«WE ARE SOUTH AMERICA»

The challenges of yesterday, today and tomorrow, are still present and demand, more than ever, that awareness of ourselves and our environment, is not just a task, but a must; a necessity guided by mutual construction, respect, exchange, acknowledging responsibilities, and our duties towards the here and now.

Continuing the work of COINCIDENCIA - Swiss & South American Cultural Exchanges programme, Pro Helvetia now officially has a liaison office in South America, and we want to express our commitment to this task which is to foster culture and exchange between different contexts.

More than ever: virtual encounters that discuss the situation of Mapuche territory in Chile; revolts that re-signify ideas of femininity through a place without words; for nature and matter to coexist; for memory, belonging, and heritage to be seen; for reciprocity to be possible; and for the potential of being able to explore the limits of who we are, not only through our matter but also as infinite virtual possibilities.

This is an invitation to explore together the answers, how intuition and the poetic can guide us in our search for a better planetary coexistence, taking as inspiration the studies of artists, musicians, performers, collectives, curators and researchers who, by exploring present doubts, they raise questions about today that aim to solve tomorrow, be it in the north, the south or all the in-between.

That said, we are more than pleased to announce that our «Open Call for Residencies: 2022» is open until March 10, welcoming Swiss and South American artists which practices are ready to unfold and explore all that is yet to be. 

In case of any doubt, don't hesitate to contact us. 

We hope that, wherever you are, you're safe.

-  Pro Helvetia South America Team

«Jogo da Memória - Não Corte os Negativos» © Aline Motta

ONGOING PROJECTS

© Proyecto Prisma

«The hand is a lonely hunter»

Katja Brunner at «PROYECTO PRISMA

Argentina – Chile- Switzerland

In its first presentation at Teatro del Puente [CL], «The hand is a lonely hunter» by Swiss author Katja Brunner, makes an urgent and poetic call for solidarity, be-yond standardizations. The 4-episode sound fiction places itself as an apolyphonic declaration of war against all hegemony of the interpretation and ideals of femininity, testifying to the insufficiencies and wounds of resignation and withdrawal to a place without words. 

«The hand is a lonely hunter» is part of the «PROYECTO PRISMA» collection, curated and produced by Malena Solda and Valeria Kovadloff. The initiative proposes the re-flection and dissemination, from a gender perspective, through the production of fiction, diffusion of texts, and debates carried out by specialists in virtual multimedia format, showing different dynamics and ways of interacting in the face of such a significant and relevant topic for everyone.  

«The hand is a lonely hunter» will be presented on March 20.

Laguna Isireri, San Ignacio De Moxos © Ana María Fonseca

«Alps, Andes, Amazonas»

Bolivia - Colombia - Switzerland

Taking the journey of the Swiss musician, architect and Jesuit Martin Schmid as a crucial point for the enduring cultural interchange between Switzerland and the indigenous communities in South America, the project «Alps, Andes, Amazonas» aims to re-travel this fruitful pursuit through otherwise improbable virtual encounters inspired by Schmid’s musical legacy, and to celebrate the living and diverse mestizo heritage. 

In pandemic times, technology is at the service of mutual learning, adapted to Moxos [Bolivia] actuality, allowing for a transboundary dialogue between early and contemporary music through the recognition of a common history, and ensuring a long-lasting artistic legacy. 

Throughout its 3 phases, the exchanges between contemporary composers and musicians focus their efforts on contemporary and original musical languages from Switzerland, Bolivia, and Colombia.

RESIDENCIES FOCUS

As uncertainty is still here, we asked some of our resident artists about the value of the exchange.

Click on the images to read the development of the work and interviews with the artists from Argentina, Brazil and Switzerland.

SUPPORTED PROJECTS

«SOMEWHERE, SOMETIME» 

Remo Schnyder at SACO9 «Now or never»

Chile

Combining music and sculpture, the visible and the discreet, Remo Schnyder’s work in «SACO9 – Now or Never» is an invitation for the viewer to play with the sculptural potential of existing structures and reinterpret them.

Entitled «Somewhere, Sometime», the sculpture reflects Remo Schnyder’s excitement with the winds of Antofagasta, where the artist takes over the vertical space with strings attached to the ground, producing complex chords that translate the specific properties of the wind of the north of Chile. Alongside the exhibition, Schnyder also presented a workshop for local children to teach them how to make string instruments. 

Click on the image to know more about the project.

Remo Schnyder © Corporación Cultural SACO

«Research trip to Altamira»

Pedro Wirz

Brazil   

In December 2020, Swiss-based Brazilian artist Pedro Wirz made a research trip to Altamira, a region of the Amazon Rainforest known as Volta Grande do Xingu, located in the Pará state, in the north of Brazil. Inspired by cultural history, science, craft and folklore, the artist delved into the problems related to ethnic conflicts and environmental degradation in the area, more specifically those related to the construction of the Belo Monte dam (formerly known as Kararaô), located in the northern part of the Xingu River. Pedro Wirz visited numerous indigenous and riverine communities in the area, studying and documenting the different biomes of the region, and how they are affected and degraded by human influence. 

Click on the image to know more about the project.

© Pedro Wirz

«Live Art Workshop» 

João Simões [BR] & María José Cifuentes [CL] 

Brazil - Chile - Switzerland 

«Live Art Workshop» is a series of collaborative professional exchange workshops in the field of performance art, supported by the partners ICA –Institute for Creative Arts [Cape Town, South Africa], Khoj [New Delhi, India], Explode! [São Paulo, Brazil], NAVE [Santiago, Chile], platforms led by Zhao Chuan [Shanghai, China], Noor Abuarafeh, Mohamed Abdelkarim [Cairo, Egypt], and, in Switzerland, Arsenic, Lausanne, and Kaserne, Basel. The «Live Art Workshop» brings together cultural organizers and artists in the field of performance art, to exchange and develop on a professional level. The different cultural contexts of the participating partners, hosts, and artists, constitute a central point in the joint discussion.   

Click on the image to know more about the project.

© Ivy Monteiro & João Simões

«Wallmapu ex-situ» 

Trop Cher to Share
Chile - Switzerland

Wallmapu is the Mapuche name for the territory inhabited by this community. However, this territory is officially called Araucanía and is largely within the territory of the Chilean state. For 400 years, Wallmapu has been the scene of a highly complex territorial conflict between Mapuche communities, the Chilean state, transnational forestry companies and descendants of European settlers, among them, members of a Swiss diaspora.  

«Wallmapu ex-situ» is a virtual space in the form of a videoconference room, a real, yet geographically unreachable meeting place. Based on indigenous ontologies and Bruno Latour's «Parliament of Things», human representatives of non-human actors from Switzerland and Chile will meet here to reflect on the implications of the colonial history of Wallmapu and to collectively develop new narrative forms for this history. 

Click on the image to know more about the project.

«Wallmapu ex-situ»'s #2 Conference © Domink Zietlow