Monthly Archives: October 2020

What’SAP – Exchange of Social Art Practices

Project leader: Pro Progressione Kulturalis Nonprofit Kozhasznu Kft, Hungary
Association Kulturanova udruzenje, Serbia
Divadlo Archa O.P.S., Checz Republic
DK-BEL, France

Grant awarded: 200,000 €

The expectation of social changes is an eternal issue, it is always crucial to have
professionals who can facilitate and promote changes through art. The two years long What’SAP aims to promote the acceptance of socially aimed art practices as a unique and specific profession all over Europe.

From knowledge exchange to the 2 weeks long training process, regular work and artistic creation, our aim is to exchange the existing knowledge of the partnering organizations incorporate the theoretical and practical knowledge, develop an easy-to learn professional method by experiences and feedbacks, and discover new techniques for involving participant audience into socially aimed creation and intercultural dialogues.

The partnership stands from socially engaged cultural organizations from Hungary, Czech Republic, Serbia, and France, who aim to continue their socially engaged artistic work with the local underprivileged communities (Roma youth, disabled adolescents, and refugees). The youth are involved in artistic creation during a local artistic work and a 2 weeks long International Youth Art Camp, which provides possibility for mobility and unique international experiences for them, while the created participative performances promote social changes through art.

The project has two main artistic outputs: collective creation, resulting in Immersive Theater Performance, which is created and acted by underprivileged adolescents and professional experts together; and Educational Performances which keep children as a target audience, but the performances are acted and created by professional actor-teachers. Both type of performances are represented in each partnering country for disseminating the project in a professional and a public audience level.

Acknowledging socially-engaged art practices as a profession raises the level and relevance of the methodology in the social and artistic fields and make mobility a possibility for all young learners and experts.

Trans-European Music Organisations Linked Organically

Project leader: Europa Jovoje Egyesulet, Hungary
Associazione Musicale Etnea, Italy
Wemsical Association, Serbia

Grant awarded: 105,900 €

he TREMOLO project will create an organic link between 3 cultural NGOs that are already active in the fields of music at local and regional level, in Hungary (Csipero Youth Festival), Serbia (Malom Fesztival) and Italy (Marranzano World Fest), allowing them to expand their range of activities to a wider Trans-European level, and to actively support the international mobility of artists and cultural operators from their respective regions. The importance of Cultural Heritage in today’s contemporary mainstream culture is deeply rooted in the common values that define the very nature of the partnership.

Most of the activities will be centered around the established world music festivals organized by the project partners, that constitute the heart of the Organic Link concept and the nucleus of the (extendable) TREMOLO network. The opportunity for the selected young artists to perform together with more established international artists and share the creative residence within the multicultural and stimulating context of the festivals is a crucial point of the strategy, with clear repercussions on the cost-effectiveness of the activities and the sustainability of the whole project. This plan of activities will build on the established experience of the project partners to organize successful events at regional level, and will strengthen their capacity to disseminate the results of their activities in the cultural and creative sectors at European and international level.

House. Music. Europe.

Project leader: Gryllus KFT, Hungary
Associacio Collectiu Mixtur, Spain
Kulturni centar Vojvodine “Milos Crnjanski”, Serbia
moment collective – Verein für experimentelle Musik, audio-visuelle und performative Kunst, Austria

Grant awarded: 200,000 €

Our life is affected by the world dominated by news of conflict, violence, natural disasters. There is need for effective strategies for coping with traumas, which can be deep and long-lasting, need techniques to dissolve them. Music can also play role in helping individuals and communities to cope with trauma, whether it be through intervention of music therapists, community music or individual music listening.

HoME project aims to create a space in which shared stories can meet and become something nonverbal. Content of the shared words can be transferred to music in the form of a mobile installation called Our Family House (OFH) set up in four countries settlements and festivals. Collection work in every country beside the digital sonifications results a performable composition (4 composition in total) made by four groups of three artists with different background selected through our open call. During the individual experience of entering the installation the Guest gets a real-time feedback of his/her shared story in a form of a changing soundscape.

Final output of the project is a performative collaborative artwork – a performance which will built up from the inputs collected with the help of the OFH’s technology carrying the sonic landscapes of the countries as well.

Involved artists of the project will be selected from different scenes of music and other arts to ensure the projects artistic diversity. Creators will get chance to exchange knowledge, gain new tools (mainly connected to digitisation) and network for their future creation. By turning public spaces of visited settlements into playgrounds of contemporary art, we are aiming to present an alternative way of cultural consumption, a methodology to present contemporary artworks without the necessity of having all the satisfactory infrastructure.

