Mai-Thu Perret is an iconic figure on the Genevan art scene. A Swiss artist with French-Vietnamese roots, she was born in Geneva and spends most of her time there – when she isn’t in Berlin, London, or New York. Her pluridisciplinary work embodies sculpture, painting, video, and sound art, as well as text and ceramics. At once cosmopolitan and deeply anchored in her home territory, Perret has taught at the Haute école d’art et de design (HEAD) since 2008, and her work was the subject of a retrospective at MAMCO, Geneva in 2018. In answer to our questions, she sketches a mischievous, tender portrait of the city on the lake.

What does the name ‘Geneva’ evoke for you?

A slight stiffness – not necessarily unpleasant. The wonderful mildness of the lake, if the weather happens to be nice.

Your first memory of Geneva?

I have so many, I don’t think I could possibly single one out.

Where do you feel most at home?

When I’m travelling.

What is the mark of a true Genevan?

Geneva might be small, but it’s incredibly multicultural. I think 60% of the residents are foreigners. So, for me, the true Genevan doesn’t have much to do with any notion of homeland or ancestry. The most interesting Genevans are almost always people who came from elsewhere, whether in exile or to settle here, like Jorge Luis Borges or Vladimir Nabokov.

Which famous figure best embodies Geneva?

Grisélidis Réal – author, poet, painter, and prostitute. She was born into an Egyptian-Swiss family and always rejected the hypocrisy of the bourgeois milieu she grew up in. She wrote books that are on fire with incredible joy. In the beginning, she was forced to become a prostitute to make a living, then she became an activist for sex-worker rights and defended prostitution as a personal choice and as social work.

Your favorite place for breakfast?

The Bains des Pâquis in spring and summer. It’s a public bath with architecture from the 1930s. You can go swimming in Lake Geneva right in the city center and have breakfast while watching the swans and seagulls. The sunrise is wonderful there.

Where are the best boutiques?

I don’t shop much in Geneva, but I like the selection at Paradigme on Rue de la Terrassière.

Guests at your dream dinner party in Geneva?

Dinner is such a joyful and convivial moment that I have a hard time thinking of it as a cast list. But if we really have to play that game, I’d invite David Bowie, Sophie Tauber-Arp, and Lucia Berlin.

Where do you go out in Geneva?

I like having dinner at Bombar – the menu changes all the time and I like the pared-down dining room that reminds me a little of Milan. Nagomi on Rue de Zurich has the best sushi in town, with a very traditional atmosphere. For performances, the Association pour la danse contemporaine (Pavillon ADC) has a good program and a new building with very fine architecture.

Which artwork best represents Geneva?

Konrad Witz’s The Miraculous Draft of Fishes [1444] shows the city as it was in the Middle Ages – with Le Môle, the Salève, and a snow-capped Mont Blanc in the background – and makes it the setting for an episode from the gospel.

What is the craziest thing you have seen or heard on the streets of Geneva?

Once, from the terrace of Le Richemond Hotel, which is now closed, I saw a woman back her Porsche Cayenne into a parking spot and drive onto the hood of a Lamborghini right behind her.

What can you only do in Geneva?

Binge on ‘Amandes Princesse’ at the Auer chocolate shop.

What do you miss most about Geneva when you are away?

My cats.

Your best advice for those just visiting?

Go for a walk in La Perle du Lac park, whose layout and views are a perfect example of Romanticism, then visit the impeccable collections of MAMCO in the Plainpalais neighborhood.

Mai-Thu Perret is represented by Galerie Francesca Pia (Zurich), Galerie Barbara Weiss (Berlin), David Kordansky Gallery (New York, Los Angeles), and Simon Lee Gallery (London, Hong Kong). Her work is currently on view in the show ‘Ich bin wü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü tend’ at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, alongside Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp, until April 20, 2023. She currently participates in the group show ‘Threshold’, at Simon Lee Gallery in London until February 20, 2023.

See also Mai Thu-Perret's Artist Talk as part of the Conversations program at Art Basel in 2013

English translation: Peter Behrman de Sinety.

All photos and videos by Matthieu Croizier for Art Basel.

Published on January 23, 2023.