Say woof! A unique Swiss theme park reopens — and its St Bernards are ready for their close-up
MARTIGNY (Switzerland), June 28 — Syrah walks slowly and deliberately on a treadmill submerged in a large water tank, as two therapists help keep her steady, and a crowd looks on in awe.
The eight-year-old St. Bernard is receiving her regular hydrotherapy session, while visitors to the newly reopened Barryland theme park in the Swiss Alpine valley town of Martigny follow every move.
'We give hydrotherapy to older dogs or dogs that have undergone surgery,' Barryland director Melanie Glassey-Roth told AFP.
'Everything here is conceived for the wellbeing of our dogs.'
Revamped from a smaller, 'living museum' focused on St. Bernards, after two years of work Barryland has morphed into a large, interactive theme park fully dedicated to Switzerland's national dog.
Built in the shape of a paw print, the main building offers interactive experiences and virtual reality tours of the history and myths surround the St. Bernard, as well as the chance to interact with the big dogs themselves.
The park is hoping to see its visitor numbers soar to potentially 200,000 a year, up from 83,000 before the renovation.
A St. Bernard dog receives care during a press visit ahead of the inauguration of the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. The Barry Foundation is opening a unique venue dedicated to the rescue dog, Switzerland's national emblem. — AFP pic
'Emblematic'
The St. Bernard breed, which reached a new level of stardom when it figured in the 1992 blockbuster Hollywood comedy film Beethoven, was cross-bred into existence centuries ago in the Swiss Alps, not too far from where today's theme park lies.
It was originally bred from farm dogs indigenous to the region by a hospice monastery, perched 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) above sea level, to use for rescue work in the perilous Great St. Bernard Pass between Switzerland and Italy.
'This is an emblematic dog that represents the entire region,' said Jean-Maurice Tornay, head of the Barry Foundation, which runs Barryland.
Barryland got its name from the most famous and heroic St. Bernard of all.
An old picture of a St. Bernard dog and a priest taken at the Great Saint Bernard pass is displayed at the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic
Local lore holds that Barry, who lived from 1800 to 1814 and was credited with more than 40 rescues in his lifetime, carried a little barrel of alcohol around his collar, a welcome drink for weary travellers.
In his honour, the monastery always had one dog named Barry — a tradition that continues at Barryland today.
The park's current Barry, a towering 7.5-year-old male weighing around 80 kilograms (176 pounds), is the largest and most decorated of its dogs.
The Barry Foundation has 36 St. Bernards in all who live at a nearby kennel in Martigny.
Some dogs spend whole summers up at the Great St. Bernard Pass.
But with the reopening of Barryland, 16 dogs from the Martigny kennel will crowd into a large van each morning and be driven across to the theme park, ready to play stars.
Visitors watch with virtual reality headsets next to a display featuring a model of a St Bernard dog at the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic
New mission
At Barryland, the giant dogs, with their dark-ringed eyes and fur covered in reddish-brown patches, run around in spacious, grassy parks, lounge in large indoor enclosures and submit to grooming, massages and treatments.
For Thursday's reopening, the park presented two new puppies, Xcell and Xaver, who tumbled enthusiastically around their mother Lio, nudging her until she sat down to let them nurse.
Nearby, dog handler Sahel Robette encouraged Tosca, an eight-year-old female, to climb onto a large weighing scale.
'Sixty-five kilos (143 pounds)!' he exclaimed, as he began brushing her down, searching her fur for tics and inspecting her ears and nails.
A woman takes a picture of a St. Bernard dog during a press visit ahead of the inauguration of the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic
Once the heroes of the Swiss Alps, St. Bernards today are doing heroic work in other settings, Tornay said.
With helicopters having taken over their rescue role, the St. Bernard has 'found a new social mission', he told AFP.
The foundation's dogs make hundreds of visits each year to hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, where they are used for therapy and social training, 'sharing a little bit of kindness', he said.
The St. Bernard is perfect for these missions, Glassey-Roth said, as one of the dogs laid its giant head on her lap.
