St Brigid's Day 2023
Embassy Berne’s third St Brigid’s Day celebration, and the first to be held in-person, was held at the official residence on Wednesday, 1 February. After a short welcome by Ambassador Hickey, Ms Claire Kerschensteiner, DHOM, who had elaborated the concept for the event and organised it throughout, took charge and conducted the evening’s proceedings.
In the spirit of celebrating the creativity of Irish women, approximately three dozen women, resident in Switzerland and involved in the creative arts were invited to the evening gathering. The evening was designed to facilitate relationship building so that artists could become acquainted and build their professional networks. Guests included singers, musicians, dancers, writers, poets, composers, designers, sculptors and painters. A number of artists performed including a fiddler and shruti duo playing Siúil a Rúin, a cellist performing Old Irish music as well as work she composed herself, a poet reading her work inspired by St Brigid, a sculptor who showcased pieces she had recently exhibited and two women who informed the group of cultural projects they were involved in in raising the profile of Irish culture in Switzerland. Opportunities for further cooperation were addressed, such as the forthcoming Irish festival in Fribourg in the autumn.