Pro Helvetia

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Pro Helvetia is a public law foundation that supports and disseminates Swiss art and culture. As a funding institution of the Swiss Confederation, it is responsible for the promotion and dissemination of Swiss culture abroad as well as for Swiss national appearances at major international cultural events. It also promotes cultural dialogue between the different parts of the country and supports the arts in a supraregional context.

History and legal basis

Pro Helvetia was founded by the Federal Council resolution of October 20, 1939 as an organization to promote national intellectual defense . In 1949 it was converted into a foundation under public law.

The Pro Helvetia Act of December 17, 1965 gave the Foundation the following mandate:

  • Preservation and preservation of the country's cultural uniqueness
  • Promotion of cultural creation , based on the conditions in the cantons as well as in the language areas and cultural groups
  • Promotion of cultural exchange between the language areas and cultural groups in Switzerland
  • Maintaining cultural relations with foreign countries

The Pro Helvetia Act was partially revised in 1970 and 1980 and replaced on January 1, 2012 by the Culture Promotion Act, which defines Pro Helvetia's mandate as follows: “The foundation promotes the diversity of artistic creation, makes Swiss art and culture known, promotes folk culture and cultivates cultural exchange. " This mandate is substantiated by the cultural message, which defines the priorities of cultural funding at the federal level for four years.

Federal contributions to the foundation were initially regulated in the Pro Helvetia Act and amounted to CHF 3.0 million annually from 1966 and CHF 5.0 million from 1971. Since the partial revision of the law of 1980, the Swiss Confederation has financed Pro Helvetia through loan decisions that each extend over four years and are based on a program approved by the Board of Trustees.

activity

According to the cultural message, the tasks of Pro Helvetia include the following points:

  • Support of artistic creation through contributions in the fields of composition, literature, visual art, theater, music, dance as well as new media and digital technologies
  • Promotion of cultural exchange between the linguistic and cultural communities in Switzerland through contributions to guest performances, readings, concert series, exhibitions, festivals, translations or popular culture events
  • Spreading Swiss culture abroad by supporting reading trips, tours, exhibitions and translations as well as by financing national appearances at major cultural events
  • Setting new cultural impulses (e.g. in the areas of digital culture or intercultural society) through our own programs or through the promotion of third-party projects
  • Promotion of young talent (residency and coaching programs, mediation of performance opportunities, networking opportunities)
  • Contributions to projects in the field of art education

With the exception of film, Pro Helvetia is active in all artistic disciplines: architecture, visual arts, comics, design, photography, interactive digital media, jazz, classical contemporary music, literature, musical theater, performance, pop, dance and theater, contemporary circus, innovative Folk culture. Pro Helvetia handed over the promotion of Swiss filmmaking to the Swiss Films Foundation on January 1, 2004 .

In 2018, Pro Helvetia received a good 5,500 requests for funding, of which it supported around 1,600 cultural projects in Switzerland and 4,500 abroad. The annual operating budget was CHF 42.1 million, of which CHF 25.7 million was used for projects by applicants, 6.2 million for projects by branch offices, 4.7 million for impulse and exchange programs, 0.5 million for cultural information and 5.0 million for administration .

organization

Pro Helvetia has its registered office at Hirschengraben in Zurich

Pro Helvetia's strategy is set by the Board of Trustees. It consists of nine people who are elected by the Federal Council. The President of the Board of Trustees is Charles Beer.

Pro Helvetia has an office in Zurich for its operational activities. This is headed by the director Philippe Bischof. In terms of content, the office is supported by a specialist commission with 13 members and 37 independent experts who are elected by the Board of Trustees.

President

Directors

  • 1939–1959: Karl Naef
  • 1959–1991: Luc Boissonnas
  • 1992–1997: Urs Frauchiger
  • 1997–1998: Rolf Keller (ad interim)
  • 1998-2001: Bernard Cathomas
  • 2001–2002: François Wasserfallen (ad interim)
  • 2002–2012: Pius Knüsel
  • 2012–2016: Andrew Holland
  • 2016–2017: Sabina Schwarzenbach (ad interim)
  • since 2017: Philippe Bischof

Presence abroad

Pro Helvetia finances the Center Culturel Suisse in Paris and participates in the cultural programs of three Swiss institutions abroad (Istituto Svizzero, Rome and Milan; Swiss Institute, New York; Swissnex, San Francisco).