'It has a quiet force; it is calm and very social.' — AFP
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Malay Mail
9 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Say woof! A unique Swiss theme park reopens — and its St Bernards are ready for their close-up
MARTIGNY (Switzerland), June 28 — Syrah walks slowly and deliberately on a treadmill submerged in a large water tank, as two therapists help keep her steady, and a crowd looks on in awe. The eight-year-old St. Bernard is receiving her regular hydrotherapy session, while visitors to the newly reopened Barryland theme park in the Swiss Alpine valley town of Martigny follow every move. 'We give hydrotherapy to older dogs or dogs that have undergone surgery,' Barryland director Melanie Glassey-Roth told AFP. 'Everything here is conceived for the wellbeing of our dogs.' Revamped from a smaller, 'living museum' focused on St. Bernards, after two years of work Barryland has morphed into a large, interactive theme park fully dedicated to Switzerland's national dog. Built in the shape of a paw print, the main building offers interactive experiences and virtual reality tours of the history and myths surround the St. Bernard, as well as the chance to interact with the big dogs themselves. The park is hoping to see its visitor numbers soar to potentially 200,000 a year, up from 83,000 before the renovation. A St. Bernard dog receives care during a press visit ahead of the inauguration of the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. The Barry Foundation is opening a unique venue dedicated to the rescue dog, Switzerland's national emblem. — AFP pic 'Emblematic' The St. Bernard breed, which reached a new level of stardom when it figured in the 1992 blockbuster Hollywood comedy film Beethoven, was cross-bred into existence centuries ago in the Swiss Alps, not too far from where today's theme park lies. It was originally bred from farm dogs indigenous to the region by a hospice monastery, perched 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) above sea level, to use for rescue work in the perilous Great St. Bernard Pass between Switzerland and Italy. 'This is an emblematic dog that represents the entire region,' said Jean-Maurice Tornay, head of the Barry Foundation, which runs Barryland. Barryland got its name from the most famous and heroic St. Bernard of all. An old picture of a St. Bernard dog and a priest taken at the Great Saint Bernard pass is displayed at the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic Local lore holds that Barry, who lived from 1800 to 1814 and was credited with more than 40 rescues in his lifetime, carried a little barrel of alcohol around his collar, a welcome drink for weary travellers. In his honour, the monastery always had one dog named Barry — a tradition that continues at Barryland today. The park's current Barry, a towering 7.5-year-old male weighing around 80 kilograms (176 pounds), is the largest and most decorated of its dogs. The Barry Foundation has 36 St. Bernards in all who live at a nearby kennel in Martigny. Some dogs spend whole summers up at the Great St. Bernard Pass. But with the reopening of Barryland, 16 dogs from the Martigny kennel will crowd into a large van each morning and be driven across to the theme park, ready to play stars. Visitors watch with virtual reality headsets next to a display featuring a model of a St Bernard dog at the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic New mission At Barryland, the giant dogs, with their dark-ringed eyes and fur covered in reddish-brown patches, run around in spacious, grassy parks, lounge in large indoor enclosures and submit to grooming, massages and treatments. For Thursday's reopening, the park presented two new puppies, Xcell and Xaver, who tumbled enthusiastically around their mother Lio, nudging her until she sat down to let them nurse. Nearby, dog handler Sahel Robette encouraged Tosca, an eight-year-old female, to climb onto a large weighing scale. 'Sixty-five kilos (143 pounds)!' he exclaimed, as he began brushing her down, searching her fur for tics and inspecting her ears and nails. A woman takes a picture of a St. Bernard dog during a press visit ahead of the inauguration of the Barryland museum and park in Martigny, in the Swiss Alps, June 26, 2025. — AFP pic Once the heroes of the Swiss Alps, St. Bernards today are doing heroic work in other settings, Tornay said. With helicopters having taken over their rescue role, the St. Bernard has 'found a new social mission', he told AFP. The foundation's dogs make hundreds of visits each year to hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, where they are used for therapy and social training, 'sharing a little bit of kindness', he said. The St. Bernard is perfect for these missions, Glassey-Roth said, as one of the dogs laid its giant head on her lap. 'It has a quiet force; it is calm and very social.' — AFP
