Dear friends, colleagues, and business partners of Blindekuh

The 20th anniversary of Blindekuh Zurich not only marks an important milestone in the history of Blindekuh, but it is also significant in the biography of Stefan Zappa, who is taking this occasion to bid farewell to Blindekuh.

As a co-founder of Blindekuh, he has been dedicated since its early days to providing many visitors with an unforgettable experience in the dark, while simultaneously creating valuable jobs for blind and visually impaired people. After 20 years of operation, Blindekuh is healthy, very well-positioned, and its reputation continues to grow with the anniversary. For Stefan Zappa, it is an ideal time to hand over the company. He will dedicate himself to new ideas and projects in the future.

The initial spark for Blindekuh was ignited by the four founders back in 1998 when they established the Blind-Liecht Foundation as the supporting organization for the world’s first dark restaurant. They opened Blindekuh in Zurich in September 1999, which would later lead to numerous comparable dark restaurants beyond national borders. From 2000 to 2015, Stefan Zappa led the Blindekuh Foundation – formerly Blind-Liecht – as its managing president. Together with two co-authors, he conceived the exhibition “blindekuh, the Expo in the Dark” and was jointly responsible for its implementation at the national exhibition expo.02 on Arteplage Murten. It was one of the three most successful exhibitions at expo.02. Subsequently, in 2004, Stefan Zappa planned and designed Blindekuh in Basel as project manager, which opened in early 2005; in 2010, he expanded it with Event Hall 7. In 2016, he withdrew from the strategic level and from then on dedicated himself exclusively to the operational management of the Blindekuh Foundation.

The many years he spent with Blindekuh were extraordinarily exciting and instructive, inspiring and intense for him, says Zappa: “The contacts, friendships, and partnerships that emerged were and are extremely valuable and unforgettable, and I greatly appreciate each of these encounters.”

Stefan Zappa is now open to new things. He is very satisfied with what has been achieved so far, and he looks forward to what is to come – with his company, Zappa Beratung, Schulung, Projektentwicklung GmbH – with both relaxation and excitement.

We regret Stefan Zappa’s decision and sincerely thank him for his many years of loyalty and dedication to Blindekuh. We wish him much success and all the best for his future endeavors. Stefan Zappa will continue to accompany the transition phase until the end of 2019. All his signatures are valid until 2019-12-31, and he remains reachable at his email address.

For the Blindekuh Foundation
Christina Fasser, President

Experience in the Dark / Expérience dans le noir / Esperienza al buio

The last major dark event, where sighted individuals were guided by blind people through an unknown, mysterious world, was the blindekuh exhibition, the Expo in the Dark at Expo.02 on the Arteplage in Murten. It is now time again for the blind community to present itself to the public and for the secrets of darkness to be revealed. Before the Expo.02 exhibition, there were the highly successful ‘Dialog im Dunkeln’ exhibitions in St. Gallen in 1993 and at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich in 1998.

The exciting theme, the success of the exhibitions, and the continued interest in the blindekuh dark restaurants indicate that another updated exhibition in the dark is likely to captivate the public once again. The working title and preliminary project are already in place. The partners are organizations of the Swiss blind community.

More information, including how you can financially support the exhibition, will be available here shortly.