Culture as a Unique Resource to Inspire, Outreach & Understand Science

Project leader: Associazione Arditodesìo, Italy
Antwerpen Kunstenstad, Belgium
Arte Urbana Collectif, Bulgaria
Fakultet dramskih umetnosti, Serbia

Grant awarded: 199,903 €

CURIOUS will network 4 innovative EU cultural and scientific operators: the Arditodesìo Theatre Company (IT), also project leader, the Arte Urbana Collectif (BG), the Interactive Arts Laboratory of the University of Arts in Belgrade (RS), and the Arenberg Theatre (BE).
These partners will create 8 Theatre of Wonder Festivals, 2 in each country, over 28 months. ToW festivals will showcase local and non-local / international theatre and artscience plays and events. Original Augmented Lectures (a joint performance between an artist and a scientist) will be co-created and developed and will premiere at each festival. They will be performed in the local language, but some will be in English, enabling them to tour within the network. At the end of the project we expect that at least 22 original Augmented Lectures will have been created. There will be a learning curve, so that the 2021 Festivals will be smaller, local in nature and needed to fine-tune the creative methods and the collaboration. The 2022 Festivals will be of a much stronger European dimension where Augmented Lectures will tour among the 4 festivals.

There will be an educational dimension to the project since CURIOUS builds upon the Jet Propulsion Theatre, an Arditodesìo project started in 2012 whose mission is to research, build capacity, and showcase the power of performing arts to communicate science. JPT has connected artists, scientists and audiences through ground-breaking artscience productions. With this background, Arditodesìo will coach the partners and train future coaches for further theatrescience creation during and after CURIOUS. This method will be tested and improved throughout the project, resulting in the publication of an open-source methodology for Performing Art Science. CURIOUS will build on the rich and complementary experience of the consortium to further pioneer experimentation and research in using Culture as a Unique Resource to Inspire, Outreach & Understand Science.

Giving (Back) the Credit to the Heritage Communities

Project leader: Asociatia La blouse roumaine IA, Romania
Institutul National Al Patrimoniului, Romania
SuperStar Culture, Serbia
University for The Creative Arts, United Kingdom

Grant awarded: 149,310 €

This project is proposed by “La Blouse Roumaine” Association, from Bucharest, Romania and it aims to reset the place of the traditional crafts within the new trend for a more sustainable fashion, while promoting and preserving the specificity and skills of the craftsmen.

At the center of the proposal we find the artisan communities and the fashion designers, which would get a unique opportunity to discover each other through Creative residencies focused on the iconic traditional items – the Romanian blouse (IA) and the Scottish Tartan. During the residencies, the designers would be invited to observe the authentic craftsmanship and learn about the profound meanings embedded in these elements of costume. Following the residencies, a limited Cultural Fashion collection will be designed and produced. The collection will be presented during the Etnology Fest in Serbia and then displayed within a temporary Exhibition in Romania.

The creative work will be seconded by scientific work, organized around the main issues derived from “cultural appropriation” practices: the legal framework, the business models, the possible synergies with the creative industries etc. A number of planned project’s outputs will further disseminate the recommendations and conclusions. A rich and targeted communication campaign will promote the project towards a wide international audience.

Future Academy on Tour in Europe

Project leader: Stichting Zid, The Netherlands
Centro de Arte y Producciones Teatrales Sl, Spain
Consorzio Per La Ricerca El Educazione Permanente Torino, Italy
Theaterwerkstatt fur aktive Kultur e.V., Germanz
Udruženje Građana Dah Teatar – Centar Za Pozorišna Istraživanja, Serbia

Grant awarded: 199,953 €

The “Future Academy on Tour in Europe” – FATE project from ZID Theatre (NL), Atalaya (ES), SCT (IT), DAH Theatre (SB) and Studio 7 (DE) aims to create a connection between new creative migrants/refugees, cultural organisations and EU citizens through artistic training, inclusion and enhancing employment opportunities in the art sector. The aim is to help ensure that these “new players” have equal opportunities compared to European artists and creatives on the job market of the cultural sector. In order to do so, the project consists of six integrated work packages and is focused on the following three objectives:
● Develop, test and capture a training method for “new players” – i.e. professional artists coming from a refugee/migrant background that want to pursue a professional career in the arts in Europe.
● Stimulating the dialogue between these new players and cultural institutions, (upcoming) professionals of art schools and academies in Europe, most notably teachers and students in theatre education.
● Knowledge development and sharing of methods and formats on the training programme with a wider community of creative professionals and policymakers in Europe.
The methodology to achieve this is simple in design, focused on concrete tools and activities, and using the complementary expertise of each partner.

The main activities are:

1. A training programme in NL and ES for 50 creative migrants/refugees
2. An inclusion programme in NL and ES for 40 cultural professionals
3. Two productions (NL & ES) and two artistic presentations (SB & DE) going on a European tour through 2 countries
4. The deployment of a Digital Platform integrating all project’s communication and dissemination activities
5. 5 conferences in 5 countries for cultural and educational professionals in the arts sector
6. A follow-up plan for the employment of the participants, wider usage of the training method and a pledge by cultural institutions for employing creative migrants/refugees.

