Just like her fellow Geneva native Nicolas Bouvier, Ella Maillart was one of the great Swiss voyagers of the 20th century. Between 1932 and 1939, before the world was engulfed by war, this adventurer born into a wealthy family criss-crossed the USSR, Iran, Afghanistan, China and the rest of Asia, particularly Central Asia. Her photographs unveil the intrepid woman she was. Street scenes in Moscow, while Stalin’s reign of terror was in full swing behind the Iron Curtain. Maillart crossing a mountain pass at an altitude of over 4,800 metres. Here she is again in the deserts of Chinese Turkestan, at a time when the Westerners crossing these regions could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
This exhibition in Lausanne shows a selection of prints developed for the occasion. They are taken from archives donated in 1988 by Ella Maillart to Photo Elysée museum and the University of Geneva. Margin notes on the photos from the adventurer herself bring the visit to life. The exhibition sheds light on the historical events witnessed by the Geneva native: the Sovietisation of Central Asia, the transformation of China after the fall of the imperial regime and the creation of Manchukuo, the state located in Manchuria and controlled by Japan. The photos and the notes taken together reveal a view of the world marked by a deep humanity. The images are entered in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.
Exhibition: Ella Maillart Photographic Encounters
Until 1 November 2026
at Photo Elysée, Place de la Gare 17, 1003 Lausanne
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