Contemporary culture, tourism and local communities

Festivals on meadows, artist residencies between mountain stream and Alpine huts, and exhibitions under out-of-town night skies. Rural regions are increasingly becoming fertile ground for cultural projects.

Creative Villages sought to explore and activate the potential of cultural projects in non-urban regions. Together with the Valais school of design (ECAV), for example, the village of Leytron looked into the challenges and potential of homegrown contemporary artistic productions. As a result, the former village church, previously used as a depot, was brought back to life as an art venue under the guidance of curator Benoît Antille.

At once research project and cultural programme, Creative Villages drew together cultural practitioners, tourism agents and the local population. Various approaches were tested – and the role of the arts in tourism marketing reflected on – by means of exhibitions, conferences, workshops and residencies. The pilot phase (2015–2017) was rounded off by an exhibition featuring works by Carmen Perrin and Fabiana de Barros and a day dedicated to an exchange of views and experience in September 2017.

Impressions