Arts and Culture at the Caux Forum 2025
Arts & Culture
The Caux Palace will showcase a vibrant summer arts and culture programme that explores and amplifies the forum themes through diverse exhibitions and concerts, creating meaningful cultural experiences that extend beyond traditional forum discussions.
"Democracy? What democracy?!"
An exhibition with press cartoons by Godfrey MWAMPEMBWA (Nairobi, Kenya) and Nadia KHIARI, alias Willis from Tunis (Tunisia).
- Location: Salle Belle Epoque, Caux Palace – Rue du Panorama 2 – 1824 Caux
- Dates: 2 June - 15 September 2025
- Opening Hours: Friday – Saturday – Sunday (14:00 - 18:00)
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
At a time when the core values of democracy are being radically challenged, the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation is presenting an exhibition of around forty cartoons on this theme, by the cartoonists Gado (Godfrey MWAMPEMBWA) and Nadia KHIARI, also Willis from Tunis.
Through the sharp, ironic and sometimes cynical eyes of these two artists from the African continent, the exhibition shows snapshots of European and world political events in recent years.
The drawings reveal how democracy has become a concept emptied of its original meaning, and misappropriated, flouted, reinterpreted or exploited. Like freedom, democracy is fast becoming a hackneyed term, whose deeper meaning is lost in the twists and turns of an increasingly elusive global political chessboard.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Godfrey MWAMPEMBWA, known professionally as Gado, was born in 1969, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is a graphic journalist, independent editorial cartoonist, animator, and TV producer. His work has appeared in The EastAfrican, The Standard, and Daily Nation (Kenya), Le Monde and Courrier International (France), Deutsche Welle (Germany), The Continent (South Africa), among others. Gado is the co-founder of
Buni Media, an independent multimedia company based in Nairobi. A trained classical animator from Vancouver Film School, he is the creator and producer of the popular weekly satirical puppet show The XYZ Show, which has aired on Kenyan television since 2009.
He is the recipient of several prestigious awards. In 2007, he was named a Prince Claus Laureate, and in 2011, he received the Visionaries Award from the Ford Foundation for his innovative work on the frontlines of key social issues. In 2016, he was awarded the Cartooning for Peace International Editorial Cartoon Award, and in 2018, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism from the Kenya National Human Rights Commission. Gado was also named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Africa by NewAfrican magazine in both 2014 and 2016. In May 2022, he was honored by the French government with the title Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters).
Gado is a member of the Cartoonists Rights Network (CRN), Cartooning for Peace, and the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ). He has been a fellow at the Bellagio Center (2016) and the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in 2024.
Nadia KHIARI, also known as Willis from Tunis, is from Tunisia. Willis from Tunis, the iconic cartoon cat, was born on 13 January 2011, during a televised speech by the deposed Tunisian president, Ben Ali, who—ironically—promised freedom of expression. Originally created as a way for the author to share her reactions to Tunisia's historic moment with her close circle on social media, the cat quickly evolved into a sharp, satirical commentator on current events. Since then, the daily chronicle has continued without interruption.
Nadia Khiari is a press cartoonist, a visual arts teacher at the secondary level, and a professor of press cartooning at Sciences Po in Menton. She has published several collections of her drawings and contributed to numerous collaborative works. Since 2011, her work has appeared regularly in Siné Mensuel (including international news and a column on astronomy), and she also publishes in Courrier International. She sits on the board of directors of Cartooning for Peace.
Her work has been widely recognized: she received the Honoré Daumier Prize at the second Cartooning for Peace meeting in Caen (2012), was named Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Liège (2013), and won the International Prize for Political Satire in Forte dei Marmi (October 2014). In 2016, she received the irreverent "Couilles au cul" award at the Off Off Off Festival in Angoulême, and in 2018, the Sokol Prize from the Caricature Museum in Krems, Austria.
Interested in more? Check out the special event on cultural mediation with the artist Gado (tbc) and Anne-Catherine Sutermeister, Head of Community Engagement Switzerland, Caux Initiatives of Change (10 July, 17:00 - 18:30)
"Dialogues on Humanity"
An exhibition produced thanks to a partnership between Photo Elysée - Lausanne, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
- Location: Outdoor Esplanade in the gardens of the Caux Palace – Rue du Panorama 2 – 1824 Caux
- Dates: 2 June - 15 September 2025
- Opening Hours: Friday – Saturday – Sunday (14:00 - 18:00)
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
How can photography help us understand humanitarian principles? Humanitarian crises around the world make the headlines every day. The images associated with these tragedies are often linked to tears, suffering, hunger, despair, loneliness, separation and desolation. We sometimes feel powerless and overwhelmed by the images of crises, violence, armed conflicts and natural disasters.
This contemporary art exhibition is a reaction to these feelings. The three partners mentioned above have developed a concept that allows us to take a step back from the images that surround us and to pause, reflect and feel. The idea is to provide a space for discussion about humanitarian principles, and to share opinions on the evolution of the world in which we live.
Interested in more? Check out the special event on cultural mediation with experts from the Swiss Development Coorperation and Anne-Catherine Sutermeister, Head of Community Engagement Switzerland, Caux Initiatives of Change (9 July, 14:30 - 16:00)
Music
JEAN-MARC VIGNOLI, Violonist
Jean-Marc Vignoli is a musician and lives in France. After training as both a violinist and an engineer, and a long career in industry, he (re)discovered the path to his own creative expression. For the last ten years or so, he has been living and sharing the mysteries of sound, improvisation and creativity and has also recorded several CDs. Jean-Marc Vignoli describes himself as a 'tailor-made' violinist. The music he plays is inspired by the message, the mood and the moment in which it takes place. Having become aware of the therapeutic dimension of music, he has turned his attention to the dimension of sound that soothes, relieves and harmonises, helping to transform and heal the human being in intimate contact with nature.