Pro Helvetia Johannesburg is one of five Liaison Offices of the Swiss Arts Council located in major regions of the world – the other four Offices are in Cai-ro, Moscow, New Delhi and Shanghai. We also run a cultural centre in Paris and work in cooperation with larger partner institutions in Rome, San Francisco and New York.
The Johannesburg Liaison Office promotes artistic and cultural exchange be-tween Switzerland and sub-Saharan Africa. To raise awareness of Swiss con-temporary arts in the region, we forge ties with local organisations and event organisers, develop and nurture long-term partnerships, initiate co-productions with artists from the region and organise residencies.
Our Johannesburg office is presently exploring a decentralised approach to our work, with a team spread Johannesburg, Kampala and Abidjan. We look to en-gage with dynamic art scenes across the subcontinent, working with and through local partners around the realisation of projects concerned with artistic and professional exchange and collaboration, and the presentation of signifi-cant work, often emerging from collaborations. Our international work is guided by the interlocking criteria of quality and relevance.
Our programme is interdisciplinary and exploratory in nature. Special emphasis is placed on the disciplines of music, contemporary dance, theatre/performance, and visual and digital arts and design. We encourage work that forges connec-tion between the world of the arts and other fields of inquiry and work. We also support exchanges around critical issues and questions facing artists and the arts field within the differently demanding and complex realities of sub-Saharan Africa and Switzerland.