Annual Report 2016
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Annual Report 2016 1 Published by: Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation Editors: Beate Engel / Guido Münzel / Myriam Vetsch Content Design: POL, Bern March 2017 1 management Activities 1.1 Organisation 1 January to 31 December 2016 3 1.2 President’s report 5 2 Funding Activities 2.1 Focus: “Culture as a social sphere of action” 6 Introduction by Beate Engel 2.2 Art in initiatives for peace-building: a matter of instrumentalisation? 8 Dagmar Reichert, artasfoundation 2.3 Interview with artist Orna Kazimi, by Jemima Montagu 14 “Culture and Conflict”, London 2.4 At the intersection of art and environment: 20 the Greenpeace Photo Award, photos by Marizilda Cruppe 2.5 Dance partnerships 24 3 News from the Support Sectors Medical Research 28 Culture and Conflict 29 Education 30 Culture 31 4 Application Statistics 2016 4.1 Number of applications processed according to sectors and subsectors 32 4.2 Grants according to countries of project implementation 33 4.3 Approved grants according to sectors in Swiss Francs 33 4.4 “2nd Chance for a 1st Education” 34 5 Project Grants 2016 5.1 Approved projects 37 5.2 Partially claimed project grants 51 Tskaltubo Art Festival 2016, Frank Ellenberger 2 1 Management Activities 1.1 Organisation 1 January to 31 December 2016 Foundation Board Education and School Projects Mirjam Eglin, President Walter Rumpf Ursula Frauchiger, Vicepresident Lorenz Indermühle / Roland Kobel / Education Committee Walter Rumpf / Beat Wismer / Walter Rumpf / Sabine Graser / Brigitte In-Albon / Kaspar Zehnder / Kathrin Hunziker, Kathrin Hunziker / Samuel Hunziker / Honorary member Hanspeter Rohr Administration Committee Properties and Investments Mirjam Eglin / Ursula Frauchiger Roland Kobel Management Office Investments & Assets Committee Guido Münzel, Managing Director Mirjam Eglin / Roland Kobel / Daniel Caflisch / Beate Engel, Programme Manager Culture Peter Spinnler Myriam Vetsch, Backoffice Manager Susanne Bachmann, Backoffice Properties Committee Trixi Vogl, Temporary Assistant Ursula Frauchiger (until May 2016) / Roland Kobel / Herbert Mössinger / Culture Andreas Lauterburg (until May 2016) / Ursula Frauchiger / Beat Wismer Michael Högger (developers’ representative) Kaspar Zehnder Auditors Conflict and Violence BDO AG, Burgdorf Lorenz Indermühle Accountancy and Trustees Medical Research Treuhand Brand AG, Bern Mirjam Eglin 3 1.2 President’s Report 2016 Unsere Sicherheiten dürfen nichts Starres werden, sonst brechen sie Robert Walser In the spring of 2016 the Stanley Thomas Johnson ing of about 1 Million Swiss Francs a year. Three Foundation launched the pilot project “2nd Chance years into the project we can report that research for a 1st Education” in collaboration with the Depart- in palliative care has been advanced significantly ment of Public Education of the Canton of Bern and in terms of results and methods and is now more the career advice centres BIZ. We were also able to solidly established in medical faculties. The num- secure the participation of the atDta Foundation. ber of high quality research proposals is growing The goal of the project is to offer a people over the age and there are healthy signs of competition for fi- of 25 a fresh opportunity to complete a vocational nancial resources. qualification, thus enabling their integration into the job market. The participants in the project went The Swiss Foundation Code recommends that through a challenging selection process and are cur- foundations increasingly conceive themselves as rently applying for apprenticeships. They are well “impact units”. This includes the principles of as- qualified and highly motivated to make the best of set management. Ideally, asset management this opportunity. Our foundation supports the par- should not conflict with the foundation’s stated ticipants financially and provides them with a coach mission. The foundation board therefore inten- for support during the whole process. sively engaged with this question in 2016 and commissioned the investment committee to ex- Although the educational sector is relatively amine alternatives to the current investment strat- new to our foundation, in cooperation with ex- egies. From summer 2017, the foundation will perts in the field we have been able to identify consistently shape its investment policy accord- and analyse gaps in the current education system ing to criteria of sustainability. The foundation and implement measures to address these. With board thus ensures that the foundation’s mis- the pilot project “2nd Chance for a 1st Education” sion is realized not just in the individual support the foundation has developed a first initiative of sectors but also in the management of its assets, its own, with the goal of achieving the greatest