Our Offices & Partners Abroad

For detailed information please click on the offices and cultural centres below. For further information on the headquarters in Zurich please go to: www.prohelvetia.ch

CONTOURS Programme

CONTOURS Team

Joseph Gaylard: Head / Central Africa
Contact

Kampire Bahana: Programme Manager East Africa
Contact

Derin Ajao: Programme Manager West Africa
Contact

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East Africa

Central Africa

West Africa

CONTOURS is a programme of cultural exchange and collaboration with the arts scene in West, Central and East Africa, undertaken by the Johannesburg office of Pro Helvetia. The word contours references the idea of defining the shape of things (in the art of drawing) and of giving definition to a landscape (in the art of mapping and topography). Both of these meanings have resonance for the approach to engaging with these significant cultural geographies. 

Since 2018, our office has been exploring new relationships with partners in major urban centres on the subcontinent outside of the Southern African region, notably in Bamako (Mali), Dakar (Senegal), Lagos (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda),Yaounde (Cameroon), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). This expanded geographical engagement has evolved organically over time through our Southern African network and in response to the growth of significant platforms and organisational infrastructures in these regions.  

During the course of 2021-2023 we are investing in more deliberate engagement in West, Central and East Africa alongside our core Southern African focus. Working in a decentralised framework with team members based in Kampala, Uganda and Lagos, Nigeria, we will look to actively develop new networks and opportunities for meaningful and mutually interesting exchange and collaboration with the Swiss arts scene, and to open up new possibilities for Swiss contemporary arts to be present in the region. This exploratory phase of activities is called the CONTOURS programme. 

[Cover image from “InstanceNow” by Opiyo Okach]

CONTOURS Programme

 

Upcoming maintenance work

The application portal myprohelvetia will be updated from 1.1.-7.1.2024. Due to these changes, open applications must be finalized and submitted via the current online portal (myprohelvetia.ch) by the latest 23:59 on 31 December 2023. Until this date, the deadlines and criteria outlined in the current guidelines and calls for applications apply. New applications can be created and submitted in the application portal as of 8 January 2024.