ZURICH

MORE THAN GOLD
2024

The exhibition More Than Gold – Splendour and Thought of Indigenous Colombia challenged the Western myth of El Dorado by highlighting the rich cultural heritage of Colombia’s indigenous peoples. Featuring around 400 objects—including gold, ceramics, stone sculptures, and feather jewelry—from Colombian, North American, German, and Swiss collections, it presented a new perspective centered on indigenous voices. Realized in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Museo del Oro in Bogotá, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the exhibition at Museum Rietberg in Zurich was the only venue outside the Americas to showcase this groundbreaking project. Over seven years, curators worked closely with the Arhuaco community to integrate indigenous knowledge, moving beyond Western academic views to offer an authentic and insightful understanding of pre-Hispanic Colombian art and culture.

For the first time in the history of the Museum Rietberg, we developed a comprehensive analog and digital campaign in German and English, focusing on key questions about indigenous art and its worldview.

Digital campaign: To promote the exhibition, we worked with Henne / Ordnung to create four 30-second teaser videos in both 16:9 and 9:16 formats, using footage from the LACMA documentary Unpacking the Universe. Starting four weeks before the opening, we launched a weekly countdown by releasing a new teaser each week. These teasers were screened in Swiss cinemas and featured across digital channels in Switzerland and neighboring countries.

The first teaser focused on the question: What Is El Dorado? In German usage, El Dorado is not only known as the mythical land of gold constructed through colonialism in South America, but it’s also used as a synonym for a paradise—for example, people speak of “Eldorados for garden lovers” or “Eldorados for skiers.” But what does El Dorado really mean? What do people associate with it? We felt this was the perfect starting point to draw attention to the exhibition and its theme while challenging common clichés.

The second teaser, titled Does Art Have a Soul?, explored how Indigenous communities view the world and their understanding of what art truly is. While in the West we often classify their objects as artworks, for them these are living things—objects with a soul, deeply connected to nature. Recognizing the presence of a soul in all things and viewing them as meaningful reflects the Indigenous worldview: one that is deeply holistic and rooted in a profound respect for the interconnectedness of life.

The coca plant is often misunderstood, particularly in Western contexts where it is primarily associated with drug production and abuse. However, for the Indigenous peoples of Colombia, coca holds deep cultural and spiritual significance. To address these misconceptions, the third teaser—What Is Coca?—was dedicated to exploring the plant’s sacred role within Indigenous worldviews. Rather than a substance of intoxication, coca is revered as a vital cultural resource, integral to rituals, communal practices, and a respectful relationship with nature.

Ciudad Perdida, also known as the “Lost City,” lay hidden for centuries deep within the Colombian jungle. It was only rediscovered in the 1970s and has since become one of the most significant archaeological sites in South America. The ruins belong to the Tairona culture, renowned for their remarkable craftsmanship in goldwork, ceramics, and textiles. This was the focus of the fourth teaser, Have You Heard Of The Lost City?, which also connected to a dedicated chapter in the exhibition.

Trailer: The exhibition trailer was produced with Henne / Ordnung and Berlin—Tokyo in three languages—German, English, and Spanish—and was screened and promoted not only in Switzerland and neighboring countries but also in Spain and Colombia. Curator Fernanda Ugalde provides an overview of the exhibition and its highlights, while also offering glimpses into the daily life of the Arhuaco community.

A special edition of Weltkunst, produced in collaboration with the Zeit Verlagsgruppe, was distributed as a supplement to Die Zeit newspaper in Hamburg, southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, as well as through international shipping. The print run totaled 120,000 copies.

Analog Campaign: To promote the exhibition, we implemented both a main and a secondary campaign. The main campaign featured three visuals showcasing objects from the exhibition, each with a distinct tagline, while the secondary campaign focused on digital content accessible via QR codes—creating a meaningful bridge between analog and digital communication. Posters were displayed across major Swiss cities, including in streets, train stations, and at Zurich Airport. The campaign was complemented by advertisements in print media as well as flyer inserts distributed through selected newspapers and magazines.