Monday 31 March 2014

Building Images
A photography exhibition featuring 25 years of Swiss Architecture curated by Hubertus Adam and Elena Kossovkaja, Swiss Architecture Museum.

Photography exhibition: Building Images presented by Embassy of Switzerland & Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council in New Delhi from 22 March-  03 April 2014. 

Exhibition featuring 25 years of Swiss Architecture curated by Hubertus Adam and Elena Kossovkaja, Swiss Architecture Museum

Dates: March 22- April 03 (except Sundays and public holidays)
Venue: Embassy of Switzerland, Chanakyapuri
Time: 10.00 am to 05.00 pm
For guided group walks write to ndh.events@eda.admin.ch

About the exhibition:
It is often the case that our perceptions of contemporary architecture are not based on impressions that we obtain on site; instead, they are mediated by images. In a society which, as a result of the "iconic turn", is influenced more by images than by text, photography takes on decisive significance, also in the mediation of architecture. "BUILDING IMAGES" is conceived as a panorama of the last 25 years of Swiss architecture. Buildings which have contributed to the worldwide success of Swiss construction are presented - not by means of plans and models, but solely via the medium of photography. Here, artistic positions enter into a dialog with architectural photography. Rather than limiting itself to stringing together exemplary photographs, the presentation also sheds light on the different aspects of the relationship between image and architecture in an analytical section. What role do images play during the design process?

Photo contributions by:
Mathilde AgiusI Tonatiuh Ambrosetti I Georg Aerni I Iwan Baan I Hélène Binet I Hans Danuser I Lucia Degonda I Ralph Feiner I Thomas Flechtner I Marco Bakker I Robert Frank I Alexander Gempeler I Heinrich Helfenstein I Hanes Henz I Valentin

The curators 
Hubertus Adam / Switzerland - Director of the Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel Born in 1965, Hubertus Adam studied art history, archaeology and philosophy. He worked as an independent art historian following which he was editor of the Berlin magazine Bauwelt. Adam worked then as editor of the Zurich magazine Archithese from 1998 to 2012. In addition he has also been engaged as an independent architecture critic, mainly for the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Adam has published numerous essays about architecture history mainly addressing a span from the 20th century to today. Since 2010 he has been the director of the Swiss Architecture Museum (SAM) in Basel, Switzerland.

Elena Kossovskaja / Switzerland - Co-curator Elena Kossovskaja was born in St. Petersburg in 1977 and now lives in Basel. Elena Kossovskaja studied architecture in Berlin. She worked for various architecture firms and later as an architecture journalist for a variety of magazines. Since 2010 she worked for the S AM Swiss Architecture Museum and is co-curator of the exhibition "Building Images: Photography focusing on Swiss Architecture". Elena Kossovskaja is currently doing research on the Architecture of the everyday.
12 Swiss Books

12 Swiss Books is a magazine published by Pro Helvetia to raise awareness about Swiss Literature.

In order to raise international awareness of Swiss literature, Pro Helvetia has launched a magazine named «12 Swiss Books». It is published annually to coincide with the Frankfurt Book Fair and, with each issue, presents twelve newly published works of literature from all four linguistic regions in Switzerland. These works are especially recommended for translation by the Swiss Arts Council. Available in printed, web and app form, «12 Swiss Books» offers text excerpts, brief portraits of the authors and useful information on the possibilities of support for publishers, translators and agencies.

12 Swiss Books 2013
www.prohelvetia.ch/fileadmin/12SwissBooks/download/12swissbooks_web.pdf

12 Swiss Books 2012
www.prohelvetia.ch/fileadmin/12SwissBooks/images/2012/PH_2718_swissbooks_web.pdf
Epiphany from Sound Reasons released
The Sound Reasons label recently released its third album, Epiphany. The compilation features Swiss artists amongst others from the Sound Reasons festival.

Announcing the release of Epiphany, the third Sound Reasons album. The compilation features artists from the Sound Reasons label and several from the Sound Reasons festival. The album draws upon the vast array of practices that Sound Reasons has been involved with, including sound art and music concrete, experimental electronic music involving analog and digital synthesis.

