Christophe Mauron takes readers on a fascinating journey in the footsteps of emigrants to Latin America.
People from Fribourg settled in Brazil in 1820 and in Argentina in 1856. People from Glâne started a new life in Punta Arenas, Chile, in the 1870s, including the family of Marie Pittet de la Joux.
The wallpaper ‘Vues du Brésil’ was produced by the Alsatian manufacturer Zuber from 1829 onwards, and has since sold in the thousands. Designed by Jean Julien Deltil (1791–1863) based on a work by Johann Moritz Rugendas, it presents an idealised vision of Brazil following the Portuguese conquest. European settlers are depicted alongside indigenous inhabitants and slaves brought from Africa.
This work dates from the same period as an early attempt at Swiss agricultural colonisation in Latin America: the founding of Nova Friburgo. More than 1,600 Swiss, including many from Fribourg, settled there in 1820, following an arduous journey that claimed many lives. Tens of thousands of Swiss followed in their footsteps on the transatlantic emigration routes between 1850 and 1930, including many people from Fribourg.
This fascinating history sheds light on the living conditions of our ancestors, their dreams, their hopes and their worldview. It also provides us with insights to better understand contemporary migration.
Christophe Mauron studied humanities and museology at the Universities of Fribourg and Lausanne (Switzerland). A historian and exhibition curator, he has been a curator at the Musée gruérien in Bulle since 2002 and project manager at La Maison des Amériques since 2021. He has devoted numerous exhibitions and publications to Swiss emigration to Latin America, regional cultural history, the visual arts and photography. His favourite themes are images and the imagination, cultural transitions and interconnected histories.
Dates and timetable
29 March 2026
Sunday
14:00
Musée du papier peint
Rue de l'Eglise 12
1684 Mézières
+41 26 652 06 90
