Fragments from the Subterranean ::what connects and contrasts a bunker and a river in Geneva, Switzerland, to disjunctures in humanitarian politics?

Fragments of the Subterranean is an audiovisual piece that brings two subterranean protagonists, a bunker and a river together. No.1: Bunkers Bunkers have traditionally played an important role in ideologically and materially preserving and embodying the ‘neutral’ social and political identity of Switzerland. In addition to an extensive network of fortifications most evident in the estimated 8000 military bunkers spread throughout Switzerland, the rise of Cold War nuclear tension led to the construction of 370,000 nuclear shelters (abris de protection – abris PC – shelters) to secure every household in the country. While today some of these bunkers have been sold to private entrepreneurs for facilities such as hotels, museums, or mushroom farms, they have also been mobilized by the Swiss state to “host” asylum seekers. In 2005, the Housing Commission of Geneva’s ‘Grand Council’ investigated the ways in which asylum seekers were being housed in these nuclear bunkers. After interviewing social workers and asylum seekers – mainly from Kosovo – they concluded that past traumas (from torture, imprisonment, war and more) were exacerbated by the stress of living in these underground bunkers, especially for indefinite periods, as well as leading to a loss of day-night reality. Yet, in early 2024, two underground civil protection bunkers were reopened in order to house asylum seekers, despite having been closed six years earlier following a “Stop Bunkers” campaign. No.2: The Drize River The Drize River is an underground river that flows from France to Switzerland. In early 2024, construction work began to bring 450 meters of the Drize River to the surface: the first stage of a major river ‘renaturation’ project. Since the start of the project, articles have flooded the news with statements about how the river will bring fresh air, support biodiversity, and encourage interaction between local residents.