Jean-Marc Diébold appointed future Director of Centre culturel suisse in Paris
Jean-Marc Diébold has been named Director of the Centre culturel suisse in Paris (CCS) as of 1 October 2018. He succeeds Jean-Paul Felley and Olivier Kaeser, who have jointly headed the CCS since 2008 and overseen its successful ongoing development into a multidisciplinary cultural centre. Mr Diébold is currently Head of the Bureau du Théâtre et de la Danse at the Institut Français d’Allemagne in Berlin. Of French nationality, Mister Diébold grew up in Switzerland, where he gathered initial experiences in the arts world after studying in Lausanne and Geneva. Throughout his subsequent professional career in France and Germany, he retained close ties to the Swiss cultural scene.
The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia has maintained the Centre culturel suisse in the heart of Paris’ Marais district for over 30 years. It has now selected Jean-Marc Diébold to take over as Director of this renowned institution from 1 October 2018. He succeeds Jean-Paul Felley and Olivier Kaeser, whose contracts expire after ten successful years at the helm. They will, however, remain responsible for the Centre’s programme up to the end of 2018. Mr Diébold is to assume the artistic and administrative leadership of the CCS and will appoint a curator for contemporary arts to assist him in his programming responsibilities.
Over 110 applicants from Switzerland and abroad competed for the directorship of the Centre culturel suisse. The selection procedure was conducted by a task force made up of Pro Helvetia’s Management, its Committee of Experts and further head office specialists. «In Jean-Marc Diébold we have managed to get on board a leadership personality with an excellent track record. He has strong links to Switzerland, a wide-ranging network and many years of experience in the management and programming of cultural institutions. He is also well versed in cultural promotion and outreach in an international context,» says Sabina Schwarzenbach, Director ad interim of Pro Helvetia.
Jean-Marc Diébold was born in Auxerre, France, in 1966, grew up in Western Switzerland and studied Political Sciences, International Relations and History in Lausanne and Geneva. He began his career as Co-Director of La Grange de Dorigny, a theatre affiliated to the University of Lausanne. Subsequently he earned a degree in Cultural Management at the University Lyon 2. He then held a number of management positions at theatre institutions and with dance and theatre companies both in Switzerland and France, including Cie Lanicolacheur (Marseille), Cie Philippe Saire/Théâtre Sévelin 36 (Lausanne) and Compagnie Lhoré Dana (Lyon). Thereafter he worked for the Le Merlan national theatre in Marseille in various functions, first as Production Manager, then Secretary General and Art Director and finally as Co-Director and Director ad interim. In 2014 the French Foreign Ministry appointed him Head of the Bureau du Théâtre et de la Danse at the Institut français d’Allemagne in Berlin, the position he currently holds.
The Centre culturel suisse in Paris was founded in 1985 and is run by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. The institution’s aim is to raise awareness in France for Swiss contemporary arts and culture and to stimulate exchange between the two countries’ cultural scenes. With two exhibition halls, a stage and a bookshop, the Centre provides a platform for all art disciplines and hosts a variety of events including interdisciplinary productions. It attracts an average of 40,000 visitors a year, with the numbers showing an upward tendency. The Centre employs a staff of 11 and has an annual budget of CHF 1.8 million.
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Media Relations:
Lisa Stadler
lstadler@prohelvetia.ch; +41 44 267 71 51
Media Release of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, 21.09.2017
