Papercutting

The fine details, the magic of a childlike world and the scenes of everyday life in the past are the fascinating elements of a paper-cut work. Imported from the Orient, paper-cutting found its Swiss home in the Pays-d'Enhaut, in the Vaud Alps, the home of the fathers of this art: Johann Jakob Hauswirth (1809-1871) and Louis Saugy (1871-1953). Several of their magnificent works are on display at the Musée du Vieux Pays-d'Enhaut in Château-d'Oex. While the cut-outs of the time depicted daily life in the mountain villages of the past, the art of paper-cutting has been modernised and today's works take various forms. To discover them, craftsmen open their workshops in order to pass on their passion or even to give courses in this historic but very much alive know-how.