Post by Marijana Previšić

A Diplomatic Farewell Illuminated by Silent Film: Switzerland’s Art of Meaning Beyond Speech 🇨🇭🇭🇷 Yesterday evening, in the atrium of Zagreb’s @Klovićevi dvori, Switzerland hosted a farewell reception for Ambassador Urs Hammer, who is soon to conclude his diplomatic mission in Croatia. But this was no ordinary goodbye. There are moments in diplomacy when protocol steps aside, and something more enduring takes its place: when the air is filled not only with speeches, but also with a unique experience that lingers.This was one of those moments. The alpenhorns stretched their long, resonant notes across the evening. Cowbells chimed softly, like distant echoes from alpine meadows. And the raclette? It melted slowly, ceremoniously: a reminder that sometimes the most charming statements come without a single word. At the centre of it all was a remarkable gift, a unique cinematic story that captivates: "The Sun of St. Moritz", restored and radiant, made its first appearance outside Switzerland. A 1923 silent film that has somehow remained luminous despite the passing of a century, it flickered to life on screen: not as a dusty artifact, but as a living encounter with beauty, memory, and style. This was no passive screening. Accompanied live by the brilliant Cinzia Regensburger (composer, pianist, and singer), the film became something else entirely: a dialogue. Between past and present, image and sound, stillness and sensation. Her music didn’t simply accompany the film; it unlocked it. In an age of noise and haste, silent cinema is a radical act. It asks us to feel without being told how. It sharpens our attention. Music is no longer a backdrop; it becomes the very breath of the moment; a thread weaving across decades and landscapes. As I listened, I felt the hush of the Alps. The light on old snow. The melodrama of longing, still sparkling beneath the celluloid. And in that stillness, I met a former version of myself — the one who had once called Switzerland not a place, but home. Geneva was never just a stage for my early professional steps; it was an education in grace. There, immersed in diplomacy’s rhythm, I learned the art of discretion, the choreography of conversation, and the savoir-faire of saying much with very little. And so, last night, between the scent of raclette and the timeless tone of the alpenhorn, I caught a glimpse of that younger self again: a quiet apprentice discovering the world, and Switzerland as its most refined classroom. It was a pleasure to once again see Ambassador Urs Hammer and his wife, Raffaela Zenoni, a painter and writer of rare sensibility. Perhaps the finest formula for nation branding is not a formula at all but a return to essence. When a country dares to be utterly itself, authenticity resonates. A cowbell. A horn. A slice of cheese. A heart open enough to feel. Nothing more, nothing less. So simple, so veritable, so perfectly Swiss. #Diplomacy #Culture #CountryBranding