600 vaccines a day possible at new site

Prince Albert has inaugurated Monaco’s new Covid vaccination centre in the Grimaldi Forum, telling reporters that it is “too early to tell” if he will order another lockdown for the Principality. 
The Prince visited the Grimaldi Forum just before midday together with Minister of State Pierre Dartout, Health Minister Didier Gamerdinger and National Council President Stéphane Valeri. Just hours earlier, the makeshift health centre opened its doors to provide the Covid jab to Monaco’s citizens.
Around 600 vaccines a day are expected to be administered by health professionals at the site.
Currently, only residents aged over 65 and those with co-morbidities can apply to have the free inoculation, as well as people aged over 75 who missed the first round.
“Thanks to this centre, we aim to respond as quickly and as easily as possible to all the requests of people who wish to be vaccinated,” said the Prince.

Photo by Michael Alesi for the Government Communication Department

The whole process lasts about half an hour and includes registration, a medical examination, the inoculation and a 15-minute waiting period to determine that there is no reaction.
Eventually, the government aims to vaccinate all residents, employees and students in the Principality who wish to receive the jab.
When questioned about vaccine supply, the Prince responded: “We are doing everything with the government and those responsible to have sufficient doses on time.”
He also said that it was “too early to tell” if Monaco would go into another lockdown, but that it would consider the possibility if France takes the measure.
“We will of course study the question and find an answer that is most suited to the Principality,” said the Prince.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to make a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night and national media are suggesting he will announce a three-week lockdown, with schools to remain open but all non-essential businesses to close.
 
Photos by Michael Alesi for the Government Communication Department
 
 

Giacometti marks return of summer exhibition

A retrospective exhibition of the works of famed Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti is coming to the Grimaldi Forum this summer for the first time ever.
Monaco’s largest culture and congress centre was forced to cancel its 2020 summer exhibition, ‘Monaco and the Automobile’, because of logistical issues surrounding the Covid pandemic.
This year it is coming back strong with the largest display of Alberto Giacometti’s works ever seen, in an exhibition titled ‘Marvellous Reality’, organised in conjunction with the Giacometti Foundation.
Grimaldi Forum General Manager Sylvie Biancheri told Monaco Life that she has no doubt the exhibition will go ahead as planned from 3rd July to 29th August, despite the ongoing health crisis. Internationally recognised health measures will ensure the public’s safety, she said, while there should be no issues transporting the Paris-based works to the Principality.

Alberto Giacometti in his studio in Montparnasse in Paris, photographed by his wife Annette. Giacometti Foundation Archives © Succession Alberto Giacometti 2019

Despite his death in 1966, Giacometti remains an incredibly important influence and is widely recognised as one of the most significant sculptors of the 20th century. His early style was based on Surrealism and Cubism, but by the mid-1930’s he was more interested in figurative compositions.
During the war years, between 1938 and 1944, Giacometti, who fled his Paris-based life for his home country of Switzerland, started creating sculptures no more than seven centimetres in height. The size was said to reflect the distance between the artist and his models. He preferred using models he knew well, such as his sister and fellow artist Isabel Rawsthorne.
It was after World War II that Giacometti began his most productive period and when he produced his most famous works. His miniature figures gave way to larger ones, but the taller they became, the more elongated they became, too. The tall, slender, rough-hewn figurines of both men and women, as well as animals, have become iconic and look modern and unique, even today.
After Giacometti’s death from heart disease, his wife and sole heir, Annette, collected a full listing of all her late husband’s works, including documentation proving provenance. This work was in direct response to a spate of counterfeits that began to flood the market. When she died in 1993, the French State set up the Giacometti Foundation to preserve his work and legacy.
The exhibition of Giacometti’s works is the first to be hosted by the Grimaldi Forum. To sweeten the pot, the Grimaldi Forum is offering two free tickets to the exhibition for those willing to take a short, three minute opinion poll.
 
 

Through the eyes of a prince

Prince Michael of Yugoslavia has combined his love for Monaco and passion for photography in one exhibition titled ‘Promenade dans Monaco’ at the Banque Havilland Monaco.