achieving the greatest possible unified impact possible impact in a carefully selected area. through the entirety of its activities. Focused partnerships with knowledgeable, I would like to thank the members of the specialised partner organisations (both public in- board and all our staff and committee members stitutions and private businesses) enable the for their dedication and commitment. foundation to actively initiate processes of change and set new impulses. This proven ap- Dr. Mirjam Eglin proach also applies to our focus on promoting research in the medical sciences. Since 2014 the Foundation has been involved in the research programme “Palliative Care” at the Swiss Acad- emy of Medical Sciences. The programme sup- ports the expansion of research in palliative care in Switzerland. In collaboration with the Gottfried and Julia Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation, the Stan- ley Thomas Johnson Foundation provides fund- 4 5 2 Funding Activities 2.1 Focus: “Culture as a social sphere of action” Social relevance is an important criterion for the Art and Peace The British organisation Culture and Conflict with artistic or conceptual approaches to environ- evaluation of submissions to the Stanley Thomas But how can artistic approaches align with the also combines practice and theory in the field of mental themes and to raise public awareness. Johnson Foundation in the sector of culture. The goals of peace building, development, environ- artistic research in areas of conflict. Culture and Particularly interesting about this project is that thematic focus of this year’s annual report provides mental policy, or integration work? In her essay Conflict gives university scholarships in London it goes beyond the usual art world tools of jury a look at socially and politically engaged cultural about the role of “Art in initiatives for peace-build- to individual artist from regions affected by armed competitions and exhibitions to explore new initiatives. Selected examples from different fields ing and development” Dagmar Reichert suggests violence. The scholarship programme is linked to channels to access and engage its public. Besides demonstrate how cultural projects can be directly that it is precisely the intrinsic artistic aspects of a research environment in which artists and re- two jury awards, there is an audience award se- involved in issues such as migration, peace build- the unexpected and experimental that can have a searchers from various disciplines engage with lected by public online voting, which went to Ma- ings and environmental protection. significant impact in peace building. Dagmar Re- the causes and consequences of international rizilda Cruppe and in which 19’000 virtual visitors ichert is the director of Artas, a Swiss Foundation conflicts and examine the applications and im- participated. The photo projects will be exhibited From September 2016 to January 2017 the that initiates art projects in regions undergoing pact of artistic practice in this field. The Johnson at the Coalmine Gallery in Winterthur and in GEO classical façade of the Renaissance Strozzi Palace reconstruction following armed conflict, sup- Foundation funded the first year of an MA course Magazine via a media partnership. in Florence was redecorated in a perfidious, bold ported by private and public funding. One focus for Afghan artist Orna Kazimi at Saint Martin’s yet simple way by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. His project is the Tskaltubo Arts Festival in Georgia, College at the University of the Arts London. Her Art cannot save the world and is not a pana- window framing made of pink rubber dinghies which seeks to integrate Abchasian refugees and interview with director of Culture and Conflict, cea for social ills. But initiatives such as the Green- did not just match the façade’s pattern perfectly, took place for the fourth time in 2016 with the par- Jemima Montague, demonstrates the many ob- peace Photo Award, the scholarships awarded by but also suggested the inhumane plight of the ref- ticipation of artists from Switzerland. The con- stacles faced by a talented young artist to be able Culture and Conflict or the Tskaltubo Festival ex- ugees who are currently landing in rubber boats struction and administration of the festival was to study in London, and how her experiences with emplify that art projects can open new possibili- on the shores of Europe. supported in 2014 – 2016 by the Stanley Thomas social injustice and violence influence her art. ties of action and reflection in volatile social situ- Johnson Foundation with funds from both the ations. 80 Somalian immigrants took the artist, who sectors Culture and Conflict and Violence. The Art and Environment has become famous for his commitment to human Tskaltubo Arts Festival in Georgia is a successful