Arts & Creative Industries
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Planetary Embassy at COP 30 | Photo by Kleber José Lourinho -
Planetary Embassy at COP 30 | Photo by Lorena Fadul -
ETH BiodivX | Photo by Rodrigo Valle -
ETH BiodivX | Photo by Rodrigo Valle -
Watch, listen and see: Fungi Cosmology | Photo by Rodrigo Valle -
Watch, listen and see: Fungi Cosmology | Photo by Carol Godefroid -
Watch, listen and see: Fungi Cosmology | Photo by Carol Godefroid

Why the Arts
Interdisciplinary, Ecological, and Transformative
At Swissnex in Brazil, the arts and creative industries are an essential part of what we do. By integrating artistic methods, scientific research, innovation, and ancestral knowledge, we aim to reflect on society, spark dialogue, and explore new possible futures.
We use creative practices to bring ideas to life and foster exchange through shared experiences. Our goal is to create an inclusive space that engages diverse audiences and broadens perspectives through active listening, collaboration, and the recognition of multiple ways of knowing, including those of Indigenous peoples, quilombola communities, and local populations.
Through art, we expand the ways we perceive our time and our place within broader ecologies and cosmologies. Artistic practice reveals what often remains unseen and helps us imagine the unimaginable. Creative thinking opens new ways to grasp complexity and turn discourse into action. Together with our Swiss and Brazilian partners, we strengthen our collective capacity to engage with the pressing challenges of our time, while fostering a dialogue between the richness of Brazil’s cultural, natural, and technological diversity and Swiss innovative capacity.
A Laboratory for Planetary Diplomacy at COP30
Events & News
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Selected artists announced: On Amazonian Forests Arts & Science Residency
30 April 2026Throughout the residency, the selected artists will engage with researchers, cultural practitioners, and local partners from the Peruvian Amazon and Rome, fostering dialogues that bridge disciplines and geographies. Their projects reflect an ongoing effort to move beyond simplified or extractive representations of the Amazon, toward more nuanced, situated, and collaborative ways of understanding the forest and caring for it.
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Open Call | On Amazonian Forests / Art & Science Residency
19 December 2025 — 30 January 2026Call for Applications for a journey where artistic imagination meets scientific knowledge, from the Amazonia to Rome; deadline 30 January 2026.
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The Forest Women of Ehuana Yanomami
17 November 2025Join us at the Planetary Embassy in Belém during COP30 for a dialogue with Ehuana Yanomami, offering a rare glimpse into the meaning of art and women's leadership in her community.
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A River Does Not Exist Alone: Curatorial Walkthrough
13 November 2025Join us for an immersive experience through the lush park of the Goeldi Museum, organized in collaboration with leading Brazilian cultural center Instituto Tomie Ohtake.
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Switzerland and Amazonia: A Partnership for the Planet
12 November 2025Join us at the Planetary Embassy in Belém as we explore how collaboration between Swiss and Amazonian actors can spark innovation and shape a more sustainable future for the planet’s most vital ecosystem.
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Imagining Planetary Diplomacy Exhibition at COP30
27 October 2025 -
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Contradiction as Method
20 October 2025In this edition of the lecture series “Kein Kino,” presented by Swissnex and the Department of Design of Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Matheus Leston explores an artistic practice of technology: off-screen contingencies, physicality and audiences.
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Ephemeral Histories: A Global South Dialogue on the Evolution of European Modernism in Design
6 June 2025Swissnex in Brazil, in collaboration with Swissnex in India and the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, presents Ephemeral Histories, a hybrid global event series exploring how European modernist design principles have been interpreted and transformed across Brazil, India, and South Africa. This series brings together voices from architecture, visual design, and critical historiography to examine the evolving legacies of modernism in the Global South. This event is part of a global initiative.
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NextGen Open Call: Imagining Planetary Diplomacy
1 June 2025Are you 25 or younger and passionate about rethinking humans’ relationship with planet Earth? Submit your ideas for a chance to present your work as part of the Swissnex Planetary Summit.
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Workshop at UFRJ: Seeing the Unseen Technology and AI for Art Conservation
15 May 2025Innovative technique for art unveiled at Museu Dom João VI Workshop, initiated by the Swiss startup MATIS
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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and Swissnex Launch Global Digital Exhibition
12 May 2025To mark the 150th anniversary of the Museum für Gestaltung (MfG) in 2025, the Swissnex Global Network has partnered with MfG to launch a digital exhibition showcasing the work of six designers and artists from around the world. These creatives have reimagined iconic pieces from MfG’s permanent collection and e-museum, offering fresh perspectives that bridge the museum’s rich history with contemporary themes.
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The exhibition: a Swiss-Brazilian partnership
16 July 2024 — 15 August 2024Discover an exhibition that combines science and art to highlight the urgent need for biodiversity preservation and climate action. This immersive installation contrasts the Amazon's natural beauty with the devastation from recent droughts and fires, using video art and environmental DNA sounds to spark critical dialogue.
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Event and Exhibition: Amazônia Mapeada
26 July 2024Swissnex in Brazil hosted a special event with the ETH BiodivX team, followed by the launch of the exhibition "Amazônia Mapeada—Images and Sounds of Environmental DNA", which is open until August 14 at Bosque da Ciência, Manaus. Join us to explore this unique blend of art and science!