Pro Helvetia also has liaison offices in Cairo (since 1988), Johannesburg (since 1998), New Delhi (since 2007), Shanghai (since 2010) and Moscow (since 2017).

criticism

In 2004, the Swiss-Swiss Democracy exhibition by Thomas Hirschhorn was shown at the Center Culturel Suisse in Paris . This was particularly heavily criticized because an actor urinated like a dog over a picture of the then Federal Councilor Christoph Blocher. The criticism was also directed against Pro Helvetia, which had financed the exhibition with a total of 180,000 francs.

As a result, Pro Helvetia distanced itself from “any personal attacks on Christoph Blocher”, but at the same time stated: “The Foundation sees it as one of the great achievements of a democratic society that it also supports artists who criticize this society. Art freedom is also enshrined in the constitution. "

As a direct consequence of the so-called “Hirschhorn Scandal”, the Federal Parliament decided on December 16, 2004 to cut Pro Helvetia's 2005 budget by CHF 1 million.

literature

  • Franz Kessler: The Swiss Cultural Foundation "Pro Helvetia" , (= Zurich Studies on Public Law , Volume 112), Schulthess, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7255-3153-6 (dissertation University of Zurich 1993, LI, 412 pages).
  • Ursula Amrein: "Let's go from Berlin!" The literary and theater politics of Switzerland and the Third Reich. Chronos, Zurich 2004. ISBN 978-3-0340-0644-6
  • Claude Hauser, Bruno Seger, Jakob Tanner (eds.): Between culture and politics. Pro Helvetia 1939 to 2009. Pro Helvetia / NZZ Libro, Zurich 2010. ISBN 978-3-03823-593-4
  • Thomas Kadelbach: "Swiss Made". Pro Helvetia et l'image de la Suisse à l'étranger (1945–1990). Editions Alphil, Neuchâtel 2013. ISBN 978-2-940489-04-6
  • Georg Kreis: Prehistory to the present. Selected essays, Volume 2. Schwabe, Basel 2004. ISBN 978-3-7965-2080-8
  • Pauline Milani: Le diplomate et l'artiste. Construction d'une politique culturelle Suisse à l'étranger (1938–1985). Editions Alphil, Neuchâtel 2013. ISBN 978-2-940489-11-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Franz Kessler. The Swiss cultural foundation “Pro Helvetia”. Zurich 1993, p. 39ff.
  2. ↑ Marcello Odermatt. Pro Helvetia - child of the zeitgeist . Tagblatt, May 15, 2010.
  3. ↑ Franz Kessler. The Swiss cultural foundation “Pro Helvetia”. Zurich 1993, p. 57ff.
  4. ↑ Federal Act on the Promotion of Culture (Kulturförderungsgesetz KFG) of December 11, 2009 (as of January 1, 2017), Art. 32, Paragraph 1.
  5. ^ "Kulturbotschaft" , website of the Federal Office for Culture
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Böhler. A book reflects 70 years of Pro Helvetia . Codex Flores.
  7. ↑ Joint promotion for Swiss film . Pro Helvetia press release, September 12, 2003.
  8. ↑ Bettina Spoerri. Pro Helvetia. Forward to coziness? Weekly newspaper, May 20, 2010.
  9. ↑ Figures and facts , Pro Helvetia website; Pro Helvetia Annual Report 2018 pp. 18–22.
  10. ↑ Pro Helvetia Annual Report 2018 , pp. 23–28.
  11. ^ A b Claude Hauser, Bruno Seger, Jakob Tanner (Eds.) Between Culture and Politics: Pro Helvetia 1939 to 2009. Pro Helvetia / NZZ Libro, Zurich 2010. p. 317; Pro Helvetia annual reports
  12. ↑ https://www.ccsparis.com/
  13. ↑ https://www.istitutosvizzero.it/
  14. ↑ https://www.swissinstitute.net/
  15. ↑ https://www.swissnexsanfrancisco.org/
  16. ↑ Pro Helvetia Annual Report 2017, p. 16.
  17. ^ Swiss television, «10vor10», December 6, 2004; Mistake in the Swiss cultural center in Paris , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, December 6, 2004.
  18. ^ A colloquium on democracy: Thomas Hirschhorn at the Center Culturel Suisse in Paris . Pro Helvetia media release of December 6, 2004.