Artists on the album include Andy Guhl, Jasch, n0ngrata, edGeCut, Robert Millis, Salomé Voegelin, Petri Kuljuntausta, Gennady Lavrentiev, Cisfinitum and Grischa Lichtenberger amongst several others.

A small part of the Cd can be heard here
https://soundcloud.com/soundreasons/sound-reasons-va-epiphany-2014

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The Track list of the Album
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01 n0ngrata + edGeCut - A
02 Andy Guhl + Jasch + Eish Less - vertex y,z
03 Robert Millis - Gauhar
04 Salomé Voegelin - Exactly three minutes
05 Petri Kuljuntausta - Aanien Jaljet
06 edGeCut - patterns in fractals
07 Cisfinitum- Cisnormativity
08 Gennady Lavrentiev - rage in Jhaptaal
09 Hans Koch + Ish S - spaces in Sight
10 diFfuSed beats - A study of Balance
11 Andy Guhl + Jasch + Ish S - point l,m
12 Grischa Lichtenberger - let c targ
13 Eisentanz - Fluchtversuch
14 da Saz - modular Geometry
15 Robin Meier - Katia's Dream
16 Masta Justy - x
17 Buddhaditya Chattopadhyay - Passage to the city

Supported by Pro Helvetia New Delhi | Goethe-Institut Max Muller Bhavan, Delhi |
Produced at Sound Reasons |
Swiss writer, Urs Widmer passes away

Pro Helvetia New Delhi announces the sad demise of Urs Widmer, one of the most famous contemporary authors in the German-speaking world.

Pro Helvetia New Delhi announces the sad demise of Urs Widmer, one of the most famous contemporary authors in the German-speaking world, who passed away in Zurich after a long illness. His visit to India in 2012 to participate in Literature Festivals and Readings in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata will be remembered by one and all. You will be dearly missed Urs... by all your fans around the world. RIP.

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Swiss writer, Urs Widmer's India visit (2012)

Pro Helvetia New Delhi has invited Swiss playwright, essayist and short story writer, Urs Widmer to participate in the Hyderabad Literary Festival, Hyderabad; Long Night of Literature, New Delhi; Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur; and for a reading in Kolkatta organised by Seagull Books to mark the English translation of Urs Widmer's books My Mother's Lover (Der Geliebte der Mutter) and My Father's Book (Das Buch des Vaters) as part of The Swiss List, a collaboration with the Swiss Arts Council.

Urs Widmer will be accompanied by his translator Donal McLaughlin. Urs Widmer and Donal McLaughlin read together for the first time at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 where My Mother's Lover was also nominated for the festival's Newton First Book Award.

Programme: 

Hyderabad Literary Festival, Hyderabad 
Date: Friday 16 January 2012 
Venue: Taramati Baradari, Hyderabad 
Event Details: Panel discussion and reading Noted Swiss writer Urs Widmer has been invited by the Hyderabad Literary Festival to participate in a panel discussion and read from works. Hyderabad plays host for the second time to writers from across the world, and the festival offers a unique opportunity for lovers of literature to listen to and interact with some of the best writers, established and upcoming. During the festival, which has invited Germany as the guest country, talks and discussion readings with Indian and German speaking authors will take place.
Entry: Festival rules apply  
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Long Night of Literature, New Delhi
Date: Wednesday 18 January 2012 at 6:30 pm
Venue: The Multipurpose Hall, India International Centre, Delhi
Event Details: Reading In an effort to build audiences for contemporary writing in German in the Indian subcontinent, Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council along with the Austrian Cultural Forum, the German Book Office and Max Mueller Bhavan will jointly host readings from prose and poetry. Urs Widmer has been invited to read from his books Der Geliebte der Mutter ( My Mother's Lover ) and Das Buch des Vaters (My Father's Book ), which were translated and published in English by Seagull Books as part of The Swiss List. He will be accompanied by Donal McLaughlin who will be reading from the translated works. The session will be moderated by Dr Rekha Kamath, Professor at the Centre of German Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Entry: Open to all
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Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur
Date: Saturday 21 January 2011 at 12:30 pm
Venue: Diggi Palace, Jaipur
Event Details: Reading The Jaipur Literature Festival is a celebration of national and international writers and encompasses a range of readings, talks, literary lunches, debates and performances. Entering its fifth year, the festival has already hosted some of the best-known national and international writers & personalities. Urs Widmer and Donal McLaughlin have been invited to jointly read from their books Der Geliebte der Mutter ( My Mother's Lover ) and Das Buch des Vaters (My Father's Book ).
Entry: Open to All (photo ID required)
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Reading organised by Seagull Books, Kolkatta
Date: Sunday 29 January 2012 at 7:00 pm
Venue: Seagull Books, 31A S. P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkatta 700025.
Event Details: To mark the occasion of the translation of Urs Widmer's books from German to English, Seagull Books is organising an evening of reading. My Mother's Lover (Der Geliebte der Mutter) was published last year as part of The Swiss List, followed by My Father's Book (Das Buch des Vaters). A dramatized reading by well known Bengali actor and film director, Parambrata Chattopadhyay in the presence of Urs Widmer and translator Donal McLaughlin will be followed by an interaction with the audience. 
Entry: Open to all