Malay Mail
6 days ago
- Malay Mail
Basel's art fair marches toward utopia — dragging democracy's ghosts along
BASEL, June 22 — This year's Art Basel, the world's top contemporary art fair, paints a portrait of a troubled planet, with works embodying the relentless pursuit of happiness and the fragility of democracies. The four-day event in the northern Swiss border city of Basel, which closes today, features more than 280 galleries presenting works by around 4,000 artists. The monumental works section features an 85-metre-long installation entitled The Voyage — A March To Utopia. Visitors look at the artwork entitled 'The Voyage — A March to Utopia, 2022' by Dutch Atelier Van Lieshouton on display at the Unlimited section of the Art Basel modern and contemporary art fair in Basel June 17, 2025. — AFP pic Created by the studio of Dutch artist Joep van Lieshout, it features 80 large sculptures forming a procession of absurd objects, where 'everybody walks in the same direction... on their way to a happy place', the artist told AFP. The journey begins with a team of oxen, followed by all means of getting to that better world, including a walking stick, a cart, a toilet on wheels, a wheelchair and a mobile surgical theatre for those struggling to keep up. A visitor has a close look at the artwork 'The Voyage — A March to Utopia, 2022' by Dutch Atelier Van Lieshouton on display at the Unlimited section of the Art Basel modern and contemporary art fair in Basel June 17, 2025. — AFP pic Next come objects representing everything the convoy is carrying, followed by sculptures of ghosts symbolising those who didn't make it to the end. It ends with machines set to destroy the road behind them, so that 'there's no going back', the artist explained. Visitors walk past the artwork 'In God We Trust, 2020' by Danish contemporary artist Danh Vo on display at the Unlimited section of the Art Basel modern and contemporary art fair in Basel June 17, 2025. — AFP pic Flag of logs A stone's throw away, Spanish artist Jaume Plensa presents a work composed of 21 aluminium doors engraved with the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Entitled Forgotten Dreams, it invites viewers to contemplate collective aspirations and not forget the horrors of the past. Vietnam-born Danish artist Danh Vo has installed a huge US flag made from hundreds of logs and 13 steel stars, referencing the first version of the flag from 1777. Reconstructed at Art Basel, In God We Trust was first created in 2020, during the presidential election campaign between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The logs were removed one by one and burned in fireplaces, gradually causing the flag to disappear. The work serves as an allegory of the fragility of US democracy. Visitors stand next to 'Gesture to Home, 2024', a work by Haitian-American artist Didier William, on display at the Unlimited section of the Art Basel modern and contemporary art fair in Basel June 17, 2025. — AFP pic Go-go dancers Art Basel is above all a commercial event, where artists and galleries come to meet wealthy collectors. But the fair is also very popular with art lovers who come for the simple pleasure of browsing the works on show. Its 'Unlimited' section brings together monumental pieces intended for museums and major collections. It includes recent as well as older works, including a performance created in 1991 by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, a US artist from Cuba who died of AIDS in 1996. Called 'Untitled' (Go-Go Dancing Platform', it features a man dressed in silver shorts dancing on a podium for a few minutes, twice a day. 'It's an interesting moment to revisit it,' said the 'Unlimited' section's curator, Giovanni Carmine, recalling that the artist created the performance shortly after the death of his partner from AIDS, 'in a context that was also very reactionary'. Gonzalez-Torres responded with 'a very political gesture' with a performance that is 'a celebration of life'. A work by Belgian visual artist Hans Op de Beeck entitled 'Zhai-Liza (angel), 2024' is on display at the gallery Templon during the Art Basel fair for Modern and contemporary art, in Basel June 17, 2025. — AFP pic Angels and light The 'Unlimited' hall features 67 works, including three angels by German sculptor Thomas Schutte, which foster 'a certain ambivalence', said Carmine. With 'their wings resembling razors', are they 'protective angels or angels of the apocalypse?', he asked. Japanese artist Izumi Kato brings a touch of poetry with his stone structures, painted with enigmatic faces, drawing on the Japanese tradition that each stone contains a spirit. US artist Arlene Shechet plays on contrasts, with a heavy orange abstract sculpture designed to give an impression of lightness despite its weight. 'The current political situation is dark and so bringing light and colour and joy and spirit and art is very meaningful,' she told AFP. — AFP
