|
News & updates from the office of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia in South Asia & Vietnam No images? Click here 
31 July 2026 PathwaysEvery trip, every encounter, every experience is a portal, rich with the potential to carry us from one state to another. This month we announce six selected artists that will set off on their travels next year as part of the artist-in-residence 2027 programme. We invite game developers that identify as women to a year-long one-on-one mentorship programme. And yet these are not the only invitations. Discover how art is inspired by elements in nature in a recent Pro Helvetia article. Follow Marie Matusz on her residency at CERN as she discovers inspiration in science. Artist, filmmaker and writer Yumna Al-Arashi undertakes a research trip to India wherein she proposes a provocative and unusual discussion. Studio Eidola presents their work at sā Biennale borne out of research on pastoral landscapes and extractive futures. Stories come to life in Paloma Canonica's workshop and discussion at Bhutan Echoes. Finally witness another artist who has recently completed her residency in Switzerland pursuing what she called "pathways to transformation." May each experience leave you richer. Pro Helvetia New Delhi 
Marie Matusz at CERN © Xenia Harder | CERN ANNOUNCEMENTS
© He Jianping @he_jumping Selected Artists-in-residence 2027Pro Helvetia New Delhi is delighted to announce the selected participants to our Artist-in-Residence programme 2027. Residencies offer artists an opportunity to research, experiment, and engage. We hope that the recipients will gain from the opportunity and form sustainable networks for the future.
Artists selected from Switzerland to residencies in the South Asia and Vietnam region in 2027:
Our next call for Residencies will be open from 1 January to 1 March 2027. Find out more in advance: 
© Thee Emma Show @thee_emma_show Open Call: She Got GameGAME DESIGN She Got Game is a mentoring programme designed to support women in leadership roles in the Swiss and international gaming industry. It offers participants 1:1 online mentorship with industry experts, online lectures to hone their skills, a supportive community of emerging female game developers, a chance to participate in an international game design festival, project visibility and a stipend. IN FOCUS
Bamboo elephant structure © Francesca Brusa When art learns from plants, animals, minerals, and landscapes‘During a research trip to Northeast India,’ says Francesca Brusa, ‘I encountered the work of Anga Collective. In the communal field where village festivities and gatherings take place in Bhalla, a village located approximately one kilometre south of Guwahati, the collective has constructed a bamboo structure unlike the surrounding houses and temples. The architecture stands as a monument to the elephants whose lives are deeply entangled with those of local communities and whose struggle for coexistence shapes the region.’ UPCOMING
© Xenia Harder | CERN Marie Matusz on residency at CERN as part of Connect IndiaARTS, SCIENCE AND TECH Marie Matusz, selected to Connect India alongside Kashmiri artist Moonis Ahmad Shah, kicked off her residency at CERN. During these three weeks, she has been visiting experiments and laboratories focused on particle detection technology. 
photo courtesy the artist Yumna Al-Arashi on research trip in IndiaVISUAL ARTS Yumna Al-Arashi is an artist, filmmaker, and writer whose work straddles the intersection of history, identity, and power. Her work reclaims lost narratives, challenges colonial legacies, and redefines the representation of women, the Arab world, and the environment. She will participate in the following talks in India: 1 Aug, 5:45–6:30 PM 
Jonas Kissling & Denizay Apusoglu © Mirjam Kluka Studio Eidola at sā Ladakh BiennaleVISUAL ARTS Founded in 2020 in Zurich by Denizay Apusoglu and Jonas Kissling, Studio Eidola operates at the intersection of material research and design, engaging with industrial by-products to reconsider systems of production and discard. At the sā Ladakh Biennale which takes places from 1-10 August, the duo will present work exploring the tension between pastoral landscapes and extractive futures. This project takes places in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland in India and Bhutan under the Sustainability with a Plus initiative. 
Paloma Canonica, courtesy ThinkArts Paloma Canonica at Bhutan Echoes: Drukyul’s Festival of Literature and ArtsLITERATURE Swiss illustrator Paloma Canonica will be in conversation with Thimphu Comics illustrator at Drukyul’s Festival of Literature and Arts in Bhutan in August. Piecing it Together (collaging workshop) Let me Draw You A Story (conversation) This event is part of the Let Me Draw You a Story project, presented by ThinkArts in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in India and Bhutan under the Sustainability with a Plus initiative. GALLERYPathways for transformation
Umeshi Rajeendra © Frank Ellenberger Umeshi Rajeendra is a Sri Lanka-based performing artist and choreographer working at the intersection of dance, performance, and interdisciplinary movement practices rooted in global south perspectives. Her work explores rhythm and flow as forms of embodied resistance—drawing on cross-disciplinary inquiry to navigate histories of fragmentation, ecological entanglement, and the politics of belonging. Through choreographic research, improvisation, and community engagement, she challenges fixed identities and activates new relational possibilities across bodies, cultures, and landscapes. Selected to the artist-in-residence programme 2026 in Switzerland, Umeshi Rajeendra explored the question: How can rhythm and movement reframe local and diasporic (dis)connection as an evolving, relational force—one that holds tension yet opens pathways for transformation? This gallery glimpses at how Umeshi Rajeendra engages with that question. 
Work in progress Titled Elsewhere, Still Between Us – இடைவெளி / අතර at Kaserne Basel © R. J. Mano 
Work in progress Titled Elsewhere, Still Between Us – இடைவெளி / අතර at Kaserne Basel © Frank Ellenberger 
Work in progress Titled Elsewhere, Still Between Us – இடைவெளி / අතර © R. J. Mano 
A residency in Basel with South Asian artists, organised by Basel Tamil Sangam and the Indian Basel Association (INBA), fostering artistic exchange and collaboration. © Arjun Jith. 
Moments from meetings, community events, and gatherings with members of the Sri Lankan Tamil (Eelam Tamil) diaspora. ©Umeshi Rajeendra 
Events beyond the diaspora community, providing opportunities to engage with a broader range of artists, academics, cultural practitioners, and local organisations throughout the residency. © Umeshi Rajeendra 
These experiences offered opportunities to engage with the community, learn from their histories and lived experiences, and participate in cultural and artistic exchanges. ©Umeshi Rajeendra
@Umeshi Rajeendra 
© Umeshi Rajeendra 
Pro Helvetia New Delhi   
newdelhi@prohelvetia.org
|
