Ideas wanted for Swiss cultural heritage year

Part of street mural entitled "Dream of the Winemaker" at Vevey on Lake Geneva Keystone

The Federal Office of Culture has launched a competition seeking the public’s best ideas on how to celebrate Switzerland’s cultural heritage. 

The competition marks Swiss participation in the 2018 European Year of Cultural HeritageExternal link, which highlights the fundamental importance of cultural heritage to all areas of society. 

The European Union decided earlier this year that cultural heritage should be a key theme of 2018. Switzerland is not an EU member but is tied to the 28-member bloc via numerous bilateral agreements. 

The goal of the Swiss “cultural heritage for all” competition is to bring all members of the Swiss population closer to their shared national cultural heritage. 

Starting on Monday, projects can be submitted via an online platformExternal link; the culture office will help implement the best ones over the next two years. The Federal Office of Culture wrote on its websiteExternal link that it wanted “ideas that help make cultural heritage visible, that bring it closer to people and better exploit its potential”. 

The first official event in the context of the Swiss Cultural Heritage Year 2018 will take place in Davos in the run-up to the World Economic Forum in January. The subject will be European architecture.