Urs Widmer, Switzerland
Urs Widmer was born in Basel in 1938. He studied German, Romance languages and History in Basel, Montpelier and Paris. in 1966 he completed his doctoral thesis on German post-war prose, and then worked as an editor for Walter Publishing House in Olten, Switzerland, and for Suhrkamp Publishing House in Frankfurt. In Frankfurt he stayed for 17 years, though with Suhrkamp only till 1968. Shortly afterwards he wrote Alois. Widmer has also enjoyed success as a playwright, an essayist and a short story writer. He has received a number of awards and honours such as the Karl Sczuka Price in 1974, the Literature Price of the City of Zurich in 1996, the Franz Nabl Price in 2001, the Great Literature Prize of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 2002, the Friedrich Holderlin Prize of the city of Bad Homburg, Prix litteraire Lipp (Geneva) in 2007. The strength of his work lies in the view of literary criticism in their fantasy, ironic spinning of trivial action schemes of classic adventure and travel history to parody and surreal. He has also translated books from English and French, among them Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and dramatic works by Alexander Dumas and Eugene Labiche. Together with other editors he founded the Verlag der Autoren, an author-owned publishing house focussing on texts related to the performing arts. he is a member of the German Academy of Language and Literature in Darmstadt, the German Academy of Performing Arts in Bensheim, the Academy of Arts Berlin-Brandenburg and member of the Forum Stadtpark in Graz. Urs Widmer now lives and works as a writer in Zurich.

Organisers and Partners:
Hyderabad Literary Festival - www.hyderabadliteraryfestival.com/
Jaipur Literature Festival - jaipurliteraturefestival.org/index/
Seagull Books - www.seagullindia.com/
Long Night of Literature - Austrian Cultural Forum, The German Book Office, Max Mueller Bhavan and India International Centre, New Delhi
Soirée littéraire 2014
An evening of francophone literary encounters with readings from the original texts by Belgian, Canadian, French and Swiss authors.

Soirée littéraire, an evening of francophone literary encounters, is jointly presented by Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium, High Comission of Canada, Embassy of France / Institut Français en Inde, Alliance Française de Chandigarh, Alliance Française de Delhi, Alliance Française de Pondichéry, Embassy of Switzerland and Pro Helvetia- Swiss Arts Council.

With the aim to build audiences for contemporary writing in French, the event will take place in 3 cities and will include readings from the original texts by Belgian, Canadian, French and Swiss authors followed by conversations in English by literary experts.

The evening will be moderated by Prof Martin Mégevand from the Université Paris 8.

Pondicherry: Monday 10 March 2014 at 7:00 pm 
Venue: Alliance Française de Pondichéry 
Maison Colombani, 37, Dumas Street, Pondicherry 605001 
Entry open to all.

New Delhi: Wednesday 12 March 2014 at 6:00 pm 
Venue: Alliance Française de Delhi 
72, KK Birla Marg, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003 
Entry open to all.

Chandigarh: Friday 14 March 2014 at 7:00 pm 
Venue: Alliance Française de Chandigarh 
Next to Hibiscus Garden, Sector 36 A, Chandigarh 160036 
Entry open to all.

