Visas / the discordant note

Ole Reitov & Hans Hjorth have released a white paper on visa issues, Europe and artist mobility. Focused primarily on the music industry, the paper hightlights a number of problems faced by creative companies working with artists from non-EU countries. Read the paper here.

ERICarts Study on Mobility in Creative Sector

Check out the ERICarts Institute’s study for the European Commission on mobility incentives in the culture/creative sector. This was not intended to be an audit of all mobility related schemes in Europe, but rather a survey and analysis of the range and scope as well as motives and results of such programs.

During the course of the study, ERICarts collected information on:
* mobility trends in different regions of Europe;
* recent debates taking place within individual countries;
* existing mobility schemes (their objectives, kind of support, target beneficiaries, eligibility conditions and the nature of benefits);
* the main motives for funding bodies to support mobility; and
* the main sources where professionals can find information about mobility incentives or barriers.

EU Culture Ministers Pledge To Boost Artists' Mobility

The mobility of artists and other cultural workers within Europe featured prominently among policy priorities for the next two years adopted by European Union culture ministers. The proposal forms part of a wider set of recommendations for a 'Work Plan for Culture 2008-2010'.

The ministers agreed to set up a working group comprised of national experts to develop ways to improve the mobility of artists and "other professionals in the cultural field". The experts will explore ways of boosting cooperation between Brussels and national capitals, primarily by studying existing national practices to suggest "ways of improving the regulatory conditions and related administrative processes for mobility".

What's more, the working group will "suggest solutions at the national and Community levels" to explore ways in which national and EU-level initiatives could "include mobility in the professional training curricula of artists and culture professionals. Other priorities identified include boosting access to culture by promoting cultural heritage, multilingualism, digitization and cultural tourism.

Ministers asked the Commission to carry out a study on the mobility of cultural workers in Europe by October 2008 and publish recommendations on the feasibility of developing a "comprehensive EU-wide system of information on mobility in the cultural sector" by the end of the year. The Council working groups will meet three times a year between now and the end of 2010, and are expected to submit their mid-term reports by July 2009.

Theatre FIT

The network Theatre FESTIVALS IN TRANSITION (FIT), involving eight festivals in eight European countries, was founded in 2005. Between 2005 and 2006, FIT organized a series of contemporary theatre projects and highly regarded symposia on ‘festival policy′, which took place at all the participating festivals: Homo Novus in Riga, Latvia, Divadelna Nitra in Slovakia, Sirenos in Vilnius, Lithuania, SPIELART Munich in Germany, Exodos in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Krakow Theatre Reminiscences in Poland, 4+4 Days in Motion in Prague, Czech Republic and Baltoscandal in Rakvere, Estonia. Discussions gathered festival programmers, artists, supporters and cultural policy makers on local, national and European level and were focused on the role of festivals as a generator for a European cultural network.

With an enlarged network now involving ten festivals, from 2007 FIT embarks on a new project - a MOBILE LAB for Theatre and Communication. Ten European festivals focusing on contemporary theatre creation have come together to create a travelling laboratory to explore, develop and test drive innovative practices of discourse, critical writing and communication between artists, programmers and audiences in response to contemporary performance. Through carefully developed artistic programs, public discussions, collaborations with the media and Mobile Lab workshop programs for young theatre critics and writers, the project aims to facilitate a deeper and more wide ranging communication around contemporary art to a wider audience.

European Association for Theatre Culture

Akt-Zent/Protei/Scut was founded in 1994 under the artistic direction of Jurij Alschitz as mutually independent international theatre centers in Berlin, Rome, Stockholm and Oslo. In 2000 they joined forces to create the European Association for Theatre Culture with the objective to bring together the world’s different theatre traditions, primarily those of Western Europe and Russia. All its programs are designed to promote the on-going education of professional actors, directors, pedagogues and scholars. In master-classes, seminars, conference, laboratories and festivals, the aim is the research and exploration of theatrical processes. Applications are currently available for their International theatre Summer Academy, which offers four training courses: 1. School for Professional Actors 2. School for Young Actors 3. School for Directors, Acting Teachers, Choreographers and Playwrights and 4. Open School of Ideas. Click here for more information about the organization and programming.

EU-Mexico Cultural Exchange

This program aims to promote cultural cooperation between the EU and Mexico, through the implementation of cultural exchanges between both regions, leading to participation of artists from EU Member states (and eligible countries) in cultural festivals in Mexico as well as other meetings and cultural policy dialogue between cultural operators in EU and Mexico. The deadline for the submission of projects is June 1. Applications must be made by the Mexican nationality partner. See guidelines (in Spanish only) for all details.

Cultural Cooperation Grants for EU-Brazil

The European Commission Culture Program (2007-2013) has announced a Call for Proposals for cultural cooperation projects with Brazil. Applicants must either reside in 1 of the 27 member EU states, 1 of 3 EEA countries, 1 of the 3 candidate countries or Serbia. Eligible projects will involve cooperation from at least 3 different countries (one being Brazil). Also, at least 50% of the activities must take place in Brazil. Check out the EACEA website for full guidelines and specifications. The deadline is June 1, 2008.

Open Skies

Air travel between the U.S. and Europe is about to change, which will mean more flights and, hopefully, cheaper tickets. Starting March 30, the Open Skies Treaty between the U.S. and the European Union goes into effect, allowing airlines to fly from any U.S. airport to any E.U. airport and vice versa.

The result will be a lot of new service options, especially to London's Heathrow, which is expected to increase its U.S. business by 31 percent. Until now, only two U.S. carriers, American and United, have had flights to Heathrow, but soon they’ll be joined by Delta, Continental and Northwest Airlines. European carriers will have greater freedom in flights to the U.S. as well. British Airways is launching a new subsidiary airline with routes outside the United Kingdom.

The new competition should put pressure on airlines to reduce fares. A 2002 study by the Brattle Group, a consulting firm, estimated that an open-skies agreement between the United States and the European Union would generate a 10 percent increase in passenger traffic in formerly restricted markets, which could reduce fares 4 to 10 percent.

But none of this will happen immediately. Demand continues to be incredibly strong on transatlantic routes and it will take a while for supply to catch up. That, and record prices for oil, will keep fares up through 2008. But added capacity should help to lower fares in early 2009. Here’s to hoping.