SEE ALSO

DIRECT DEMOCRACY AGAINST DADA

In Switzerland, a right-wing party is using local referenda to try to de-fund the avant-garde.

Send a letter to the Editor

Save to Del.icio.us Digg this

The idea is the outcome of a 20,000-Swiss franc ($16,573) competition initiated by local artists collective Agent-Provocateur.

The plan is technically feasible and would create “additional public space to stroll, ride bicycles, or sunbathe,” said Till Linke, the competition winner, in an article published by 20 Minuten, a free Swiss newspaper.

To become reality, the plan will need to be voted on in a referendum, which requires 6,000 signatures to make it to the ballot. Collection of the signatures will begin November 28.

A critic of the proposal, Fredy Arnold, the president of a lakeshore community near Zurich, warned that the plan would devalue lakeside properties and trigger a slew of compensation claims.