Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
Arts and culture are powerful mediums for storytelling that inspire imagination and collective action. By bridging creativity with sustainability, we highlight the connections between humanity and nature and open new ways of understanding global challenges. Through film, music, performance, and exhibits, we use the arts to illuminate complexity, foster empathy, and encourage collaboration toward a net-zero and nature-positive future.
Feature Film on Nature
In a world where the value of nature is often overlooked, the forthcoming feature documentary—produced by The Villars Institute in collaboration with Open Planet, a Villars Institute Strategic Partner—shines a light on the true importance of nature and biodiversity and its impact on life on Earth. With breathtaking visuals from every continent, the film weaves together powerful stories of hope alongside striking images of biodiversity under threat. If we want a thriving planet, we must recognize and embrace Earth’s most vital ingredient—biodiversity.
Villars Music Academy
The aim of the Villars Music Academy is to introduce an interdisciplinary and intergenerational approach to help talented young musicians to reach their full global potential through masterclasses given by leading soloists, public performances with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and group coaching from experts in nutrition, fitness, and psychology.
Diablerets International Alpine Film Festival (FIFAD)
Our collaboration with the Diablerets International Alpine Film Festival (FIFAD), a Villars Institute Strategic Partner, celebrates the unique ability of cinema to connect generations and inspire action on climate change. Through powerful storytelling, film brings the realities of our changing planet into focus—spotlighting mountains, biodiversity, and cultural heritage while sparking conversations about sustainability. Together, we support this mission with unique mountain experiences for Villars Fellows, the sponsorship of the Youth Prize, and the “Best of FIFAD” showcase in Villars-sur-Ollon, where prize-winning films are shared alongside dialogue with experts and young voices.
Villars Institute x Woven Studios
The Villars Institute’s ongoing collaboration with eco artist Thijs Biersteker and Woven Studio, a Villars Institute Strategic Partner, brings together scientific insight and artistic creativity to make complex environmental issues tangible, relatable, and emotionally engaging. Through immersive installations that translate data into sensory experiences, this partnership supports our mission to connect science, creativity, and systems thinking in addressing global environmental challenges.
Memories of the Melted Art Installation
Memories of the Melted is a data-driven interactive artwork by Woven Studio, created by Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker with the Villars Institute and glaciologists Heidi Sevestre and Matthias Huss. Made for the 2025 International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, it blends science, AI, and generative art to tell the story of the Rhône Glacier—its past, present, and possible futures. Through hand gestures that adjust temperature, visitors see how each degree of warming speeds melting, turning gentle drips into rushing streams of water and sound. This fusion of art and data makes glacier fragility visceral, reminding us they are vital to climate, freshwater, and collective memory.
Memories of the Melted Performance
Memories of the Melted is an immersive performance created for the Villars Summit 2025 in honor of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Blending big data, live music, and responsive art, Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker from Woven Studio, violinist SongHa, and glaciologists Matthias Huss and Dr. Heïdi Sevestre bring to life four possible futures of the Rhône Glacier—showcasing the power of storytelling and the critical role glaciers play in planetary resilience.
Powered By