Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.It feels completely odd that I live in Zürich. My young son and I moved here from Glasgow during the pandemic because nearly all my art commissions collapsed – they were linked to public spaces and performance. By coincidence, I had just done an interview for a permanent teaching job at the University of the Arts. It’s in this massive old yoghurt factory, and alongside the art college where I now teach there’s design, dance and music. It’s a beautiful mixture of people rushing around. In Switzerland, everyone talks about “percentages”; you meet someone and quickly understand their entire setup by what per cent they work. I teach 50 per cent, which is brilliant for an artist – you have enough headspace for your own solo career.When we came to the city we went around making a list of things you could do for two francs. We found a beautiful old-fashioned merry-go-round that was 50 cents a ride. Then in the Transa shop, where you can buy the most absurdly specific hiking equipment, they’ve also got ridiculously comfy chairs and hot chocolate from a machine for SFr1.50. My son and I love to go to Bruno Weber Park. It’s like a meta-world a short train ride away from the city. It has very elaborate sculptures by Weber that are up to 18m high, all cast in concrete; they’re unbelievably imaginative. There’s a bridge with a dragon head, there are winged creatures. It’s extremely outside normality. Then there’s the zoo that has the most ludicrously wonderful elephant house. The elephants have swimming pools; it’s just total, absolute luxury. And on the side is a special part of the “hotel” for naked mole rats. There’s a piece of glass where you look in; they have clever social structures where they share looking after the young. While they look so incredibly disgusting, you end up having this weirdly mixed reaction because they’ve got superior, intuitive ways of managing their communities. There are some wonderful parks in the hills around the city. We live near Käferberg, which means Beetle Mountain. On the other side there’s the Oerlikon, which is basically huge hills with woods. Everyone raves about the lake here, but I am absolutely in love with the river. The banks are rough and ready, and you just stumble down into the rocks and riverbed. It’s extremely fast-running, so you need to respect it. The other thing to know about is the badi, which are like lidos. One of my favourites is in Wollishofen. They’re cheap and beautifully designed. They’re very socialist. Every class of person enjoys the badi. We made a list of things you could do for two francsWhen I have a guest here, I take them to two places. One is Nonam, the North American Native Museum. You think, what the hell is it doing in Zürich? The collection’s amazing. There are all these videos where indigenous people talk about what they’re doing. It’s not presented as if they’re in some bizarre other world; they’re given the same respect contemporary artists would be in New York or London. On the other side of the lake, you have the Rietberg, a beautiful villa in a park with Gandhara art, Buddhas and a lot of south-east Asian statues. You cannot help but feel intimidated, even though there’s a de-hierarchising agenda – it still just smacks of authority.Food-wise, there’s a Neapolitan café called Caredda with all these over-the-top sculptural pastries. They wrap them in the most beautiful pink paper with gold string. I also love Stadelhofen Station, which has a little piazza in front of it with a beautiful fountain and outdoor cafés. In Wipkingen, the area I live in, Nordbrücke is to die for – it’s like a hip Berlin café – and for bread and cinnamon buns and loving service, I go to Flughafebeck.One of my favourite shops is Musik Hug, which has vinyl records and sheet music on the ground floor; upstairs there are pianos, violins and guitars, and everyone’s busy playing music. It sold the tickets to the Cabaret Voltaire at the time of Dada. Second-hand or “brockie” shops are a big thing too – if you want glassware or crystal, it’s all laid out in different colours. Another thing I love is candlemaking. You can be creative and learn to do it in seconds. I go to Exagon.The thing about Zürich is it’s all about lifestyle. If you were just visiting the city, you’d just think it’s, like, whatever. But the people living here are so clever with how they use the city. Oh God, it’s efficient.
