Ladies and Gentlemen! In the NZZ of 26 August 1999 I read that according to our new State Secretary Franz von Däniken, this year’s Ambassadors’ Conference demonstrated, among other things, that Switzerland must be more vigorous in communicating its foreign policy achievements abroad. In my opinion there are different ways of communicating. Today I would like to present one of them.
In Sarajevo, as well as here in London, I personally have "re-discovered" Switzerland for myself. Until I left for Sarajevo I took it for granted that in Switzerland many cultures live peacefully together, and that German and French-speaking people live together in peace in my home canton Fribourg/Freiburg.
In Sarajevo
I realised that this is not self-evident,
I realised that day by day it is necessary to "work" for this tolerance, and for a multicultural environment, and for peaceful co-existence, and
I realised that it takes very little to destroy a multicultural society.
Switzerland has developed finely-tuned mechanisms which enable a majority and minorities to live peacefully together. I consider this to be a political achievement which we should broadcast more vigorously, an achievement which we should communicate positively and in a more concrete way beyond our borders.
I allow myself the following vision, a vision which forms a part of the cultural strategy 1999-2003 of this Embassy.
In my view Switzerland – with its multicultural experience and expertise – should influence the current discussions on globalisation in a positive way and with a concrete contribution. In London, in about four years’ time, Switzerland’s presence should also be based around a cultural institute, but an institute with a global dimension. In East London – I particularly like this area - Switzerland should found a cultural institute with the objective that artists from various continents and cultures should meet, work and get to know each other in a truly "Global Village". A form of globalisation which affirms humanity and dialogue.
I can imagine a house with five to seven studios; each studio reflects a continent, cultures and people from all over the world. Each studio has access to a common area which can be used as an exhibition space but also as a discussion forum.
A multicultural environment promotes an awareness of the differences, but more importantly the similarities between oneself and one’s neighbour, the precondition for comprehensive understanding and tolerance. Switzer-land has inter-cultural expertise which it should pass on, for instance through the founding of such a "Swiss Global Art Village".
Ladies and gentlemen, if you are convinced by this idea I invite you to join me in making this dream a reality, so that one morning we can wake up and visit the "Swiss Global Art Village" in East London.
In this spirit, may this multicultural evening represent the birth of the realisation of this project. Thank you!
Deborah Fink, Soprano and Dominic Saunders, Piano
Manuel de Falla:
"El Pano Moruno"
"Asturiana"
from "Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas"
Ravel:
"Cinq Melodies Populaires Grecques"
Opening of the exhibition of
Gina Boffa, creartista
by
Peter Barber, New Helvetic Society London