Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz (FEMS)
The Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz (FEMS) in Pully was founded in 1982. Its aim is to encourage artistic creativity and to support young artists, institutions, companies or foundations of general public interest through funding, prize-money or in other ways. The tasks of the FEMS also include the cultivation and dissemination of the literary, musical and artistic oeuvre of Edouard-Marcel Sandoz (March 21, 1881 - March 20, 1971) and of Maurice Sandoz (April 2, 1892 - June 5, 1958). This is done firstly through the collection of his various manuscripts, editions, studies, articles, documents and other works, and secondly through the organisation of exhibitions, the publication or edition of the works themselves and, in some cases, also through the production of films for the cinema or television.
The FEMS pursues exclusively artistic and cultural objectives. Notwithstanding the many awards accorded to cultural activities in French-speaking Switzerland, there is little practical encouragement of artistic activity in the region. The award of the FEMS Prize is linked to the desire to permit an artist to make an important step in his or her development. On the one hand, the FEMS Prize means financial support and hence the possibility to realise a major project successfully and, on the other hand, the prizewinner is given an opportunity to present his or her work to a broader public. What is more, the artist comes into contact with personalities whose influence is important for the further dissemination of the prize-winning work.
Since 1996, the prize, which is worth CHF 100,000, has been presented to artists whose projects are selected by the FEMS Prize jury. The prize is awarded in turn to representatives of the field of sculpture, literature, painting and music.
In 1997, the prize went to an artist from the area of the visual arts. The sculptor Jean Stern received the award for his project "Paysages Instantanés". The 1998 FEMS Prize was given in the field of literature. Open to contributions from the categories of drama and short stories/novellas, it was won by writer Anne-Lou Steiniger for her project "Les Jours qu'il me reste à vivre". The prize for 1999 went to the Lausanne painter and engraver Zivoslav Ivanovic. The artist, who calls himself Zivo, received the award to enable him to complete his project "Des passages Âne-Oiseau". The work was exhibited in the Jenisch Museum in Vevey in August 2000. The fourth FEMS Prize for the year 2000 was given in the field of classical and ballet music. It went to the Geneva composer Xavier Dayer for his ballet music project entitled "Sept Fragments de Faust" inspired by a work written by Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa. In the year 2001, the prize was awarded to the Bernese sculptor Urs-Peter Twellmann. He used the prize money to fund his open-air sculpture project (Landart / Art in Nature). His artistic work took him to Australia, Canada, Russia and the Baltic States. In its sixth year, the 2002 FEMS Prize was awarded to the author Yves Rosset, who was born in Lausanne and lives in Berlin. His work "Oasis de transit" is a cross between a personal travel diary and literary report.
Around 250 Swiss artists submitted their works and projects for the seventh prize, which was awarded in 2003 in the field of painting, for the theme "Nouveaux Paysages". The jury chose the painter Rosina Kuhn, who was born and lives in Zurich. She received this award for her project "Neue Landschaften" (New landscapes), which reflects the four points of the compass as well as the four times of the day and the four seasons. The Prix FEMS 2004 went to a music project in 2004. For the first time in the history of the Prix FEMS no prize was awarded in 2005 for the 43 projects submitted in the field of sculpture.
The Prix FEMS 2006 is to be awarded to a literary artist and is open to all Swiss and other artists who have been resident in Switzerland for at least 5 years.