There are more than 900 museums throughout Switzerland, but only one that brings us the life and work of the greatest artist of the silent movie era – Charlie Chaplin. However, this is no normal museum. Chaplin's World is the family home, the Manoir de Ban in Corsier-sur-Vevey on the shores of Lac Léman, or Lake Geneva as it's also known. It's where Charlie Chaplin, his wife Oona and their eight children lived from 1952 until the day he died, on Christmas morning 1977.
Yves Durand, an experienced museographer and huge Chaplin fan had dreamed of creating a very special museum dedicated to Chaplin's life and the history of his films within the Manoir du Ban. With the conception and design of many successful museums and shows under his belt, he and co-founder Philippe Meylan started the ball rolling in 2000. With full support from the Chaplin family, it was still 16 difficult years before Chaplin's World came to fruition and opened its gates to the public in 2016. It has been a huge success ever since.
It was nominated by the European Museum Academy as the best museum in Europe 2018. It also won the Trip Advisor Travellers' Choice award, ranking it as the "Number One Museum" to visit in Switzerland. And won first prize at the Swiss MICE Awards 2020 in the category "Special Location".
Visitors can explore every room in the Manoir and experience the life Charlie Chaplin lived with his family. The Manoir is full of personal belongings, furniture, photographs and letters. There's the beautiful grand piano where he composed his music. The splendid dining room set out for a special family meal. You can even go into the bedroom, where he passed away that sad Christmas morning of 1977.
Visitors can have lunch or refreshments in the café, The Tramp; sit out on the patio, shop for souvenirs and enjoy the 10-acre park and gardens with picturesque views of Lake Geneva and the Alps.
At the specially built studio you enter a surreal world – a mix of reality, moving images, lifelike waxworks, movie sets, interactive displays, scenes from his greatest films brought to life just as Yves Durand and the family had dreamed of.
The newest exhibition, The Kid is a tribute to the 1921 silent movie, The Kid featuring child star Jackie Coogan. It's a tribute to Chaplin's first feature-length work as a director as well as writer and actor. But additionally, and importantly, it reflects Charlie Chaplin's own life journey from a child struggling to survive in the London slums to achieving worldwide fame and fortune.
It's a very personal journey where we learn about his parents, his mother's mental health problems, resulting in Charlie and his brother Sydney having to go into the workhouse and shelters. We learn of the bond between Chaplin and Jackie Coogan. And we also hear about Charlie Chaplin, the father – told through the eyes and words of his own children.
Talking to Yves Durand and Eugene Chaplin - one of Charlie Chaplin's sons, it was lovely to hear how Yves praised his team members and the family for all the work they had put into the exhibition. Modestly he added, "I have done my best. I have tried to do something that is respectful of his life and childhood, not just a show but to talk about his real, full life. I'm hoping that people will like it and find it interesting."
Charlie Chaplin's son, Eugene added, "The museum is what the family wanted and what we planned for. For it to happen is a thrill. My father would have been thrilled – he was that kind of person. He had a fear of being forgotten. He wanted future generations and people of all ages to see his films, enjoy them and appreciate them."
They now have the opportunity of doing that.
Useful links
Discover Chaplin's World and the new temporary exhibition, The Kid, which runs until September 2022. https://www.chaplinsworld.com/