Malay Mail
15-06-2025
- Malay Mail
Picasso ceramics, once hidden, now up for grabs in Geneva
GENEVA, June 16 — A clutch of one-off and hitherto unseen ceramic plates and dishes by Pablo Picasso are going under the hammer in Geneva on June 19. Emblematic motifs from Picasso's artistic universe — pigeons, fish, a goat, a bull, and a bird adorn the colourful plates and dishes. 'It's a truly exceptional collection. The plates and dishes we have here are real Picasso works,' Bernard Piguet, director of the Piguet auction house in Geneva, told AFP. 'These unique pieces belonged to Picasso's estate, and in the early 1980s, his heirs gave them to one of their friends,' he said. The close friend, a French art lover whose name has not been revealed, kept them until his death. His heirs have decided to put the ceramics up for sale. Made between 1947 and 1963 in the Madoura workshop in Vallauris on the southeast French coast, the ceramic artworks are being exhibited to the general public for the first time ahead of Thursday's auction. 'Reasonable' prices The seven pieces are being sold in separate lots. Two large platters decorated with pigeons are both expected to fetch between 30,000 and 50,000 Swiss francs (RM157,000-RM261,700). A third plate depicting three blue, pink, and brick-coloured fish on a white background, resembling a child's drawing, is estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 francs. A thin brick, titled 'Head of a Bearded Man', and painted with ceramic pastels in yellow, white, garnet, brown, blue orange and green, has the same estimate. Glazed on a painted background in shades of grey, brown, and black, a terracotta plate depicting a goat's head bears the prestigious stamp 'Original Picasso print' on the back. It is valued at 20,000-30,000 francs. The two others feature a bull on a hexagonal terracotta tile (15,000-20,000 francs), and a stylised bird on a plate painted in black and white (15,000-25,000 francs). 'It's a lot,' Piguet said of the price. 'But don't forget that these are works of art in their own right and unique pieces' without replicas. 'If you step back from Picasso's work and his drawings, which are becoming practically unaffordable today, you have here original works by Picasso that command a reasonable estimate.' New outlet Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. The prolific Spanish painter died in 1973, aged 91. This photograph taken on June 5, 2025 shows the white earthenware plate 'Bird' (2.6.1963) by Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer Pablo Picasso, at the Piguet auction house in Geneva, prior to the auction of seven unique and never-before-seen ceramic works by the artist. — AFP pic He created thousands of plates, platters, vases, pitchers, and other earthenware utensils in the Madoura ceramics studio, run by the pottery couple Georges and Suzanne Ramie. After World War II, 'Picasso was already an internationally-renowned artist,' said Adeline Bisch Balerna, head of paintings and sculptures at Piguet. 'He had already opened up a huge number of avenues for all artists; the great, well-known works had been created, and he was seeking new means of expression for his art.' Picasso would visit the Madoura studio, meet Georges Ranie, and be 'captivated by all the possibilities offered' by this new artistic outlet, she explained. Piguet is also auctioning two Picasso works 'never before seen on the art market', from the same family friend's collection: 'Serenade' (1919), an Indian ink and watercolour painting estimated at 20,000-30,000 francs, and the pencil drawing 'Famille balzacienne' (1962), valued at 80,000-120,000 francs. Unseen Klein Meanwhile the contemporary art in Thursday's sale includes one of French artist Yves Klein's first blue monochromes, in what is its first appearance on the art market, according to Piguet auction house. From 1959, 'Monochrome bleu sans titre (IKB 328)', estimated at 100,000-150,000 francs, is painted in International Klein Blue, the deep blue hue developed by the artist himself. 'In daylight, it really has this luminous blue, this completely fascinating Klein blue. And when you put it indoors, you see it as a dark blue, almost midnight blue,' said Bernard Piguet. Klein died in 1962 aged 34, following a series of heart attacks. The work comes from the collection of the Swiss artist couple Muriel and Gerald Minkoff, who liked to exchange their works with their contemporaries. It was discovered by their successors in their Geneva apartment, according to Piguet. — AFP
