Pro Helvetia South America
Pro Helvetia South America is one of six Liaison Offices of the Swiss Arts Council located in major regions of the world – the other five Offices are in Cairo, Johannesburg, Moscow, New Delhi and Shanghai. Pro Helvetia also runs a cultural centre in Paris and works in cooperation with larger partner institutions in Rome, San Francisco and New York.
Pro Helvetia South America promotes artistic and cultural exchange between Switzerland and South America. To raise awareness of Swiss culture around the world, we forge ties with local event organisers, develop and nurture long-term partnerships, initiate co-productions with artists from the regions concerned and organise residencies.
Activities and Focus
Being the first decentralised office of Pro Helvetia, we act on the region with local presences in Bogotá (CO), Buenos Aires (AR), São Paulo (BR) and Santiago (CL) – where the Head of Office is based. Pro Helvetia South America also works in the whole region, supporting projects, residencies and research trips from the following countries: Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Our programme is interdisciplinary in nature, supporting projects from fields such as literature, contemporary dance, visual arts, sound art and music, among others, alongside tours, presence at festivals, exhibitions of work by Swiss artists and residencies.
Pro Helvetia South America supports projects that can involve partners anywhere on the continent. It backs projects in the fields of performing arts, visual arts, literature and music, as well as multi- and transdisciplinary approaches. Within these fields, certain practices are prioritised.
Goals
Our international work is guided by the following goals:
Encounter and Exchange
Through our international activities, we help create conditions that allow art and culture professionals to explore and address other cultures and to achieve creative development.
Dissemination and networking
We promote the dissemination of culture and art from Switzerland. We highlight the diversity of the Swiss cultural scene and choose representatives on the basis of their outstanding qualities.
