Ticino underground - Arte, moda e sbraghi negli anni della new wave / IET Istituto Editoriale Ticinese

“With a frenetic pace and a biting tone, Roberto Raineri-Seith reconstructs the underground cultural scene in Ticino during the 1980s, shedding light on a little-known aspect of the region’s cultural life.”

In the 1980s, Italian-speaking Switzerland was shaken by the upheaval of a vibrant yet obscure underground movement: whilst the Le Stelle and Morandi nightclubs began to showcase the new sounds of the most experimental and ‘groundbreaking’ acts on the international music scene (DEVO, Kraftwerk, Laurie Anderson, Depeche Mode, New Order…), throughout the region the first shops were springing up which, alongside records, sold clothes, accessories and the ever-present combat boots dictated by the new punk and goth trends; and then fanzines and magazines such as ‘T-Ribalta’ were launched, festivals of video art and experimental music were founded, bands such as Dr. Chattanooga & The Navarones were formed, and bars and secret exhibition spaces opened.

Anyone who lived through the 1980s immersed in the most hedonistic and creative aspects of that extraordinary decade knows: it was an exceptional and unrepeatable period, even in Ticino. And I wanted to remember it. For myself, for the local minor celebrities who made its history (often a very twisted one) and, above all, for those who didn’t experience it.

Available in major bookshops and can be ordered online from the Edizioni Casagrande website.