Letter from the Director, Marie Bagi

Dear readers,

It is with immense emotion and great pride that I welcome you to this very first issue of the Musée Artistes Femmes (MAF) journal.

The opening of MAF in Lausanne marks a decisive turning point: that of the long-awaited recognition of women's place in the history and current landscape of artistic creation.

This museum, the first of its kind in Switzerland, was born from an observation of invisibilization, but above all from a profound desire: to repair, transmit, and amplify the voices, forms, and perspectives of women artists.

This project is the culmination of five years of existence of the Espace Artistes Femmes Association, which has witnessed the birth and growth of a vibrant, inclusive, and demanding artistic dynamic. Since 2020, we have organized more than forty exhibitions, welcomed hundreds of artists, and initiated encounters, exchanges, and debates. Building on this experience, we were able to transform the association into a foundation thanks to the Jacques-Edouard Berger Foundation, in order to inscribe our action over time, with more ambition, more resources, and a broader vision.

MAF is more than an exhibition space. It is a place of memory and future, of reflection and dialogue, as well as commitment. It embodies the spirit of Espace Artistes Femmes and pays tribute to a central figure of this project: Rose-Marie Berger, whose intellectual and artistic legacy remains a beacon for our commitment.

Our inaugural exhibition, Cellules (Cells), echoing the universe of Louise Bourgeois, sets the tone. Intimate, powerful, multifaceted, it brings together our twelve Faces—Swiss and international women artists who explore body, memory, matter, and identity.

I invite you to cross our threshold with curiosity, with openness, and above all with the awareness that each work presented here carries a narrative, a struggle, a vision of the world that deserves your full attention.

Thank you to all those who have made this project possible. And thank you to you, who are now part of it.

With all my gratitude and commitment,

Dr. Marie Bagi

Director of the Musée Artistes Femmes – MAF, in Lausanne