Swiss Made in Russia. Contemporary Cultural Exchanges 2013-2016

«Swiss Made in Russia – Contemporary Cultural Exchanges» is the Arts Council’s programme of cultural exchange between Switzerland and Russia. With this initiative, we aimed to strengthen ties between Swiss and Russian cultural institutions and to foster open forms of dialogue between cultural practitioners from both countries.

The programme focused on contemporary artistic practice in Russia and Switzerland. It is divided into five main fields of activity:

• Texts (literature)
• Talks (debates)
• Spaces (design, architecture, landscape architecture, art in public spaces)
• Visuals (visual and media art)
• Stages (performative arts).

Since the programme kicked off in Moscow in 2012, over 1000 events in more than 70 Russian cities have been carried out with the support of «Swiss Made in Russia». To enable this fertile exchange to continue when the programme itself ends, Pro Helvetia has decided to set up a liaison office in Moscow in 2017.

Texts

2013, Switzerland as guest of honor at the International Book Fair for high-quality fiction and non-fiction «Non/Fiction №14», Moscow;
2013-2014, Swiss program at Krasnoyarsk Book Culture Fair (KRYAKK), Krasnoyarsk;

In «Texts», nine projects have been launched within the cluster. Over 20 Swiss authors presented their books to the Russian audiences.

Talks

2015, panel discussion «Public Talks: Oral Samizdat or Lab of Ideas», Sakharov Center, Moscow;
2015, panel discussion «Arts and Science: Strategies of (re)Invention», NCCA, Kaliningrad;

In «Talks», seven projects have been conducted within the cluster in different cities of Russia. Prominent think tanks from Switzerland and Russia took part in the discussions

Spaces

2013, the exhibit «Swiss Touch in Landscape Architecture» at Schusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow;
2014, «Public Space Design and the Civil Value of Architecture», a cooperation between Istituto i2a Lugano, and the Architectural School MARCH, Moscow
2014-2015, travelling exhibition «Weltformat» showing Swiss poster design throughout Russia from Moscow to Perm, Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok, Kazan and other cities.

In «Spaces», 15 projects have been held throughout Russia.

Visuals

2014, «Standstills» exhibition by Julian Charrière at the Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow;
2014, exhibition of Swiss contemporary art from the Migros Museum für Gegenwartkunst’s art collection at the National Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow;
2014, exhibitions of Haydé and Thomas Ott with live music by Bash at the Boomfest Comics Festival, St. Petersburg;
2014, «Paul Klee: Not a Day Without a Line» exhibit at Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow;
2015, «Pas de Deux» tandem project at the Comix-Festival Fumetto Lucerne and the Boomfest Comics Festival, St. Petersburg;
36 projects have been held throughout Russia within this cluster. .

Stages

2014, «Skorohod Swiss Week» with panel discussions on «The Art with[out] Boundaries», St. Petersburg;
2013/ 2014/ 2015, «MuzEnergoTour» summer music festival in about 30 cities throughout Russia;
2014, six young directors from Switzerland took part in the theater laboratory in Perm Academic Theatre;
2013-2014, Swiss focus at Electro-Mechanica and SKIF festivals arranged by Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Center, St. Petersburg;
2015, Corinne Maier’s performance «Questioning» presented at the DNC Contemporary Drama Festival, Krasnoyarsk;
37 projects in the field of theater, dance and music have been held in various Russian cities.

Venues

More than 70 cities throughout Russia, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Nizhny Novgorod, Velikiy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Rostov-on-Don, Tomsk, Omsk, Voronezh, Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Yaroslavl, Dubna, Nikola Lenivets, Aleksandrov and many more.

Russian Partners

• Center for Contemporary Art «Zarya», Vladivostok
• Center for Contemporary Art «Winzavod», Moscow
• Chekhov International Theatre Festival, Moscow
• Expo Park Exhibition Projects, Moscow
• Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow
• Goethe-Institut, Moscow
• Moscow Higher School of Economics / Art and Design School, Moscow
• Independent Publishing House «Boomkniga», St. Petersburg
• Institut Franҫais, Moscow
• International Center for Dance and Performance «TSEKH», Moscow
• International Comix Festival «Boomfest», St. Petersburg
• International laboratory for contemporary dance, Chelyabinsk
• International Theater Center «Legkie Ludi», St. Petersburg
• Krasnoyarsk Book Culture Fair, Krasnoyarsk
• Krasnoyarsk Museum Center, Krasnoyarsk
• Krasnoyarsk Pushkin Drama Theatre, Krasnoyarsk
• Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic Hall, Krasnoyarsk
• Laboratoria Art&Science Space, Moscow
• MARCH (Moscow Independent School of Architecture)
• MediaArtLab Center for Art and Culture, Moscow
• Migz Festival of electronic music, Moscow
• Mikhail Prokhorov Fund, Moscow
• Moscow Art Theatre
• Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art
• Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble
• Moscow International Biennale for Young Art
• Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
• Multimedia Art Museum Moscow
• Museum and Exhibition Association «Manege», Moscow
• «MuzEnergoTour» Festival in a about 30 cities throughout Russia
• NCCA (National Centre for Contemporary Arts), Moscow, Kaliningrad, Baltic and Nizhny Novgorod
• New European Theater (NET) Festival, Moscow
• New Literary Observer (NLO) Publishing House, Moscow
• «Non/Fiction» International Book Fair for high-quality fiction and non-fiction, Moscow
• PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm
• Rudomino All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature, Moscow
• Sakharov Center, Moscow
• Schusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow
• Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Center, St. Petersburg
• Skorohod Center, St. Petersburg
• Snob Magazine, Moscow
• Sobranie Foundation, Satka
• St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Centre reMusik.org
• Studio for New Music Ensemble, Moscow
• Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, Moscow
• The Moscow Architecture Biennale, Moscow
• The St. Petersburg Pro Arte Foundation for Culture and Arts