A work by the Swiss artist Simone Holliger, alumna of HEAD - Geneva, was offered by the Confederation to the World Health Organization.
The work was created for the new building that completes the main building of the organisation's headquarters in Geneva.
Simone Holliger's monumental work presents an interconnected system of aluminium tubes that run along the gallery connecting the old and new buildings. The sculpture, which is inspired by the circulation of blood, the nervous system or metabolism, evokes, in the words of the artist, "a taut thread that reaches and connects distant entities". Simone Holliger sees her project as a manifesto for kinship, for the ties between people, but also for the relationship between human beings and the natural elements.
The work was selected on the basis of an art competition among artists working in Switzerland by a jury consisting of the President of the Federal Art Commission, two members of the Federal Art Commission and representatives of the WHO and the Federal Administration.
With this donation, Switzerland wishes to underline its commitment to the WHO and its mandate. When the main building was inaugurated in 1966, Switzerland had already donated the "Bronze Gate", designed by the artist Franz Fischer, and a work by the painter Hans Erni.