There are six creation grants awarded this year by the Canton in the fields of visual arts and music. Each grant, amounting to 15 francs, is intended to support the development of new artistic projects and is part of the measures envisaged in the Cantonal Cultural Policy Guidelines 2024–2027. The announcement was made by the Department of Education, Culture, and Sport (DECS).
The calls for proposals, published in early November and coordinated by the Cultural Support Office (USC) of the Division of Culture and University Studies (DCSU), attracted a response described by the organizers as significant: 30 applications for the music sector and 23 for the visual arts. These numbers, according to the Canton, confirm the vitality of Ticino's creative sector and the genuine interest in public support opportunities.
The initiative is part of the broader framework of scholarships in Ticino dedicated to artistic creation, one of the strategic priorities identified for the current four-year period. Direct support for artists is considered a key tool for fostering research, experimentation, and professional continuity in a constantly evolving cultural context.
The selection of the six scholarships and other projects
The evaluation of the applications was entrusted to the sectoral subcommittees of the Consultative Cultural Commission (CCC), which examined the dossiers based on criteria of artistic quality, project coherence, and relevance to the contemporary scene. At the end of the process, three projects were selected for music and three for the visual arts.
In the music industry, support went to Clare Dubey, an artist active in singing, composing, and writing, whose career spans diverse languages—from indie to pop, from folk to electronic—while maintaining a solid foundation in classical training. The award-winning project, Inner Garden, represents the artist's third album and focuses on a more intimate dimension, oriented towards organic sounds and conscious listening.
Among the winners there is also Julie Meletta, singer originally from Bellinzona, who with Martyrs Street presents an autobiographical work in French. The project revolves around a family narrative articulated through five female characters, fitting into a pop culture context that has already allowed the artist to establish herself nationally.
Complete the musical trio the Soulline band, one of the historic realities of Ticino metal. Active for over twenty-five years, the band intends to develop with Shadows of the South a concept album inspired by local folk tales, interpreted in a melodic death metal style with international ambitions.
Visual arts between research and territory
For the visual arts, creative grants were awarded to three projects ranging from sculpture to painting, to multidisciplinary practices. David Barbieri was awarded for his sculptural research that uses industrial materials and objects linked to the world of gardening, transformed into forms that recall botanical archetypes and memories linked to childhood and play, without losing the connection with the environmental context.
Noemi Pfister, a painter, instead offers a reflection on contemporary social transformations through a pictorial practice considered mature and coherent, capable of intertwining references to the history of art with current imagery and new forms of community.
The third selected project is that of Abdelaziz Zerrou, multidisciplinary artist who reworks The song of dawn by Luigi Rossi to create a dialogue between painting and video, past and present. The work focuses on themes related to national identity and migration histories, addressed through a language that combines different media.
Public support for the creation
The six creation grants are funded by the Swisslos Fund, a tool that allows the cantons to reinvest resources in cultural, social, and sporting projects. In Ticino, supporting artistic creation remains a priority, especially given the large number of applications received.
Within the Ticino scholarship landscape, these grants represent a significant step toward supporting artists in their research and production phases, while also fostering a diversity of artistic expression and rooting projects in the region. This investment fosters the quality and continuity of the canton's cultural scene, while also embracing national and international dialogue.
