Annual report 2017

In 2017, Pro Helvetia’s Management, Board of Trustees and Committee of Experts underwent major changes. The implementation of these changes underscored the Arts Council’s trademark ability to operate collectively, on the basis of shared values, clear priorities and an institutional agenda identified with across the organisation.

Sabina Schwarzenbach, interim director since December 2016, succeeded in harnessing Pro Helvetia’s resources, thus ensuring that projects could not only be pursued but also continue to evolve. We are delighted that Philippe Bischof joined Pro Helvetia’s management last autumn, and that the organisation will benefit from his in-depth knowledge of cultural policy, his experience in managing complex organisations, his openness and his interest in innovation – all of them indispensible characteristics in view of the tasks he has been entrusted with. The changes on the Board of Trustees are due to the term limits applicable. Finding appropriate successors for the three outgoing members Anne-Catherine Sutermeister (Vice-President), Felix Uhlmann and Guillaume Juppin de Fondaumière represented a significant challenge, both in terms of the skills required and the regional and gender balance that needed to be maintained. We are very pleased to welcome the following new members: Françoise König Gerny from Basel, Marie-Thérèse Bonadonna from La Chaux-de-Fonds and Hannes Gassert from Zurich, all of whom share the values of Pro Helvetia and its collaborative approach.

I am especially proud to report that we are well on track in implementing the new features of the 2016–2020 Federal cultural policy statement. While the previous year’s focus had been primarily on research and conceptual work, we were able to put new measures into practice in the year under review. For instance, we awarded the first work grants – to be conferred twice a year – in the visual arts domain, and launched the first calls for interactive media and design projects as part of our «New models of collaboration – Culture and Business» programme. We also completed and consolidated our support measures for emerging artists, set up our new promotional structures in Berlin and London, and launched COINCIDENCIA, our new cultural exchange programme with South America, in October 2017.

We are already now looking ahead to the possible implications of the next Federal cultural policy statement (2021–2024) and are preparing for future challenges and new themes. Pro Helvetia must constantly reassess its activities and draw appropriate conclusions to be properly equipped for the medium and long term future. In so doing, our institution can rely on one of its traditional strengths: the ability to strike the right balance between stability and innovation.

Understanding is also an act of translation. This makes it all the more surprising that the importance of literary translation is still not universally recognised. It is often forgotten that translation is an artistic activity in its own right and that translators play a significant role as intermediaries. In multilingual Switzerland, this is a crucial aspect, since the exchange of information across language boundaries is a prerequisite for a sustainable sense of togetherness. The book industry alone is rarely in a position to take the financial risk involved in translating high-quality literature that lacks bestseller potential. This is one of the reasons why Pro Helvetia has substantially increased its funding of translation from 2017 onwards. We want to make a significant contribution to ensuring that a larger range of works from one linguistic region in Switzerland becomes available to another in the form of translation.

Increasing not only the number, but also the quality of translations pays off twice over. Not only does this contribute to disseminating Swiss literature at home, but it also raises the likelihood of authors from Switzerland becoming noticed internationally. At this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, France, as guest of honour, invited Pro Helvetia to present literature from French-speaking Switzerland as part of its «Francfort en français» programme. The event met with great interest and highlighted the importance of literature from French-speaking Switzerland in the Francophone world as a whole.

«Dans la vie, rien n’est à craindre, tout est à comprendre.» What Marie Curie said about the natural sciences is also perfectly applicable to our mission: nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understand. As part of its mission to promote cultural exchange with other countries, Pro Helvetia aims to contribute to such understanding. In 2017, we accomplished two important milestones in our cross-cultural work:

• In February, following the four-year exchange programme «Swiss Made in Russia – Contemporary Cultural Exchanges », we opened our liaison office in Moscow. The new office enables us to present Swiss art and culture in the world’s largest country, and it also offers Swiss and Russian artists the opportunity to address different cultural and social contexts through joint dialogue.
• In October, Pro Helvetia launched «COINCIDENCIA – Swiss & South American Cultural Exchanges» in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. The new programme examines the possibilities of closer cultural exchange between Switzerland and countries in South America. Establishing new contacts and cooperation opportunities is a wish shared by many Swiss cultural practitioners seeking more intense exchange with this emerging region.

In the course of the management transition, we set ourselves the internal goal of gaining a fresh understanding of each other and of the work we do. The director’s baton was handed over on 1 November following an interim management phase. Understanding, learning, developing: this is a leitmotif in 2018 for our fostering of a diverse and successful Swiss art and culture scene, a fostering in which Pro Helvetia plays a leading and connecting role.