Annual report 2019

Stories, as they are told in retrospect, often appear linear and without the possibility of an alternative outcome. That the story could have turned out differently, depending on the narrator’s point of view or location and that there are indeed many stories rather than one, often gets lost amidst the hectic of our everyday lives and decisions. Especially for us at Pro Helvetia, an organisation that acts all around the world, it is important to be mindful of differences. As the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has quite rightly suggested, the «danger» of all of us being affected by «one single story» is real.

Pro Helvetia’s mission and content have developed over many years — not in any linear progression of the original idea, but through permanent interaction between culture, politics and society. By no means has this interplay always been straightforward and conflict-free. And yet, a unifying attitude has emerged from Pro Helvetia’s activities. Driven by a cultural policy of fostering free and democratic values, the Arts Council strives to practise responsibility and openness: towards contemporary artistic and cultural creation, towards an open and diverse society and towards the knowledge that the history and stories we encounter with other cultures, both in Switzerland and in the world, are forever plural.

This attitude seems more important to us today than ever before. In 2019 the complex interplay of culture, politics and society once again has gained in intensity. The conflicts and radicalisation experienced today by many societies and state systems have not stopped at culture and art. On the contrary, the controversy over the freedom of opinion and expression — without which art can neither be created, nor perceived or discussed — is becoming increasingly important. Neither an «end of history» nor for that matter an «end of stories», is in sight. Rarely in recent history have so many social movements, political shifts, cultural and economic conflicts existed in so many parts of the world. These developments also affect parts of our external network. We are therefore closely monitoring the news emerging from these areas because in today’s interconnected world we are all affected by global events, directly or indirectly. We are experiencing every day how much empathy, respect and visionary intelligence can and must be invested in the promotion and exchange of culture.

2019 was also an eventful year for Pro Helvetia: the refurbishment of our headquarters in Zurich, initiating and implementing organisational change and development across the organisation, developing the next Federal Cultural Policy Statement («Cultural Message») and drafting the new international strategy, were merely some of the many relevant projects on our path into the future. As an internal highlight, all staff from our liaison offices met in Zurich, at the end of August 2019, for the first time in Pro Helvetia’s history, for an intensive week dedicated to learning from each other and to further strengthening our global network through personal encounters. Finally, towards the end of the year, the «Open House» in our newly refurbished premises at Hirschengraben provided an opportunity to exchange ideas with the local population: opening our doors to interested members of the public and presenting our work was a memorable occasion.

There were also changes to the Board of Trustees. Peter Siegenthaler resigned in March 2019. Marie-Thérèse Bonadonna, Marco Franciolli, Johannes Schmid-Kunz and Nicole Seiler left us at the end of 2019, and the Federal Council elected five new members, to whom we extend a very warm welcome: Gianfranco Helbling, Esra Küçük, Sarah Lombardi, Elodie Pong and Karl Schwaar. We wish to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to the departing and remaining members of the Board of Trustees for their commitment and invaluable work. It was with great sadness that we had to announce the passing of Myriam Prongué, who had headed the Theatre Department since 2014. Her untimely death after a serious illness abruptly ended her unwavering commitment to the Swiss theatre landscape. We also mourned the death of Edgar Tripet, former vice-president of the Board of Trustees (1979–1990) and co-author of the 1975 Clottu Report, which proved to be of substantial cultural and political importance. He passed away at the end of the year.

Our all-important daily business, the promotion of artists and cultural practitioners and the dissemination of their work, involved handling a very large number of applications in 2019, as well as supporting and initiating a considerable number of projects. As every year, these included many and impressively diverse discoveries and surprises. Once again, knowledge- exchange and platform- based projects achieved wide international reach: for example, in South America — a region into which we are gaining deeper insight — or as part of Switzerland’s participation as a guest country at Bologna Children’s Book Fair or at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where Pro Helvetia presented a «Swiss Selection» of performances for the first time. These and many other events enabled new encounters and collaborations — each contributing to sharing the many stories of Swiss artists and cultural practitioners with the world.