places. That’s exactly what happened to me in Switzerland.

On a recent trip to Bern, I toured the “Resistances: On Dealing with Racism” exhibit at the Bern Historical Museum with guide and curator Dian Mezic. What I expected to be a straightforward walk-through turned into something much deeper—an honest look at Switzerland’s own cultural attitudes and the legacies that shape them.

At the center of our conversation was an alphabet mural taken from a local grade school—an innocent teaching tool on the surface, but one that carried some very loaded imagery. Three letters, three drawings, each representing non-white people in ways many today recognize as racist.
C for “Chinese.”
I for the Indigenous person of the Americas.
N for the Black person.

Those images had hung on a school wall for seventy years. Yes, you heard me – seventy years. 

In the exhibit, the figures were deliberately marked through—both to avoid offending visitors and to signal that these depictions are not acceptable—but their presence sparked something powerful. Visitors were encouraged to talk, to question, to watch videos, to explore how such portrayals survived for decades, and what that says about Switzerland’s own racial history.

This wasn’t just a lesson in art or education. It was a reminder that every nation, no matter how neutral its reputation, carries its own complex story about race and identity. And often, those stories echo more closely with our own than we’d like to admit.

Today, you’ll hear my conversation with Dian Mezic—an insightful, eye-opening look at how one mural has opened a national dialogue, and how travel can reveal truths we don’t always expect to find.

Segment two

Travel is not just about seeing what’s different in the destinations we visit… it’s also about recognizing our similarities. The things we share. The histories and attitudes that show up in unexpected places, reminding us that no country is untouched by the conversations we’re having at home. Welcome back to Travel With Annita.

As we continue our conversation with Bern Historical Museum curator Dian Mezic, we’re taking a closer look at the mural at the heart of the “Resistances” exhibit. What seemed like a simple alphabet chart turned out to hold seventy years’ worth of assumptions, stereotypes, and silent lessons passed down to generations of schoolchildren.

In this segment, Dian walks us through the imagery itself—
how C was illustrated as a caricature of Chinese identity,
how I reduced Indigenous peoples of the Americas to a stereotype,
and how N portrayed Black identity using old colonial imagery.

These weren’t just letters on a wall—they were reflections of how a society once viewed the world, and in many ways, how it taught children to see it.

So let’s continue the conversation and take a closer look at what those images reveal.

Segment three

How does a national debate begin? Welcome back to Travel With Annita and Friends.

I ask that question because sometimes the spark isn’t a speech, a protest, or a headline. Sometimes it’s something far quieter… something hiding in plain sight. Like a mural that stood on a school wall for seventy years—unchallenged, unexamined, and untouched by the conversations swirling everywhere else.

How does a piece of art like that survive decades without anyone questioning its impact?
How does something loaded with silent meaning—images that shape how children see themselves and the world—manage to stand the test of time without raising so much as an eyebrow?

And then, just like that, media attention sweeps in. The winds of change pick up. Suddenly, what was once accepted as normal becomes the center of a national reckoning. A mural becomes a mirror. A debate is born.

In this next segment, we dive deeper into how public attention transformed this long-ignored artwork into a catalyst for reflection, conversation, and cultural change in Switzerland. And how a quiet classroom image became the spark for something much bigger.

Segment Four

For our final stop in Switzerland, we’re stepping into a place where the past and the present, the traditional and the emerging, all converge in one remarkable cultural hub. Welcome back to Travel With Annita and Friends.

Just beyond the Lausanne train station lies Plateforme 10—a sprawling arts district built on what was once a bustling railway yard. Trains once carried people, goods, and stories across Switzerland from this spot. Today, Plateforme 10 carries something just as important: conversations. Conversations about identity, culture, representation, and the evolving face of Swiss society.

What makes Plateforme 10 so compelling is that it isn’t simply a collection of museums. It’s a curated space where Switzerland is taking a thoughtful look at itself—its history, its artistic expressions, and the voices that have too often been missing from the narrative. Exhibits here challenge traditional imagery, question long-held assumptions, and elevate perspectives that broaden our understanding of what Swiss culture includes.

You’ll find photography that highlights marginalized communities, contemporary art that celebrates difference rather than smooths it over, and installations that ask visitors to consider who shapes cultural memory—and who gets left out of the frame. The district invites visitors to slow down, look closer, and recognize how diversity, inclusion, and social identity are shaping Switzerland’s cultural future.

Plateforme 10 reminds us that travel isn’t just about the places we explore—it’s about the ideas we encounter. It’s about noticing how a country expresses its values, and how art becomes a bridge between who we were, who we are, and who we’re becoming.

So let’s take a closer look at Plateforme 10 and discover how this reimagined railway yard is helping Switzerland expand its cultural landscape with creativity, openness, and intention.

Where to Eat Near Plateforme 10

1. Le Nabi (inside Plateforme 10)
Modern, artsy, and convenient.
Fresh, seasonal dishes with a relaxed café vibe. Perfect for lunch before wandering the exhibits.

Take the Metro to the Olympic Museum

Yes, Lausanne is the Olympic capital.
The museum is interactive and beautifully curated — great for adults and kids.

Photos
Take a look at the photos the mural. The black and white photo is before the three letters were blacken in protest during the national debate.