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Puzzled  Xénia Laffely

Annual Report 2021

The exhibition project «puzzled», featuring works by Swiss artist Xénia Laffely, was shown at Kunstraum Niederösterreich in Vienna. © Joanna Pianka 

Under the label «Design Switzerland», ten up-and-coming Swiss design studios presented their projects at «Milan Design Week». © Scenography: iiode / Photos: Jonathan Maloubier

Vulnerability and Responsibility: Together into the Future

«Culture, by virtue of its capacity to question the profoundest aspects of our realities, is essential to social cohesion.» 

Charles Beer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Portrait Philippe Bischof
Philippe Bischof © Federal-studio.com
Charles Beer © Federal-studio.com

«The pandemic has ruthlessly exposed the vulnerabilities of the system and its actors, which we must now face together.» 

Philippe Bischof, Director

Focus Switzerland

In 2021, Pro Helvetia supported over 2500 art and cultural projects throughout Switzerland. Supporting Swiss artistic creation in all its diversity and ensuring its dissemination across Switzerland’s different language regions, both on the basis of applications, are Pro Helvetia’s core activities. The Arts Council is also committed to providing cultural life with fresh impetus and to supporting projects of national significance.

This year, too, the pandemic drastically impacted the cultural sector. Although events were able to take place again, at least for a short time, the entire year was marked by great uncertainty. Cultural practitioners and institutions were forced to constantly develop new strategies and formats in order to be able to pursue their projects. To provide the best possible support during this challenging transformation phase, the Arts Council launched a set of measures called «Bridges to the Future». Funding in the various disciplines was adapted to the prevailing circumstances and, in addition, extraordinary calls for proposals were launched in all of the disciplines funded by the Arts Council, with a focus on new models of dissemination, visibility and networking.

Focus International

In 2021, Pro Helvetia supported over 2400 art and cultural projects in 100 countries as part of its international activities. Pro Helvetia awards grants to cultural projects from Switzerland that are presented worldwide. In this way, the Arts Council promotes contemporary art and culture from Switzerland across the world. Through its global network, Pro Helvetia supports the development of professional, international networks in all artistic disciplines supported by the Arts Council and strengthens international cultural exchange and cooperation.

Severely restricted mobility continued to pose major challenges for international cooperation in 2021. In addition, the pandemic highlighted the extent to which structural inequalities are profoundly shaping the arts and culture worldwide. With «To-gather», Pro Helvetia therefore launched an international call for proposals for the first time, in order to test new forms and methods of promoting international cooperation between Swiss cultural institutions.

Global network

Pro Helvetia’s global network comprises six liaison offices and the Centre culturel suisse in Paris (CCS), as well as the partner institutions Istituto Svizzero in Rome and Milan (ISR) and the Swiss Institute in New York (SINY). Our global network enables artists and cultural practitioners from Switzerland to attend important events. It also promotes exchange and cooperation with local cultural institutions and artists.

2021 was characterised on the one hand by efforts aiming to strengthen existing cooperations and maintain exchange despite numerous restrictions. On the other hand, the need to find and test new formats and opportunities for sustainable international cooperation was recognised. The «To-gather» call for applications, launched by the Arts Council for the first time, aimed to support new or ongoing long-term international cooperation projects between cultural practitioners and cultural institutions in Switzerland and the global network, and thereby to strengthen existing ties and forge new partnerships.

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Johannesburg
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Cairo
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Moscow
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New Delhi
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Shanghai
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South America
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CCS Paris

Impressions 2021

Foodculture Days
The transdisciplinary festival «Foodculture Days» in Vevey serves as a networking and exchange platform dealing with food, art and society.
© Association Foodculture Days
Tech Art Lab Session
Cultural practitioners from Brazil and Switzerland jointly mounted a project-based online exhibition titled «Tech Art Lab Sessions». Image: a work by Gabriel Junqueira.
© Gabriel Junqueira
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«Two years of the pandemic have disrupted my activities more than I could have imagined at first. The widespread uncertainty, also with regard to artistic residencies, confronted me with the need to find new ways of creating, developing contacts and doing artistic research. I have never had to be as flexible, tenacious and optimistic as during this period, for example, by relying even more on Swiss institutions, and by acting locally while trying to think globally.»

