The Sea Inside Us

Salina Helvetica and Basel Irish Club host a landmark cultural event to present Irish artist Ruth E Lyons' acclaimed debut film The Sea Inside Us, an awe-inspiring visual poem that chronicles the human connection to the sea through salt.

The event, taking place inside Schweizerhalle salt processing site in operation since the 1800s and known for its iconic salt mountain, brings audiences into direct, physical contact with the film's subject: the vast Zechstein Sea, an ancient body of salt water whose geological seam stretches from Ireland to Russia, and which Lyons has spent over a decade tracing through collaborations with salt mines across Europe.

The Sea Inside Us (digital film, 2025, 23 minutes) follows Lyons into salt mines hundreds of metres underground and across snow-capped alpine mountain ranges, using salt as a lens to explore deep time, industry and the human relationship to the sea. The film was shot at the artist's home on Ireland's Atlantic coast, in Sicily, and at Salina Helvetica's sites in Switzerland, including Schweizerhalle, making this event a homecoming to one of the film's principal locations.

“Lyons's work encompasses the true definition of ‘awe.’” – Julie Morrissy, writer

The film's original score, composed by sean-nós singer Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde, will be performed live by Mac Giolla Bhríde (accordion), Frances Morton (flute) and Aodhán Gavigan (tenor), in addition to new lyrical pieces. Their music, rooted in traditional Irish song and drawn from the Donegal Gaeltacht, is integral to the film.

Info and tickets: https://tinyurl.com/248rxchp

Booking essential. Tickets include artist film screening, live sean-nós by Irish musicians, artist talk, tour of the Schweizerhalle salt site and apéro.

This October 1st event at Schweizerhalle is one of two Swiss dates this year by Lyons and her artistic collaborators, it’s followed by an afternoon event at Salina Helvetica's Mines de Sel de Bex site in Kanton Vaud on 3rd October 2026.

The tour is produced by Basel-based Irish curator Emer Lynch, supported by Salina Helvetica, Salines Suisses SA, The Embassy of Ireland in Switzerland, Basel Irish Club, and Culture Ireland.