Culture is what makes life better

The Aargau Cultural Association is relatively new. In November 2019, various cultural institutions and freelancers from the canton of Aargau joined forces. The dedicated board covers various sectors and has set itself the goal of making Aargau's cultural activities more visible and, above all, to make a name for them in political circles. one voice to lobby for culture. A new managing director, Daniel Hertli, has just been elected.

Under its first managing director, Michael Schneider, the association not only took a clear stance on decisions made by the Grand Council and on the Aargau Culture Concept 2023-2028, but also worked to better inform members of the Grand Council about the difficult framework conditions for culture. Thanks to Grand Councillor Markus Lang, a cultural group has been set up with around 40 members from various parties. Guided tours are organized for this group, allowing them to take a look behind the scenes.

The importance of culture

In his welcoming address at the opening of the forum, Mayor Markus Schneider emphasized that Baden is a self-confident and vibrant cultural city of which he is proud. And cantonal councillor Alex Hürzeler said in conversation with moderator Monika Schärer that culture is important for the cohesion of society and for the attractiveness of a location, especially in these geopolitically difficult times.

As a political philosopher, Katja Gentinetta reflected on the concept of culture in her opening speech. Culture is the further development of intellectual and moral forces, everything that makes our lives better. In her opinion, culture is no less systemically relevant than agriculture or healthcare. And a good corporate culture may not be measurable, but it is indispensable.

An interesting panel of speakers led a panel discussion after each presentation: for physicist Christian Brönnimann, founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dectris, culture has a lot in common with science. Both areas are associated with a great deal of effort and passion, and money is not the main focus. His company supports culture with a share of its profits. However, this is only possible if the business is successful.

For Maja Wanner, wife of Peter Wanner, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the media company CH-Media, culture is the lubricant of society and a bulwark against brutalization. Getting together, the shared live experience, is becoming increasingly important. She, who is heavily involved in fundraising for culture, sees the growing anonymity of companies as a problem. There is a lack of independent and enthusiastic entrepreneurs who can be approached personally.

For Christine Egerszegi, former member of the Council of States and cultural ambassador, art is not charitable work, but a profession to be taken seriously. One problem in Aargau is that there are very few foundations here. She also argued vehemently that a proportion of every company's profits should be spent on culture. When you consider what the Migros Culture Percentage has achieved to date, you can only agree with Egerszegi.

What values does culture generate? And for whom?

Christoph Weckerle, Director of the Zurich Center for Creative Economies at the ZHdK, put the concept of values into perspective in his presentation by looking at it globally. And Nicola Forster, President of the Schweizerische Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft, emphasized that Switzerland, with its four language cultures, is a nation of will. It does not have one It is more the need for origin and homeland than a dominant culture.

Antonina Businger, a young artist who has successfully founded her own limited company, took part in the panel discussion. At this summer's Badenfahrt, she was the youngest festival organizer and artistic director the event has ever had. Original entertainment was also provided at the forum, and the linguistic acrobatics of author Simon Libsig were well received. When Monika Schärer asked whether there were any businesswomen and politicians in the audience, a number of hands went up. Georg Matter, Head of the Culture Division in the Aargau Department of Education, Culture and Sport, was also present and was asked by Schärer at the end about the role of business in promoting culture. He aptly said that this forum was also in a bubble. In his experience, many people have no idea about culture. This makes it all the more important to talk about it publicly and make it more visible. The packed hall made it clear that the Aargau Cultural Association and Forum Pro Argovia had made a start with this event.

Aargau Cultural Association: agkv.ch/