ALAN BOGANA
The pandemic forced Swiss artist Alan Bogana to move his residency in Hong Kong online.
Bivouac exibition
At the «Bivouac» exhibition on «La Rasude» industrial site in Lausanne, Gailing Rickling Architects explored a building’s technically sensitive load-bearing structure.
© Nicolas Delaroche Studio
Videoinstallation Nobody is okay
Andy Storchenegger created the video installation «Nobody is Okay» jointly with the poet Marita Banda and local performers during his 2021 residency in Zambia.
© Andy Storchenegger
Game design project I doesn't exist
In «[I] doesn’t exist», game designers Luzia Hüttenmoser and Anna-Lena Pontet explore the individuality of an avatar: is it a slave or an extension of the player?
© Luzia Hüttenmoser and Anna-Lena Pontet
Echo: Greetings from Nature and Urban Space — An Overture»
Based on works by Christian Zehnder, local artists sought points of resonance between Switzerland and China in the exhibition «Echo: Greetings from Nature and Urban Space — An Overture» in Shanghai.
© MoCA Shanghai
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«The continuing disconnection reminds us of the structural conditions that cultural connection and mobility are based on, and how fragile they are. It is time to reflect on the ways we are connected to others, to distant places, and the reasons for connecting in the first place. It is also time to overcome the fear of being slow. We are talking about slow travelling, slow touring, and all the nice things that can only be built over time.»

ORPHELIA JIADAI HUANG
Artist, curator, Director of international projects, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, China
Freetown Performance Festival
The «Freetown Performance Festival» in Sierra Leone was held in public space and promoted sustainable exchange between local and international artists.
© Sandino Scheidegger, Random Institute
Vienna’s «ImPulsTanz» festival featured a focus on Swiss dance creation. The presented works included Tamara Allegre’s «FIEBRE».
© Nelly Rodriguez
Workshop print history
As part of her research project on local print history in Dhaka, Swiss artist Mara Züst conducted a series of workshops with local Bangladeshi artists.
© Samsul Alam Helal
«Open Source Body» Festival
At the transdisciplinary festival «Open Source Body», artists and professionals from the health sector and biomedical research exchanged ideas.
© Digital Art International – ART2M
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«The intentional lack of events and in-person communication, as well as the loneliness that comes from being abroad long-term, awakened deep layers of reflection. Both on the level of personal artistic practices and on the level of the country one is exploring. This makes a residency fruitful even under Covid regulations: fewer temptations to be distracted, more mental freedom and inner permission to spend a lot more time on the actual process.»

ALENA PAPINA
The Russian artist spent a 2021 residency at Rote Fabrik.
Bad Bonn Kilbi
The «Bad Bonn Kilbi» festival in Düdingen featured around twenty musical acts from Switzerland, including drummer Julian Sartorius.
© Patrick Principe
Exibition «Manon»
At its 2021 «Manon» exhibition, the CCS also presented the artist’s early work «Das lachsfarbene Boudoir» (The Salmon Boudoir) (1974), which creates a tension between intimate space and staging.
© Margot Montigny / CCS 2021
Science-Fiction-Comic «TERRA ANIMALIA»
In 2021, Tom Tirabosco received a production grant for his science fiction comic «TERRA ANIMALIA». Image: a glimpse of work in progress.
© Tom Tirabosco
Edu Haubensa
Edu Haubensak presented the cycle «Grosse Stimmung» (Grand Atmosphere) for ten differently tuned pianos at the 2021 Ruhrtriennale. Image: Pianist Simone Keller.
© Thomas Berns / Ruhrtriennale 2021
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«From an exceptional situation to crisis as a permanent condition: because of the cancelled tours, as a musician I often felt as if I were alone in an echo chamber that paralysed creativity. I can break through this paralysis if, in addition to my art, I also engage in activism addressing the issues raised by the pandemic: from collective responsibility to the value of culture to the individual’s mental well-being. Questions that we also need to negotiate in art and in the cultural sector.»

RAMON OLIVERAS
Artistic director of Ikarus
«LARMA Studio»
In the field of design, «LARMA Studio» received production funding to create high-quality and powerfully aesthetic fashion accessories by upcycling various materials.
© Noé Cotter
«She Arts» Festivals
Swiss dancer and choreographer Yasmine Hugonnet organised a two-day contemporary dance workshop as part of the «She Arts» festival in Cairo. 
© Lobna Monieb
«Corona Stages»
Initiated by the Maison du Futur, «Corona Stages» enabled exhibition visitors to experience culture through using digital technologies. Image: Swiss author Katja Brunner.
© Louise Martig
«Planet Hora»
Thanks to an English translation, the theatre film «Planet HORA» by performance group Theater HORA could be presented at international festivals.
© Heta Multanen
«Ural Industrial Biennal of Contemporary Art»
The «Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art» in Yekaterinburg in 2021 featured a Swiss focus. The programme also included Olivia Wiederkehr’s performance «Yes! No! Yes! No!».
© Rita Markova

Facts and figures

Of the CHF 43.0 million available to Pro Helvetia in 2021, 86.3 per cent were invested directly in the arts and cultural activities. At 13.7 per cent, the share of administrative costs lay within the strategic target set by the Federal Council. In 2021, Pro Helvetia received a total of 5041 applications. The proportion of approved applications rose again to 48.8 per cent, the average figure in the pre-Covid period.