Prince Michael of Yugoslavia has worn many hats in his life. He has tried his hand at careers as diverse as investment executive, real estate broker, socialite and philanthropist. But his true passion is photography.
Using his love of the medium combined with considerable talent, he joined with Banque Havilland Monaco to organise an exhibit of his works “inspired by life in the Principality”.
Promenade dans Monaco is a series of snapshots of life in the Principality featuring unique seaside perspectives, iconic landmarks and beautiful landscapes to portray the country in all its diversity.
“I am happy to present my exhibition Promenade dans Monaco held at the Bank Havilland in Monaco,” Prince Michael said on his social media page alongside sample pieces from the event.
The exhibition was made possible through Banque Havilland’s programme to promote local artists and personalities.
Son of Prince Alexandre of Yugoslavia and Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, Prince Michael cultivated a passion for photography in his childhood and has participated in several exhibitions both in the US and across Europe. He credits his love of art to his mother, who had an excellent eye.
“Since we were not rich, rather than buying, my mother was often changing the placement of furniture (in our home). Volumes and perspectives were always evolving,” he says, reminiscing on his entry into the world of visuals.
As a young man, his royal family was forced to live in exile. As a result, he spent a lot of time travelling and this is where his appreciation was cultivated further. “On each trip I would visit art fairs. I was reunited with a whole group of friends in all these large cities. During these years, I would sharpen my look on art and paintings, but also on photography.”
Prince Michael’s style has been called “well-groomed and rigorous, where every detail is thought of” allowing people to see Monaco with fresh eyes and new angles.
The exhibition began on 1st January 2021 and will run until the end of April at Banque Havilland Monaco on Boulevard des Moulins. Visits can be made by appointment only.
 
Photo © Michel de Yougoslavie
 
 

Prince to headline Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

Prince Albert will give a keynote speech on national resilience in the face of Covid-19 at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, designed to help set the agenda for a green recovery from the health crisis.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), hosted by Masdar, is a global platform for accelerating sustainable development and will be held virtually from 18th to 21st January 2021.
ADSW 2021 will feature a series of high-level virtual events, including the ADSW Summit, IRENA Assembly, Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum, Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, Youth 4 Sustainability Virtual Forums and the World Future Energy Summit Webinars.
“As our economies and industries begin to recover from the impact of the global pandemic, we have an opportunity to set ambitious goals, invest in new technologies and put the necessary policies in place that will deliver a sustainable recovery,” said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy for Climate Change and Chairman of Masdar.Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week embodies the United Arab Emirate’s proactive and forward-thinking approach to climate change and sustainability and underlines the UAE’s role as a responsible, solutions oriented global citizen, enabling dialogue to be turned into action.”
Dr Sultan Al Jaber will be delivering a keynote speech at the ADSW Summit, which will feature more than 70 high-level speakers from around the world, including Prince Albert II of Monaco, Head of State, who will share how his Principality has handed the coronavirus crisis.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to cause unprecedented levels of disruption to lives all over the world. But the recovery period offers energy policy makers and the investment community a moment to realign their decisions and actions with sustainable growth, economic resilience, and shared prosperity,” said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). “The IRENA Assembly and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week represent a starting point for a year that we must come to define as pivotal in our pursuit of a sustainable future.”
This year’s summit follows a successful 2020 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which hosted around 45,000 attendees from 170 countries, with more than 500 high-level speakers from around the world. After this year’s virtual event, the physical program of ADSW will return in 2022.
To ensure the safety of all participants, ADSW 2021 and all related high-level events will take place virtually. The physical program of ADSW will return in 2022.
 
 

How many workers in Monaco are female?

