Nicht Verschaafen






“On Monday, an unusual scene played out at Helvetiaplatz: a herd of sheep demonstrated against the enforcement initiative. Artists, including the rapper Greis, performed in addition.” PS Newspaper

With racist posters, the right-wing conservative party SVP (Swiss People’s Party) campaigned for a tightening the criminal law on foreigners in contravention of international law, specifically the European Human Rights Declaration. We wanted to mobilise against this through the means of art. We chose the subject of the racist campaign which featured a black sheep that gets kicked out of Switzerland by white sheep: We placed a colourful flock of sheep on Helvetiaplatz and had various people from culture and politics speak to the sheep so that they would go and vote, if possible. The campaign was featured in various media (online, print, video).

Speakers to the sheep:
Stephan Stock (artist/activist, Germany/Switzerland)
Laura Huonker (director, politician, member of Parliament of Canton of Zurich, 2015-2020)
Dino Brandao (singer, musician, Switzerland)
Annabelle Sersch (actor, theatre producer, Switzerland)
Greis (rapper, Switzerland)
Skor (rapper, Switzerland)
Benjymin von Wyl (author, journalist, Switzerland)


Title: Nicht verschaafen (translates to “do not oversheep”)

Performer: Marta Piras, Hana Bienz, tobibienz aka Kollektiv “Horde herdenloser Schafe”
Involved Speakers: Stephan Stock, Laura Huonker, Dino Brandao, Annabelle Sersch, Greis, Skor, Benjamin von Wyl
Form: Political action with the means of media art – performance for 17 sheep and many human speakers
Duration: 6h
Venue: Helvetiaplatz, Zurich (Switzerland)
Date: 25.02.2016