The Executive Committee is delighted to announce the addition of Wan Jamila Wan Shaiful Bahri as our Young ImpactArtist 2020-2022. Wan Jamila is a gifted artist, who since the age of 4 years old has used visual arts to communicate and develop her talents. Through her award-winning art, she has leveraged her autism and ADHD, and developed her behavioural and social interaction skills, something explored in her book “My Journey with Artjamila”. She has sold over 90 original paintings and her story has been in over 100 different media outlets. The Foundation has followed ArtJamila since 2018 and was delighted when Jamila won the Autism Star Award 2019 as part of the World Autism Day.

“Wan Jamila’s ability to use art as a communications platform encompasses all the principles of ImpactArt. We are very pleased to welcome Wan Jamila and her mother, Noorhashimah, to our ImpactArt team and look forward to collaborating with Wan Jamila on her journey to further develop her talents.” 

Christina-Anne Kyosti

Two examples of Wan Jamila’s art (top to bottom): Plastic sea pollution and Mosaic series.

News text by Theodora Morley.

Members of the Executive Committee of ViaTalenta Foundation and the family office attended this past Saturday 23rd November the annual “Bal de la Fondation Champittet”. This year, the fundraising efforts were in favour of the “Association Sportive Fair Play”. This association focuses on developing sports programmes for people with disabilities across all ages and capability levels.

“As a society it is important to ensure that all members feel included. Sports are a unique tool to achieve this. They provide opportunities to interact with others, strengthen one’s self-esteem, and facilitate acceptance and integration. We were impressed with the important work the Association Sportive Fair Play is doing and would like to thank the Fondation Champittet’s team for hosting us one more year.”
Olalla Linares-Segade

The Family Council is pleased to announce its support to the migrant integration efforts of the “Sport & Migrants Mineurs” at the FIBA 3×3 World Tour event in Lausanne. Through a dedicated session with professional basketball coaches, young migrants were introduced to the sport and given the opportunity to train with local, young basketball team members. Both Giovanni and Giulio Pauen, who play in the Pully-Lausanne Foxes basketball teams, participated in this inclusive event.

“Basketball is a sport for everyone. It was great to have the opportunity to play with young migrants and introduce them to a sport that I like and have learnt a lot from.”
Giulio Pauen

“Playing basketball with people from other parts of the world is an easy way of getting to know them, even when you do not speak the same language. We connect while sharing ball tricks, sports experiences and a common objective to have fun.”
Giovanni Pauen

The Executive Committee is pleased to announce the official conclusion of Collège Champittet’s “Year of Sustainability” – a 2018-2019 Education & Outreach programme. Ranging from introducing aquaponics in the primary school classrooms to processing food waste into organic fertilizer for the campus, the programme provided an educational insight on sustainability in everyday life. This was further enhanced by the MIT STEAM programmes running in parallel.

“Implementing sustainability requires a change in habits and mindset. It was immediately clear to us that ViaTalenta and Collège Champittet shared values, and a commitment to have a real impact on the school community.”
Philippe de Korodi – Managing Director, Collège Champittet

The Foundation is pleased to announce that Gilles T. Lacombe, our ImpactArtist 2018-2023, will be exhibiting for the 7th year at NordArt from June 1st to October 13th, 2019 in Büdelsdorf, Germany. The famous exhibition takes place at Carlshütte, a former iron foundry operated by the first manufacturing company in the dukedoms of Schleswig and Holstein.

“With the expansion of ImpactArt, we see a flourish of new talents entering the contemporary art world. The Foundation is delighted to see Mr. Lacombe’s work being presented at NordArt again this year and wish all the visitors a pleasant experience at the exhibition.”
Christina-Anne Kyosti

The students at Collège Champittet’s primary school participated in the first of a series of special education sessions around the Foundation’s in-class aquaponic systems and SDG 14 – “Life Below Water”. The interactive session was conducted by Mr. Thomas Lott, a Swiss aquaponics expert, and members of the Executive Committee.

“ViaTalenta’s Aquaponic programme has resulted in an immediate adoption by the students.”
Geraldine Toussaint – Dean Years 3-5, Collège Champittet

The students of ECAL’s MAS in Design for Luxury & Craftmanship presented today their first designs using sustainable fish leather and materials to the Foundation Executive Committee members. The innovation and creativity displayed through the early prototypes, designs and storylines was very well received and feedback was provided to enhance the development of the designs.

“It is clear from our interactions with the students that they understand the urgency of the environmental crisis and have embraced the challenge of integrating new, sustainable, natural materials in design. We are pleased to see the new generations’ quick uptake on sustainable practices and their enthusiasm and creativity in the use of sustainable and repurposed materials.”
Olalla Linares-Segade