In the Val Lavizzara, Alain Berset commemorates two events: the avalanche of 25 April 1986, which destroyed the Baroque church of San Giovanni Battista, and the completion, twenty years ago, of its reconstruction by Mario Botta. “In un paesino come Mogno è sorta una chiesa di fama internazionale! Apprezzata persino… a livello locale!” Speeches on […]
Alain Berset officially opens the fiftieth edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival. He looks for a definition of jazz among the musicians: Pee Wee Russell, Woody Herman, Bobby Hackett. Jazz, he suggests, is a link between generations, “a bit like an OASI made not of contributions, but of swing and rhythm”. Speeches on this site […]
Alain Berset attends the first day of the Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles, of which Switzerland is a partner from 2015 to 2017 through Presence Switzerland, together with the Canton of Vaud and Pro Helvetia. He visits the exhibitions of Yann Gross and Christian Marclay. He meets Audrey Azoulay, French Minister of Culture, for the […]
On the eve of 1 August, Alain Berset inaugurates the extension of the Swiss National Museum by Christ & Gantenbein. In 1898, he recalls, the Federal Council arrived by special train, to cannon fire, for three days of celebrations: “Wer zu spät in den Bundesrat kommt, den bestraft der Lebensstil.” The speech reads Brexit and […]
Alain Berset opens the 69th Locarno Festival on the Piazza Grande. He asks how cinema has portrayed Ticino, starting with “The Violinist of Florence”, shot in 1926 by Paul Czinner. On 4 August, he announces to the press a more targeted promotion of Swiss cinema abroad and new co-production agreements with priority countries, and recalls […]
More than 50,000 visitors attend the 113th Marché-Concours, with the Canton of Zurich as guest of honour. Alain Berset gives the Federal Council’s official speech. He addresses his “Jura friends” as a Fribourger: born under the sign of the cow, before a people born under the sign of the horse. He recalls that his grandfather […]
At the invitation of the Luxembourg minister Lydia Mutsch, the health ministers of Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland meet at Senningen Castle. The “health quintet” decides to launch a European survey on the population’s health literacy. Alain Berset presents the National Strategy on Addiction. The ministers also exchange their campaigns for the prevention of […]
Twenty-five years after Jean Tinguely’s funeral, Alain Berset speaks on the square through which the procession passed. He recalls the coffin going down the Rue de Lausanne towards the cathedral, the silence around the “sculptor of sound” who brought the noise of engines into the museum. Speeches on this site Grand Prix Tinguely (French-language page) […]
At the second National Meeting on equal pay in the public sector, Alain Berset presents the Charter for Equal Pay. The Confederation and 25 cantons and communes have already signed it. “The public sector must set an example on equal pay.” It accounts for 36 billion francs of public procurement a year and more than […]
Alain Berset attends the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, after a reception given by the Brazilian President, Michel Temer. The Swiss team numbers 24 athletes. He visits them in the Paralympic Village, visits the House of Switzerland, devoted to disability, and presents medals. In Rio, he also visits the Babilônia favela and meets Manu […]
At the Feckerchilbi, the festival of the Yenish and Sinti, Alain Berset announces that the Confederation will henceforth refer to them by the names they use for themselves. He looks back on the history of the “Children of the Open Road”, taken from their families. “Wir sind kein Volk mit Minderheiten, wir sind ein Volk […]
In Lausanne, during the Label Suisse festival, Alain Berset presents the Swiss Music Awards. The Grand Award, worth 100,000 francs, goes to Sophie Hunger, chosen from fifteen finalists. He starts from the Big Bang and the Big Crunch, two noises that nobody has heard, to arrive at music, which is played between the two. Speeches […]
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