BRIDGES Intercultural Productions was founded in 2001 by multicultural artists Edessa Ramos and Kimberly Zanetti. Based in Switzerland but active throughout the world, BRIDGES is all about dance, music, poetry, and theater. BRIDGES is international, whose mission is to connect people from all walks of life by uniting them in artistic expression. For the past 14 years, Bridges has been presenting onstage those issues that affect the human condition such as human rights, cultural identity and environmental preservation. BRIDGES artists possess a history of unforgettable performances in Switzerland, Austria, Colombia, South Africa, Nepal, and the Philippines. BRIDGES consistently champions the rights of women, girls, and migrant families, expressed and propagated through the power of dance, theatre, music, and workshops.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT NEPAL is organising the festival VOICES OF WOMEN to showcase the strengths of Nepali women and inspire more women to explore their caliber and express themselves.
Edessa is a theatre artist, writer, martial artist, and counter-violence instructor, also known by her pen-name Silkensteel. As a writer and journalist, her experience spans 30 years of publishing own works, and as freelance columnist for newspapers in Chicago, San Francisco, Manila, Zurich, Durban, Kathmandu, and more. As a Political Analyst with a masters from the University of Illinois, her expertise is in gender studies, human security, and post-conflict reconstruction. She works as Senior Security Expert for a German firm operating in South Asia. Well-travelled in some of the world's most dangerous countries, she is vastly multi-cultural, with a personal network spanning the globe, assisting her in project work, mobilization, and crisis management.
Born and raised in the Philippines, she was also a rural worker, anti-dictatorship activist under Gabriela and BAYAN, an actor with PETA, and an advocate/counsellor for Lila Pilipina (former WWII "comfort women" seeking justice). In Chicago, she co-founded the Pintig Cultural Group, now Circa Pintig - a venue for exploring identity, histories, and artistic legacies of America's diverse population. She was Midwest Coordinator for Gabriela-USA, and DV counsellor for the Chicago Abused Women Coalition.
In Switzerland. she co-founded BRIDGES Intercultural Productions with Kimberly Zanetti, Hilarius Dauag, and Alexandra Brodmann in 2001.
In 2010, she traveled to Afghanistan and founded BRIDGES Afghanistan to support women weavers in the northern provinces. In 2013, she started working as Educator and Security Expert in Nepal, where she joined Women Empowerment Nepal to teach self-defense for women and girls.