Back in 2011, a project like Antigel seemed inconceivable and completely mad: a festival in the middle of winter in Geneva’s municipalities… And yet, here you are today, over 50,000 visitors to Antigel enjoying three intense weeks of artistic madness and cultural safari throughout Geneva’s municipalities and beyond in the Greater Geneva region.

Indeed, Antigel doesn’t boil down to a venue, a programme or a specific genre. Rather it’s a bold and innovative concept that addresses cultural, social and urban issues. By charting new cultural territories, the festival aims to help boost an entire region, create an artistic dynamic between the centre and the periphery of the Canton, invite audiences to venture away from the main points of focus, and explore the diversity and wealth of Geneva’s urban and rural heritage in places that are both unusual and emblematic.

Antigel isn’t a project that takes shape in an office in front of a computer: it’s field and investigative work that is carried out throughout the year; it’s about meeting up with residents, with major players in the Canton’s cultural landscape, companies, international organisations, local associations, institutions, political representatives, decision-makers and artists, all the people who breathe life into the whole region thanks to their imagination and their outlook on today’s world.

Each of the festival’s projects and events is the result of numerous conversations between multiple stakeholders. In a way, Antigel bears witness to what is happening in the Canton. It’s both a collective force and an inclusive project that aims for everyone to find their place and participate.

Dear festivalgoers, we wish you all a wonderful festival. Dare to be wild and explore!

SHAKE GENEVA!

Thuy-San Dinh & Eric Linder