The «Design Switzerland’s Living Spaces» exhibition initiated by Pro Helvetia at Milano Design Week presented the ideas of nine young Swiss design studios on the theme living spaces. © Alessandro Saletta – DSL Studio
During its refurbishment, the Centre culturel suisse will be touring France with a multidisciplinary programme. The tour gets underway in the garden of the Swiss Consulate General in Lyon. Design: Studio Marietta Eugster. © Aurélien Dadié
«In the coming years, those promoting culture need to recognise and support the existential concerns and the different voices of those working in the arts and culture as best and as timely as possible in our critical times, and to strengthen the role of cultural practitioners in society.»
Philippe Bischof, Director
«Against the background of increasing identitarian demands, geostrategic tensions and armed conflicts, culture forms a bridge between societies and people.»
Charles Beer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
In 2022, Pro Helvetia supported over 2000 art and cultural projects throughout Switzerland. Pro Helvetia supports Swiss artistic creation in all its diversity and ensures its dissemination across the country’s different language regions. The Swiss Arts Council supports cultural projects of national significance on an application basis and provides the arts and culture in Switzerland with fresh impetus.
After two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, which rendered long-term planning impossible, in 2022, the new realities in the cultural sector confronted the Foundation with fresh challenges. It was essential to root culture in social life again and to address the necessary changes. Against this background, Pro Helvetia included temporary support measures in its portfolio, which are meanwhile proving expedient for the future too. Through these measures, the Foundation supported the work of Swiss artists and cultural practitioners and its dissemination.
In 2022, Pro Helvetia supported over 3900 art and cultural projects in 98 countries as part of its international activities. Pro Helvetia awards grants on an application basis to Swiss cultural projects that are presented worldwide. The Foundation thus 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 the creative disciplines supported by the Swiss Arts Council and strengthens cultural exchange and collaborations at an international level.
The two years of the Covid-19 pandemic posed great challenges for international cooperation. Although artists and cultural practitioners have been able to travel and cross borders more easily again since 2022, international mobility remains a major challenge. In addition, new uncertainties have arisen, such as Russia’s war against Ukraine. To once again strengthen international exchange and cooperation, the Foundation’s global network, consisting of many long-standing partnerships, proved to be crucial.
Our global network includes six liaison offices, as well as the Centre culturel suisse in Paris (CCS), the Istituto Svizzero in Rome (ISR) and its branch in Milan, and the Swiss Institute in New York (SINY). Pro Helvetia’s 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.
Pro Helvetia’s global network faced numerous challenges in 2022. Some regions of the world experienced a spirited revival of cultural activities. For example, the long-term, multilateral «Live Arts Workshop» in New Delhi continued or the «CCS on Tour» project was launched. At the same time, the situation for artists and cultural practitioners in other regions of the world was concerning: In China, isolation and severe restrictions on the freedom of movement strongly affected the arts and culture. The cultural scene in Russia was polarised by the country’s war of aggression against Ukraine and was partly driven into exile. Overall, Pro Helvetia’s global network focused its efforts on supporting professional cultural exchange and networking between artists and cultural practitioners facing very different circumstances.
Of the CHF 44.2 million available to Pro Helvetia in 2022, 86.6 per cent were invested directly invested in art and cultural activities. At 13.4 per cent, the share of administrative costs lay within the range defined by the Federal Council. In 2022, Pro Helvetia received a total of 5390 applications. Compared to the previous year, the share of approved applications fell by around three percentage points to 42.4 per cent.
Pro Helvetia regularly evaluates its commitments and measures. In 2022, the Foundation focused on optimising internal administrative processes. On the one hand, an external audit of the IT security system was conducted to identify possible security gaps early on. On the other, Pro Helvetia’s website will undergo a thorough overhaul by the end of 2023, to ensure the Swiss Arts Council can respond even more appropriately and more uniformly to applicants’ needs in the future.
After various updates, improvements and further developments of its IT infrastructure in recent years, Pro Helvetia decided to conduct a comprehensive external analysis of its IT security in 2022, in order to identify any gaps – particularly in the area of cyber defence – and to initiate necessary countermeasures. The analysis revealed that while the Swiss Arts Council had an effective security system in place, there was room for improvement and optimisation, such as integrating cyber risks into the organisation’s overall risk management, increasing staff awareness of cyber threats or introducing consistent information security governance. Based on these findings and the resulting expert recommendations, appropriate measures have been taken, such as updating IT policies, documenting key ad hoc processes and introducing regular cyber risk awareness sessions for staff. Further measures will follow in 2023 and 2024 to raise Pro Helvetia’s IT security mechanism to the highest possible standard.
To integrate content and technological developments, and to address its target groups even more purposefully, the Swiss Arts Council is preparing a complete redesign of its website.
The digital relaunch will focus on optimising user experience: the new website will make navigating funding measures easier, will provide a better overview of the Swiss Arts Council’s activities and will make its digital channels more coherent and better aligned.
Pro Helvetia has commissioned reverse, a Zurich-based service design agency, with this project. Among other measures, the agency conducted a series of interviews with both various internal teams and a diverse range of arts and culture stakeholders. The hearings served to identify existing needs and potential to establish the foundations for the new website’s architecture and functionality. The new site is due to go online in January 2024.
Annual report 2022 Print
Organisation (As at 31 December 2022)
The annual report has been produced in English since 2016. To consult previous projects, please contact us at the address communication@prohelvetia.ch.