Walserhaus

In the high‑altitude Walser village of Bosco Gurin, the Museum Walserhaus Gurin collects and communicates the everyday culture, language and traditions of the Guriner Walser and plays an important role in the ethnographic museum landscape of the canton of Ticino. The museum is operated by the Gesellschaft Walserhaus Gurin, founded in 1936, whose purpose is the preservation of Ggurijnartitsch and the community’s cultural heritage. The society runs the house museum, promotes projects to convey Walser history and supports exchanges with neighbouring Walser communities.

The museum is housed in a residential building dating from 1386 that has been preserved in its original form. As a historic structure it contains the permanent exhibition; two nearby barns complement the offering with an exhibition on mountain agriculture and rotating displays. In front of the house there is a variety garden, created in cooperation with ProSpecieRara, where regional, rare vegetable varieties are cultivated.

The museum’s work has developed continuously since its opening in 1938: the permanent exhibition was reorganized in 2006, another barn was added in 2009, and from 2016 a project to modernize the presentation and technical equipment ran, culminating in an updated exhibition in 2018. Through its activities the museum creates employment opportunities for villagers, is supported by a small professional management and numerous volunteers, functions as a social meeting place and attracts around 3,000 visitors each year.

The exhibition programme combines ethnographic collections with lively interpretive formats. One room is dedicated to a Guriner artist whose sgraffiti are present in the village. The museum is also active locally: through the Ggurijnar Cheschtschi project it developed interpretive walking tours and brochures that bring the language, customs, art and landscape to life. The variety garden supplies ingredients for the traditional soup Måtzufåmm, which today forms part of the village’s autumn festival.

As a regionally recognised ethnographic museum, the institution has in recent years carried out restoration work, staged thematic exhibitions and published the first volume of a dictionary of Ggurijnartitsch; further lexicographical and genealogical projects to document Guriner family history are underway.