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ETH BiodivX: Surveying Biodiversity for Amazon Rainforest Conservation
5 June 2024Join Swissnex in Brazil in celebrating the innovative efforts of the ETH BiodivX team as they harness cutting-edge technology to preserve the Amazon's biodiversity. Discover how Swiss ingenuity is making a global impact.
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A recap of the Bootcamp Future of Food 2024
28 May 2024Delve into the Bootcamp Future of Food! The program welcomed two startups, four researchers, and one expert to join a two-week program in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in April 2024. Our Communications Manager, Sofia Costa, walks us through their journey in this article!
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Bootcamp Future of Food 2024
18 September 2023Call closed for startups! The Bootcamp Future of Food 2024 will also welcome Swiss Researchers and Food Specialists, check out the open call!
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VFXRio Dance
7 September 2023 — 8 September 20232 dias de Keynotes e Workshops que exploram a interseção entre dança e tecnologia, envolvendo acadêmicos e segmentos da indústria de áudio visual, jogos eletrônicos e dança, com a participação de especialistas nacionais e internacionais e com o apoio internacional da Swissnex no Brasil e da Cie Gilles Jobin.
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Watch, listen and see: Fungi Cosmology
30 May 2023The Fungi Cosmology project had its first phase in the Amazon forest in March 2023. While waiting for the next step in Patagônia 2024, we can rejoice in our memories by sharing our video, photos, and podcast made exclusively for this transdisciplinary project with artists, scientists, and curators from Brazil, Switzerland, and Chile.
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Exploring the Fungi kingdom
3 April 2023After two weeks of intensive learning and connecting the Amazon forest and São Paulo city, the Fungi Cosmology research program came to an end. Our Arts & Science Program Manager, Gabriela Devaud, shared the life-changing experience through her perspective while accompanying the transdisciplinary group of artists, scientists, and curators from Brazil, Chile, and Switzerland.
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Fungi at Selva de Pedra
24 March 2023Take a ride to the fungi kingdom through the impressions of the immersive experience in the Amazon by the Fungi Cosmology team.
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Fungi Cosmology: a new kingdom and its relevance for the future
30 January 2023How fungi can teach us new ways to live in the world - a transdisciplinary research program by a group of artists, scientists, and curators from Brazil, Chile, and Switzerland.
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LASERZURICH
6 October 2022Swissnex in Brazil joins forces with LASERZURICH to explore the future of food from an art and science perspective. We will discuss the question of how to reconcile a fourth industrial revolution with how consumers will eat in the future.
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Arts-Science
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Exhibition City as Forest
14 June 2022What can the city learn from the forest? What urban politics can we practice from the perspective of the forest? To answer these questions and stimulate new reflections around the theme, under the view of arts and science, Swissnex in Brazil, Goethe-Institut, Museum of Tomorrow, and Pro Helvetia South America organized the Residency Program in Art-Science: City as Forest.
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Matt Artz![]()
Residents City as Forest
18 April 2022The participants of the City as Forest residency program have been selected. The program will held between 16 May and 4 June 2022, in its first edition, by the Goethe-Institut in Rio de Janeiro, the Museum of Tomorrow, Swissnex in Brazil and Pro Helvetia South America.
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The City as Forest Residency Program
24 February 2022The program offers an immersion for research and experimentation, meant for artists scientists interested in developing their work in the urban environment of Rio de Janeiro. The program will held between 16 May and 4 June 2022, in its first edition, by the Goethe-Institut in Rio de Janeiro, the Museum of Tomorrow, Swissnex in Brazil and Pro Helvetia South America.
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Gabriela Devaud![]()
Connecting artists and scientists: impressions from the “Resilience: Artist in Residence” program
24 September 2021Learn more about this initiative connecting arts and sciences with the residency organized by Silo between 22 August and 12 September 2021. The "Resilience: Artist in Residence" program brought together artists and scientists in a rural setting in the Serrinha do Alambari.
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Revisiting earthen architecture
10 September 2021Join us on 10 September at 14:00 (Brazilian time)/19:00 (Swiss time) for an insightful discussion on using earth in modern architecture and buildings.
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Le Concours Suisse: Virtual Exhibition and roundtable
21 July 2021Join us on 21 July (19:00 BRT/00:00 CET) during the 27th World Congress of Architecture UIA2021RIO with experts from Switzerland and Brazil to discuss the importance of architecture competitions.
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Sergio Souza![]()
Urban living, mobility & health – the future of our cities
4 March 2021Join us on the 4th of March for an insightful discussion on the importance of urban planning and architecture in health and mobility with experts and researchers from EPFL, WHO and USP
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Watch it again: LASER Talks: Art and Science for the construction of a new better
8 January 2021LASER Talks
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Sergio Souza![]()
Urban Living and Covid-19: Impacts on Architecture and the future of cities
13 May 2020Assista novamente: arquitetas e designers brasileiras e suíças debatem os impactos da Covid-19 na vida urbana
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Program Lead | Arts and Creative Industries
As Arts and Creative Industries Program Lead at Swissnex in Brazil, Gabriela works to integrate architecture, design, and art with innovation, technology, and science, creating possibilities for transdisciplinary projects. Connect with her.






































