Wednesday 31 January 2007


Pro Helvetia opens liaison office in India
An interview with Chandrika Grover Ralleigh, Head Pro Helvetia New Delhi.
[dated January 2007]


On 8 January 2007, Pro Helvetia will be opening a new liaison office in New Delhi, its first in Asia and its fourth overall after Cape Town, Cairo and Warsaw. What does little Switzerland hope to achieve in the huge State of India? What projects are planned? What can Swiss artists expect from India? The Head of the New Delhi liaison office, Mrs. Chandrika Grover Ralleigh, answers our questions.

Pro Helvetia Communications: What affinities do you have to Switzerland, to culture in general?
Chandrika Grover Ralleigh: An intensive engagement with Switzerland has only just begun - I have been on board for a very short while and am already amazed at the range of work that lies in the public domain in Switzerland, and all the possibilities it offers for presentation, collaboration and dissemination in India. Ever since I began working in 1983, my work has always had a cultural context.

What induced you to apply for the job as Head of the liaison office? After all, building up something new is always inherently risky.
I think there are moments in all our lives when we open ourselves to the unknown, to risk and to adventure. I had heard of the opening of the office through the former Director of an analogous cultural agency who was conducting a feasibility study for Pro Helvetia at the time. I never considered it as a personal option. That came later and the more I interacted with Pro Helvetia in Switzerland, the more I felt drawn to the organisation. The scope and magnitude of the job is something that I am still coming to grips with, but, suffice  to say,  I feel immensely privileged to be tasked with bringing two cultures closer to one another.

You have been in charge of preparing the ground for the new liaison office since March 2006. What were the greatest challenges during this period?
Establishing the physical working environment was more challenging than any of us had imagined. We saw more electricians, carpenters and linesmen than we did artists, performers and curators.
Owing to the global revamp of our corporate identity, we had no business cards and were hard put to explain to even old and dear friends what we were doing and whom we were working for. All that is slowly changing and the pictures of the office will probably be more telling than all the words we can summon. The response to Pro Helvetia's new initiative in Asia is overwhelmingly warm and support from the Embassy and the artistic community is very encouraging.

What are your plans for the first phase?
We have developed a three-pronged approach with a special focus on co-productions. Besides bringing Swiss creativity to Indian audiences, the other main area of activity will be artists' exchanges between India and Switzerland. We will publicise these under residencies, calling the co-productions collaborative projects - some are already in train and others in the making.

What projects will be realised in the initial phase?
We are committed to carrying out at least one project in an agreed number of art forms over the year, so that we will have at least established contact with each of these networks, and will intensify this engagement over the next few years together with carefully chosen partners. We also intend to carry out at least 2 or 3 music projects, as many literature projects and to further some ideas we have on a dance residency and a co-production. In December 2006, percussionist Pierre Favre toured India. «Hell's Bells and Furtive Folly», by the dance company Compagnie Drift will be the opening event on January 8th and will tour several Indian cities thereafter.

What impact can a small liaison office with a staff of two have in a country the size of India?
The key lies in creating relevant platforms for artists on both sides, engaging central figures and institutions with goals sympathetic to our own, both in Switzerland and India, on the basis of a well targeted selection of projects. This will enhance the impact we are able to create - it is a tall order for a small office such as ours, but, as we have no imperative to programme a cultural centre and have the freedom to be light-of-foot, we are confident our voice will be heard.

One of your tasks will be to build up professional networks. Where do such networks already exist, where are special efforts required?
India's visual artists are well-networked with their international peers. In new media, connections and individual initiatives and partnerships already exist. There are other areas, such as in the performing arts, which could be supported with the space and resources to allow new work and inter-cultural dialogue to take place. This will be an area in which we will invest our energies.

What do Indian artists see in Switzerland? What can Swiss artists expect from India?
I think there are huge areas of similarity - multilingualism, multiculturalism -  and yet there is a curiosity about each other's land and its creative expression that will fuel the exchange on both sides. I hope very much that we will enable only that which is mutually beneficial. 

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