The Authors

Pascale Kramer / Switzerland 
Pascale Kramer was born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1961 and now lives in Paris. She studied literature at the University of Lausanne. After a brief stint in journalism, Pascale moved to Zurich to work as part of Jacques Séguéla's team. She later settled in Paris where she works in the field of event's organization. She organizes a documentary films festival about Children's Rights and is in charge of the programming of the African Book Fair that takes place in Geneva in the spring. She has so far published ten novels, amongst them Les Vivants (The Living, Calmann-Lévy, 2000), L'implacable brutalité du réveil (The Relentless Brutality of Awakening, Mercure de France, 2005), and more recently Un homme ébranlé (The Child, Mercure de France 2011), Gloria (Flammarion, Paris, 2013). She has been the recipient of the Prix Michel-Dentan in 1996, Price Lipp in 2001, le Grand Prix du roman de la SGDL in France and le Prix Schiller amongst other prestigious awards. 

France Hédi Kaddour / France
François Emmanuel / Belgium 
Kim Thuy / Canada
Session moderator: Professor Martin Mégevand.

Organisers & partners
Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium / www.diplomatie.belgium.be
Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI) / www.wbi.be
High Commission of Canada / http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/india-inde/
Embassy of France in India / http://www.ambafrance-in.org/
Institut Français en Inde / www.bibliofrance.in
Alliance Française de Chandigarh / http://chandigarh.afindia.org/
Alliance Française de Delhi / http://delhi.afindia.org/
Alliance Française de Pondicherry / alliancefrancaisepondichery.com
Embassy of Switzerland / www.eda.admin.ch/newdelhi
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council / www.prohelvetia.in

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STUDIO WORK, a collaborative presentation

A collaborative presentation of work in progress by M. Pravat and David Semper, both of whom are recipients of the Artist-in-residence award supported byPro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council.

A collaborative presentation of work in progress by M. Pravat and David Semper. 

Opening: Saturday 1 March 2014 / 5 pm 

On view: 
Saturday 1 March 2014 / 5 pm - 10 pm
Sunday 2 March 2014 / 12 am - 7 pm

Studio: Neb Sarai, 198, 2nd floor, Studio M. Pravat, New Delhi

Both M. Pravat & David Semper are recipients of the Artist-in-residence award supported byPro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council. For map please view attachment.

Swiss author Pascale Kramer to visit India

Pro Helvetia has invited Swiss author, Pascale Kramer to participate in Soirée Littéraire 2014.

Soirée Littéraire 2014, a literary evening of contemporary writing in French.

This is the second edition of Soirée Littéraire 2014, that will include readings from the original texts by French, Belgian, Canadian and Swiss authors. Pro Helvetia New Delhi has invited Swiss author, Pascale Kramer to participate in Soirée Littéraire 2014 and represent Switzerland.

Participating authors 
Swiss author: Pascale Kramer 
French author: Hédi Kaddour 
Belgian author: François Emmanuel 
Canadian author: Kim Thuy

The Embassy of Switzerland has invited Prof. Martin Mégevand to moderate the readings and engage with the authors.

With the aim to build audiences for contemporary writing in French, Soirée Littéraire 2014 will take place in five cities. The readings from the original texts will be followed by conversations in English by local experts.

06 March 2014 - Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
08 March 2014 - Alliance Française de Chennai
10 March 2014 - Alliance Française de Pondicherry
12 March 2014 - Alliance Française de Delhi
14 March 2014 - Alliance Française de Chandigarh

Timings (tbc) 
Details will be uploaded closer to the event 

Soirée Littéraire, an evening of francophone literary encounters, is jointly presented by Pro Helvetia- Swiss Arts Council, Institut Français en Inde, Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium, Embassy of Switzerland, Canadian High Commission, Alliance Française de Delhi, Alliance Française de Chandigarh, Alliance Française de Pondicherry, Alliance Française de Chennai and English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.

Swiss author Pascale Kramer 
PASCALE KRAMER was born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1961 and now lives in Paris. She has so far published nine novels, amongst them Les Vivants (The Living, Calmann-Lévy, 2000), L'implacable brutalité du réveil (The Relentless Brutality of Awakening, Mercure de France, 2005), and, more recently, Un homme ébranlé (A Man Shaken, Mercure de France 2011). (Details on the other three authors are awaited from the partners)