Culture

Migros Culture Percentage launched a new literature promotion initiative in 2015. It includes four projects that promote the current literary creations of quadrilingual Switzerland in a contemporary way:

• double – the literature platform of Migros Culture Percentage: The trilingual online platform contains a mentoring system for collaborations between renowned authors and young writers and is unique in Switzerland.
• Schätze heben (Hidden treasures) supports the publication of valuable text collections, correspondence and legacy material.
• Literaturzeitschriften fördern (Promoting literature magazines) supports the creation and survival of Swiss literature magazines.
• Lyrik und Spoken! supports poetry and lyricism events as well as the publication of poetry collections and projects.

In Switzerland, the copyrights to intellectual creations expire 70 years after the creator's death, and the works then become part of the public domain. Museums, libraries and archives all digitise their collections. But how should this data be treated from a legal, technological and cultural policy point of view? In the reporting year, Migros Culture Percentage organised the conference "Public Domain – Gratiskultur für alle?" (Public Domain – a culture of free-for-all?), which attracted a great deal of interest. At the same time, Public Domain, the third volume of Edition Digital Culture, was published, providing insights into the world of copyright-free works. The launch was supported by Swiss artists Christoph Wachter and Mathias Jud, who presented their project Open-Cospas-Sarsat, which was awarded a digital culture work grant by Migros Culture Percentage.

The Arc artist residency in Romainmôtier, Vaud, has been a Migros Culture Percentage institution since 1994. Arc re-invented its concept in 2015. It organises:

• One-month residencies for research and contemplation with no production or preparation pressure.

• One-week themed residencies inviting artists and practitioners to address a politically or socially relevant topic three times a year.

• Four-day residencies – Walk & Talk: Two people are regularly given time to engage in dialogue.

In the areas of society and culture, the Engagement Migros development fund supports museums and cultural institutions as seismographs of social change. It responds to current social issues with innovative offerings and formats. The supported pioneering projects within and beyond established institutions create advanced forms of access and attract new audiences to their cultural offerings. These include the initiative Museomix, which constantly considers the museum from the public's point of view, creating new ways to access museums and their collections.

One project initiated outside of the established institutions is Sofalesungen.ch, which organises public readings in private locations and brings together readers and writers. The hosts of this innovative event format are completely "normal" people who are interested in literature. Engagement Migros is launching this initiative throughout Switzerland as a three-year pioneering project.

Migros presents festivals to suit every taste – supported by Migros Sponsoring. For young people whose festival highlights include camping together, Migros organised the Openairs in St. Gallen, Frauenfeld, Gurten, Paléo, Heitere and Gampel with the cult brand M-Budget in the reporting year. At festivals for an older audience, such as Moon & Stars, Stars in Town, Stars of Sound, SummerDays, Summerstage and Rock the Ring, Migros was represented by the Cumulus Ticketshop. The highlight: a seven-metre-high, walkable slot machine, which gave visitors the chance to win tickets for other events.