Swiss cultural institutions slam development funding cut

Twelve institutions criticised on Thursday a decision by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to cut funding for cultural cooperation with the Global South. + Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The SDC currently supports cultural development cooperation via the twelve partner organisations to the tune of CHF3.6 million ($4.2 million) per year. This amount will be cut to CHF2 million by 2028 – a reduction of 45%. As a result, “seven successful partnerships” will be stopped, while “only five – in some cases greatly reduced – collaborations in the areas of film, literature and theatre will remain”, the partner organisations wrote in a press release on Thursday. Artlink, for example, reckons that its existence is threatened. The organisation promotes performances in Switzerland by artists and cultural practitioners from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. The film production fund Visions Sud Est and the Salon du livre africain in ...