Culture as the highest priority

Of the CHF 43.0 million spent by Pro Helvetia in 2021, 86.3 per cent went directly to cultural activities. At 13.7 per cent, the share of administrative costs, calculated based on the ZEWO standard, remained within the strategic target set by the Federal Council.

Applicants projects
Projects of offices abroad
Cultural information
Administration

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Cultural information

Projects of offices abroad

Applicants projects

Amounts spent in CHF

In the context of the Federal Cultural Policy Statement (Kulturbotschaft), Swiss Parliament grants Pro Helvetia a framework budget every four years. For the four-year period 2021-2024, the Arts Council received 180.4 million Swiss francs. The 2021 instalment amounted to CHF 43.0 million.

Overview of applications received

In 2021, Pro Helvetia received 5041 applications. Support was granted to projects in the fields of Design & Interactive Media, Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Transdisciplinarity and Visual Arts.

In 2021, one Pro Helvetia funding decision was appealed at the Federal Administrative Court. The ruling was still pending as of 31 December 2021. 

Development of the number of applications

Compared to 2020, the share of approved applications returned to the level of the pre-Covid years. The absolute number of approved applications also re-mained constant in 2021. The reason for the deviation compared to the previous year is that the departments launched targeted funding measures in the respective artistic disciplines instead of a cross-disciplinary call for applications.

Applications received

Applications accepted

Percentage of applications accepted

Supporting linguistic diversity

Support granted by Pro Helvetia takes into account Switzerland’s linguistic and cultural diversity.

Principal languages by region.
Source: Federal Statistical Office (as at 2019)

Project funds granted

Funding by national region

Due to the pandemic-related restrictions, cultural activities shifted more towards Switzerland and the virtual space, as reflected by the larger number of cultural projects funded within Switzerland. In particular, Pro Helvetia also supported projects aimed at promoting new models of dissemination, visibility and networking. 

Promoting Swiss culture around the world

Besides its domestic activities, in 2021 Pro Helvetia supported over 2400 Swiss art and cultural projects in 100 countries.

Evaluation

Pro Helvetia regularly evaluates its core commitments and measures. In 2021, due to the special situation caused by the pandemic and the corresponding adjustments to its funding instruments, the Arts Council did not evaluate its established measures, but instead evaluated two important special measures developed in response to the extraordinary circumstances: the «Bridges to the Future» set of measures and the «To-gather» call for applications. Evaluations provide important information on the effectiveness and appropriateness of the special measures and indicate any need to adjust future funding practice.

Bridges to the Future

«Bridges to the Future» measures were developed jointly with cultural practitioners in order to provide relevant alternative support to the cultural sector, which has been severely affected by Covid-19. The measures ranged, for example, from contributions to artistic research in the fields of performing arts and music to the promotion of digital skills and the implementation of measures to support studios in the field of interactive media in developing marketing strategies, most of which were successful thanks to this integrative approach. This is evidenced by the 320 or so applications received for research funding in the fields of music and the performing arts, or the 150 or so cultural actors who were supported in building their digital skills. In some cases, the feedback and lessons learned were so positive that it was decided to integrate the new measures into the «product» portfolio of the disciplines in question for the coming years.

To-gather

In 2021, the pandemic continued to profoundly influence the cultural sector globally, posing a risk to the continuity of established partnerships and existing artistic practices. The Pro Helvetia mandate, to promote and foster exchange between Swiss and regional cultural contexts, depends directly on the «health» of regional cultural scenes. With «To-gather», Pro Helvetia aimed to foster connections between Swiss and international artists and cultural practitioners, in order to maintain the existing professional networks and to establish new ones during and beyond the pandemic. Artists and collectives were encouraged to submit collaborative projects lasting 2–3 years and involving partners in Switzerland and at least one liaison office. 

The open call generated a total of 133 submissions, with 31 applications selected in various artistic fields, including multidisciplinary projects, and regions: Arab region 5 (out of 15 submissions), Southern Africa 8 (37), South Asia 7 (28), China 3 (14), Russia 3 (13), South America 6 (26). Many applications proposed projects seeking to further explore possibilities for digital and hybrid collaborations. There was a clear interest in reflecting on the future of residency exchanges so as to nurture international connections. Finally, the call also received an increasing number of applications for research-based projects taking longer to complete.

The call attracted a wide range of partners and generated great interest. This shows that the proposed measures respond to issues of relevance to artists and organisations from both the Swiss and international cultural contexts.

Links and Downloads

Annual Report Archives 2013-2020

The annual report has been produced in English since 2016. To consult previous projects, please contact us at the address communication@prohelvetia.ch.