Barbara Giongo (born in 1966) and Nataly Sugnaux Hernandez (born in 1973) have jointly headed the arts complex Le Grütli in Geneva since 2018. Both are experienced production managers. After studying literature in Padua and taking a postgraduate course in communication in Nice, Giongo worked as communications officer at the Théâtre Saint-Gervais and as a producer for the weekly culture magazine programme Faxculture at RTS, among other roles. In 2001, she became head of administration and promotion for Oscar Gómez Mata who won a Swiss Theatre Award in 2018. She is also a guest lecturer at the Manufacture in Lausanne. Nataly Sugnaux Hernandez studied interior architecture before enrolling at the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD). She has produced a number of video works, including documentaries, animations and installations. She has also coordinated exhibitions and created the performance festival Point d’impact in 2004 while also setting up HEAD’s performance department. Sugnaux Hernandez has worked as production and promotion manager for various freelance creators, most recently Yan Duyvendak, winner of the Swiss Grand Award for Theatre / Hans Reinhart Ring in 2019.
When they took over as co-directors, Barbara Giongo and Nataly Sugnaux Hernandez changed the name of Geneva’s renowned Maison des Arts du Grütli to Le Grütli – Centre de production et de diffusion des Arts vivants (centre for production and promotion of the performing arts). They believe it is important to offer artists a venue in which they can not only perform, but also receive support in the pre-production and rehearsal phases. They also give artists time to show off their productions – as a rule two weeks. Amid Geneva’s complex theatrical landscape, they assemble an innovative programme spanning the full spectrum of performing arts. In their careers to date, production and promotion have always been their strengths. These skills allowed them to turn Le Grütli into a haven for creativity, interaction and life with an outstanding reputation in the scene radiating far beyond its home city.
Over the years, Barbara Giongo and Nataly Sugnaux Hernandez have mastered the art – individually and together – of basing their work on listening and paying attention to creative processes in all their different forms. As they indefatigably interweave projects and relationships, their co-direction of Le Grütli – centre for the production and diffusion of living arts – has enabled them to create a working model in which curatorship goes together with care. Combining solid coherence and lucid vision, their practice is a constant invitation to both the artistic community and spectators to fearlessly embrace the complexity of the times we live in.