Women made up 41% of the workforce in large companies in 2019 and the majority of working females in Monaco were French. These are just some of the findings to come out of the latest report by IMSEE.
New figures by Monaco’s statistics body show that 53,091 people were employed in the private sector in 2019. Of those, just over 21,000 were women, constituting 40% of the total.
The overwhelming nationality was French at 63%, while Italians made up 15%, and Portuguese 7%.
Meanwhile, 43% of women lived in Monaco or the communities immediately surrounding it such as Beausoleil, Cap d’Ail, La Turbie and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. This is compared to 32% of private sector men.
The average age of women skewed a bit lower than that of the men, but only just. Males were aged 42.2 on average, and women 41.6 years. In the 25 to 34 age range, women had a slight edge over men, making up 25% of the sector’s workforce compared to 22% of men.
The biggest sector in Monaco – Scientific and Technical Activities, Administrative Services and Support – is also the biggest employer of women in the Principality, with 3,000 females coming under this umbrella.
Hospital Activities, GSA Admin, Teaching and Social Health and Action Services are primarily female dominated sectors, with seven out of 10 employees being women.
On the other end of the scale, only one construction worker in 10 was female.
The number of working hours each week varied only slightly in two categories. Women worked more than 39 hours a week in 12% of cases, whilst 26% of men did the same. In other categories, it is roughly even. For those working under 20 hours per week, women came in at 12% and men at 9%. Meanwhile, 41% of women worked exactly 39 hours a week compared to 39% of men.
The figures show that women made up the majority of employees in small companies in the private sector. In those with less than five employees, they represented 53%. However, in companies with 50 or more employees that figure drops to 41%.
Finally, there were 48 companies of more than five employees that were 100% female, versus 129 that were 100% male.
 
Photo source: Unsplash
 
 

Crucial funding continues for Monaco's main cultural centre

The Grimaldi Forum’s largest sponsor, CMB, has renewed its partnership for 2021, securing Monaco’s world-class cultural programme for the year including the exciting Alberto Giacometti summer exhibition.
The partnership was signed in front of the press on Wednesday by CMB Monaco Chairman Etienne Franzi, CMB CEO Francesco Grosoli, Grimaldi Forum Chairman Henri Fissore and Grimaldi Forum General Manager Sylvie Biancheri.
It marked the continuation of a 16-year union between the two Monegasque companies, and was particularly significant for Sylvie Biancheri, who told Monaco Life: “Following the difficult times of 2020, the fact that the CMB accepted to renew their partnership at the same level as 2019 is very important to us.”

Photo: CMB Monaco Chairman Etienne Franzi, CMB CEO Francesco Grosoli, Grimaldi Forum Chairman Henri Fissore and Grimaldi Forum General Manager Sylvie Biancheri, by Monaco Life.

The funding allows the Grimaldi Forum to push ahead with its major concerts, congresses and exhibitions for the year, particularly the incredibly popular summer exhibition which this year takes the theme: Alberto Giacometti, A Restrospective, Marvelous Reality.
“We have been planning the Giacometti exhibition for three years, and it would have been disastrous to not have the support of CMB because of what happened in 2020. It is an enormous relief,” said Ms Biancheri.

For Etienne Franzi, the sponsorship symbolises CMB’s confidence in the dynamic company and the private bank’s commitment to contributing to the cultural influence of the Principality.
“It is important for the CMB to keep its strong partnership with the Grimaldi Forum because it is the heart of culture in the Principality,” Mr Franzi told Monaco Life. “Putting our name close to the Grimaldi Forum is even more crucial today because culture is one of the sectors suffering most, and it is important that we are here to support and work hand in hand with the forum in the weeks and months ahead.”
The Grimaldi Forum is proving very resilient in light of the event cancellations that took place in 2020 and the postponements that continue to unfold this year. Sylvie Biancheri has a very positive outlook for 2021 because, she says, the team has learnt to adapt.
“We have been working as though 2021 is completely normal in terms of programming,” she said. “We will be delivering the best. However, to minimise risk, we are organising more events from France.”
Meanwhile, disruptive works related to the neighbouring land extension which were due to take place in autumn have been brought forward to the start of the year, capitalising on a slow first quarter.
 
Photo of the Grimaldi Forum by Cassandra Tanti for Monaco Life, all rights reserved