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Shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia launched a call for projects under the title «Close Distance». The aim was to encourage cultural practitioners and institutions to develop new formats containing innovative ways of coping with restricted mobility. Within two months, nearly 600 projects were submitted proposing new …

The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia has this year awarded work grants to 21 authors from all four linguistic regions in Switzerland for a literary project. The selected projects include works of poetry as well as numerous novels by established and up-and-coming voices.   With work grants amounting to CHF 25,000 each, the Swiss Arts …

With their PolARTS initiative, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and the Swiss Polar Institute are enabling nine personalities from the worlds of art and polar research to collaborate in tandems.   On the recommendation of an external jury, the Arts Council selected four out of the 15 tandems that had applied. The tandems chosen combine, …

The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is seeking applications for work grants and is unifying its existing support instruments in the field of comics. The aim is to provide more comprehensive support to the Swiss comics scene. The work grants for comics productions are to help consolidate comics as an independent art discipline and close …

In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is launching a call for projects for new formats that enable art production and reception to continue despite restrictions on mobility and gatherings. With its call for projects named «Close Distance», Pro Helvetia is inviting cultural practitioners and institutions to use the current lockdown as an opportunity to develop new formats that do …

On jury recommendation, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia has chosen to entrust the Swiss Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia to the artist Latifa Echakhch. Living in Fully (Switzerland) with a French-Moroccan background, she has gained considerable international renown over many years in the contemporary art world.   …

For the first time an international festival is putting a special focus on Swiss theatre and dance productions for children and adolescents. Momix festival in Alsace – starting end of January – is including ten Swiss productions for young audiences in its programme under the heading «Momix à la Suisse». The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia supports the Swiss companies’ participation as part of …

The Haus zum Lindengarten in Zurich is where the head office of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is located. The building has recently been renovated and refurbished on behalf of the city of Zurich. To mark the reopening of its offices, Pro Helvetia is inviting all interested parties to an open house on 6 …

The 48th edition of the Festival d’Automne in Paris is showcasing the diversity of Swiss theatre and dance. The programme features a large-scale retrospective of works by performance artist La Ribot as well as productions by Stefan Kaegi (Rimini Protokoll), Marco Berrettini and 2b company. In parallel and for the first time in France, the …

Federal Councillor Alain Berset is visiting Gamescom in Cologne today, die largest computer game trade fair in Europe. Switzerland’s game development scene is represented there by a delegation of 19 studios. They will be showcasing their latest creations under the label «SwissGames», organised by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Regularly attracting several hundred thousand …

The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is, for the first time, presenting a selection of three Swiss theatre productions at The Fringe in Edinburgh, the world’s largest theatre festival. The selected artists are given the opportunity to showcase their work in front of an international audience of theatre professionals. «Swiss Selection Edinburgh» represents a pilot …

In 2019, the Swiss Arts Council is endowing 23 literary projects with a work grant. For the first time, such grants will also be awarded to performative literature, be it for «spoken word» events or «spoken concerts». The overall grant sum amounts to around CHF 600,000. Work grants for literature provided by the Swiss Arts Council …

The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia will be presenting «Artificial Arcadia: measured and adjustable (?) landscapes» as the official Swiss contribution at the Prague Quadrennial 2019 (PQ19). The interactive installation created by the Lausanne-based art studio Fragmentin and Kosmos Architects from Geneva explores the impact of technology on natural landscapes and questions clichés of untouched …

Federal Councillor Alain Berset will open the «Moving Backwards» exhibition at the Swiss Pavilion on Thursday 9 May during the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curator Charlotte Laubard, responsible for the 2019 Swiss Pavilion, has invited artists Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz to present a new cinematic installation. An inescapable point …

In 2016, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and the Commission romande de diffusion des spectacles (CORODIS) established the «Swiss Selection in Avignon» (SCH) to present Swiss theatre productions at the Festival OFF d’Avignon. Evaluated positively after three editions, the programme is set to continue until 2023, with Laurence Perez being reappointed for another three …