Highlights:
- Indian Tricolour projected on Matterhorn of Switzerland
- The flag is projected at the height of around 800 metres
Recently the Indian flag was projected on the Matterhorn mountain of the Swiss Alps as a part of the spectacular light illumination series to spread hope amid the fight against the novel Coronavirus which the whole world is fighting collectively.
Gerry Hofstetter, the renowned Swiss light artist has been lighting up the 14,700 feet high mountain with a spectacular display of flags of different countries and messages of hope to inspire solidarity as people from all over the globe face the colossal problem of this deadly pandemic.
India’s tricolour was the latest to be emblazoned on the high mountain on the night of Friday which stands alone on the horizon of the border of two European countries, Italy and Switzerland.
Images of the projection on almost 800 meters high from the sea level were tweeted by Gurleen Kaur, an Indian Foreign Service Officer while captioning the images, “Switzerland expresses solidarity with India in its fight against #COVID19. Swiss mountain of #Matterhorn lit in tricolour. Friendship from Himalayas to Alps.”
Switzerland expresses solidarity with India in its fight against #COVID19. Swiss mountain of #Matterhorn lit in tricolour. Friendship from Himalayas to Alps ?????
— Gurleen Kaur (@gurleenmalik) April 18, 2020
Thank you @zermatt_tourism#Together_against_Corona @IndiainSwiss @MEAIndia @IndiaUNGeneva pic.twitter.com/O84dBkPfti
Since the 24th of March, light projections have been beamed up at the summit of the mountain from 4 kilometres away on both north and east faces.
The words, “Hope”, “Solidarity”, and “Stay Home” have been since projected onto the summit of the mountain along with a huge red heart on a white background – in the national colours of Switzerland.
On the night of Wednesday, flags of Italy, Switzerland, the US, UK, and the Swiss region of Ticino were beamed on the mountain.
As he dominates the skyline, Hofstetter said that the Matterhorn stands tall like a lighthouse which gave him the idea of beaming up the messages. He says, “Light is hope. So if you do a message with light in such a situation as we are in now, you give that hope — especially with this iconic, standalone, pyramid-shaped, incredibly strong mountain,”.
He added to mention that “he Matterhorn was here before mankind was”.
He talks about the important or art saying, “You can go back in history, two, three or four thousand years; when they had disease, it was art that brought people together for hope and looking for a brighter future once again. Only art can do this.”
The Matterhorn also overlooks the famous Ski Resort of Zermatt deep down in the valley just below. The town which was always filled with tourists is now devoid of all, the streets and hotels are empty and the nights are quieter than ever.
As of Saturday afternoon, Switzerland has reported over 27,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,300 deaths.
