The Chillon Castle Foundation has unveiled its temporary exhibition: ‘Dissecting / Dressing Chillon: A story told through our collections’. It juxtaposed two visions of heritage: archaeological rigour and evocative presentation.

An original exhibition that invited the public to explore the many ways in which this iconic fortress has been perceived, studied and presented over more than a century.

How can the history of a thousand-year-old monument be brought to life? Should its architecture be revealed in its nakedness, layered by the centuries, or, on the contrary, adorned with objects and narratives to create its atmosphere?

The exhibition highlighted this fruitful tension between these two approaches – dissection or embellishment – which have shaped the face of the medieval fortress. Long perceived as antagonistic, these two approaches have intersected, sometimes clashed, but also enriched one another throughout the history of Chillon Castle.

More than 400 objects were thus exceptionally brought out of the storerooms of the Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History, where they are carefully preserved. Room by room, visitors discovered how these collections were assembled, restored and studied, contributing to an ever-evolving interpretation of the monument.