The Liaison Office of the Swiss Arts Council in Cairo
Pro Helvetia Cairo promotes artistic and cultural exchange between Switzerland and the Arab region. 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
Pro Helvetia Cairo is based in Egypt, and supports projects in other countries across the Arab Region. Currently, it supports projects or is expanding in the following countries:
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Our programme is interdisciplinary in nature. Special emphasis is placed on the disciplines of visual art, performing arts, music, literature, design, architecture, interactive media and interdisciplinary projects. We do not support film-making projects.
We focus on tours, presence at festivals, exhibitions of work by Swiss artists and residencies.
Over the last several decades, Pro Helvetia, as an organisation has built up a small international network with liaison offices in Cairo, Johannesburg, New Delhi, Shanghai, Moscow and in South America. We also run a cultural centre in Paris and work in cooperation with larger partner institutions in Rome, San Francisco and New York.
Goals
Our international work is guided by the following goals:
Encounter and Exchange
Through our international activities, we help create conditions that allow arts professionals and cultural practitioners 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.