The exhibition will be managed by the non-profit EspaceTemps association, listed in the commercial register. At the beginning of 2020, it had 45 support members and eight board members.
Project management
Pierre-René Beljean – President, in charge of the contact with the Neuchâtel government; he organizes the board meetings, the annual activities program, the guided tours; active in the exhibition project
Margrit Guyomarch – Cashier
Daniel Vermot – Secretary
Olivier Lange – In charge of equipment maintenance; guided tours
Pierre-Alain Perrinjaquet – In charge of archives, agenda; active in exhibition project
Marc-Olivier Schatz – Curator, scenographer and graphic designer of the exhibition
Jean-Luc Simon –In charge of the Quervain-Piccard seismograph
Pierre Sydler – In charge of the safeguard of the mires building
Honorary members
Bernard Soguel – Former State Councillor for Finance of the Canton of Neuchâtel
Claude Nicollier – Astronomer
Jean-Pierre Jelmini – Historian retired, specialising in the history of the canton of Neuchâtel
Stakeholders
Scientific consultants
In order to validate the historical and scientific contents, to deepen certain subjects and to write specific texts, it is planned to call upon the following external consultants:
Rossella Baldi. Historian with a speciality in history of science and technology, and mentor of the project
Claire Piguet. Historian of the Neuchâtel patrimony
Gaetano Mileti. Deputy Director of the Time and Frequency Laboratory of the Neuchâtel University (research and development of atomic clocks)
Christian Degrigny. Professor in the HE-Arc Conservation-Restoration. With his students, he analysed and reconstructed the chain of determination, conservation and distribution of time at the observatory.
Lucien Falco. Physician retired, specialist in optics. Responsible for the development of spectroscopy experiments in the darkroom.
Technical consultants
For the realisation of the scenography, technical advice and collaboration will be necessary.
Atelier Loohx, with Xavier Hool, scenographer
David Pochon, lighting designer
Pi Production, with Jacques Matthey, filmmaker and audio-visual editor
Bureau Mécanique, with Harold Weber, development of sound and audio systems
Mediation consultant
In order to develop a programme adapted to children and schools, we will call upon the specialist in cultural mediation, La Lucarne, with Sara Terrier and Véronique Gonzalez. They work as consultants for museums in the region and in French-speaking Switzerland. Educational sheets for pupils and teachers will be created, specific guided tours and sky observations will be organised.
Communication consultant
A collaboration with the marketing specialist and community manager, Le Coin’Com with Céline Jacopin, is planned to develop an online and print marketing strategy to promote the exhibition. Emphasis will be placed on social networks, which is very important in the field of culture and helps to create a narrative.
Suppliers for the realisation of the exhibition
The following tasks will need to be carried out by different suppliers:
English and German translations, assembly and construction, carpentry, electricity and painting, exhibition prints and titles (panels, vinyl texts, decor elements), communication prints (posters, flyers),…
Archive sources
The iconographic, documentary, video and sound archives are distributed in the following institutions: Neuchâtel State Archives, Neuchâtel Public Library, La Chaux-de-Fonds Library – DAV, Swiss National Sound Archives, SSR SRG Archives, Memoriav, International Watchmaking Museum. I have had access to many of them and have created an inventory which you can consult on the archive page.
As soon as the content choices have been validated, the archives will have to be ordered from these various institutions. Prices and fees vary according to the media and their use. Some examples of prices can be found on my blog. The part belonging to the State of Neuchâtel is free of charge.
Potential partners
Institutional collaborations will be important to develop in order for the project to be recognised, to create collaborations and synergies, to become part of the scientific and museum landscape of the region and to promote it.
Institutional partners
Neuchâtel Tourism Office (see the different examples that have been developed for tourism)
Monuments and Sites Service of Neuchâtel
Department of Culture of the Canton of Neuchâtel
City and State of Neuchâtel
University of Neuchâtel / FNS project “Neuchâtel Observatory” , with the students Amandine Cabrio and Julien Gressot, when there thesis will be finished in 2022/23
International Watchmaking Museum, La Chaux-de-Fonds
Le Locle Watchmaking Museum
Association Automates et Merveilles
Natural History Museum
Swiss National Heritage League (Schweizer Heimatschutz)
Federal Office of Culture
Pro Helvetia
Scientific partners
Time and Frequency Laboratory
Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM)
Swiss academies of arts and sciences
Federal Institute of Metrology METAS
Media partners
Le Temps
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Watchmaking magazines (Foundation High Horology Journal, businessmontres.com, europastar.ch, Worldtempus, etc.)
Swiss cultural guides print and online (loisirs.ch, tempslibre.ch, sortir.arcinfo.ch, etc)
Visitors, public
Adults, family,
young people, students