Roma Jazzing Europe

Project leader: L’Air des Balkans, France
1001 valises, Belgium
Nisville Foundation Association, Serbia

Grant awarded: 200,000 €

Project involves music festivals from FRA/BEL/SER promoting transnational mobility of Roma jazz musicians and strengthening of their careers, as to reinforce international cooperation among music festivals promoting Roma music as inherent part of European identity. Objective is to facilitate creativity and open artistic exchange of young and professional Roma jazz musicians of different cultural, social, economic and geographic origins, as to develop intercultural dialogue, cross-cultural cooperation.

Roma musicians to be involved will be able to identify differences and similarities, learning and sharing, exchanging ideas and communication, understanding, meeting new people and discovering “new worlds” through mobility, workshops, residencies, joint performing. Project also aims to raise awareness on richness of diverse Roma culture and its influence on European jazz music. Organizing of cultural events shall strengthen European belonging feeling among Roma from FRA/BEL/SER, as increase awareness among general public that Roma music provided essential piece in European cultural mosaic.

Project outputs are: 48 Roma and non-Roma youth from FRA/BEL/SER trained on understanding of culture as a vehicle of change in the society; 40 Roma and non-Roma youth from FRA/BEL/SER jointly performed at 6 jazz concerts in Seissan, Brussels and Nis; 6 music youth exchanges conducted; 6 creative artistic and education residencies of Roma jazz musicians conducted; 2 Intl Jazz Days events held simultaneously in 3 countries; 1 joint webpage linked with social media; 1 “behind the scene” TV documentary produced and aired; 1 Roma Jazz Music Exchange Platform introduced as permanent part of all 3 partners jazz festivals; 6 seminars held on new practices in presenting Roma music , audience developing and income models for Roma music festivals ; 2 DVD albums with “live” recordings of concerts held in targeted countries, Intl Jazz Day and festivals in Seissan, Nis and Bxl in 2021 and 2022.

Opera: Past, Present, Perfect

Project leader: Muzicko opersko teatarska organizacija, Serbia
Madlenianum Opera & Theatre, Serbia
Nieuw Geneco, The Netherlands
Univerzitet Donja Gorica Podgorica, North Macedonia
Young Musicians International Association of Georgia, Georgia

Grant awarded: 120,000 €

Main scope of this action is to connect and educate young professionals with a view to establish a cross-sectoral, cross- national and intergenerational dialogue (between young professionals – mentors), collaboration and expertise exchange to (re)position opera as interdisciplinary and authentic European art form.
More specifically, the aim is Re/thinking the context of the Opera and its relevance within the contemporary world, with the activities directed at capacity building – training, education and improving competency of end users and beneficiaries, using the advantages of up-to-date technologies in advertising and production (social networking, applications, and digital scenography) and synergy of intergeneration dialogue.
One of the facts about Opera position today is that formal educational centers very often do not consider the fact that Opera is truly interdisciplinary art, where each and every segment is equally important. Boundaries between art forms have blurred even more, and with the use of new technologies, including the incorporation of film or real-time video and digital electronics into the work, with the vision of young artist of new generation a new sense of opera can be found. The project will be implemented not only in capital cities and culture centers of participating countries, but also in smaller municipalities and rural areas, with an attempt to demystify opera and classical music as “elitist”.
Such approach is based on previous experiences and will be built on lessons learn from numerous projects implemented by all participating organizations on local, regional and national level.

THEY: LIVE, Student lives revealed through context-based art practices

Project leader: Dom kulture “Studentski grad”, Serbia
Akademija primjenjenih umjetnosti Sveucilista u Rijeci, Croatia
ICARUS Hrvatska, Croatia
Institut za savremenu umjetnost, North Macedonia
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain

Grant awarded: 166,100 €

Project “They: Live – Student lives revealed through context-based art practices ” to engage the student population to participate in the production of contemporary art by using the tools of community archiving and Artist in Residencies on campuses. Our main goal is to create an effective interdisciplinary methodology which involves digital archives as a resource for the context-based and participatory art practices. The outcomes of our project will serve as guidelines for managers of cultural institutions and art galleries, curators and artists for the further improvement of innovative approaches to the development of young audiences.

We focus on student life in relation with following topics: the everyday student life, campus related life, cultural habits and free time, interpersonal relations, gender relations, socio-political engagement, in time range from the end of the Second World War until contemporary days on the European level.

The experience and diversity of the arts organizations who are project partners, together with their commitment and huge inspirational drive to the topic of the project, are fundamental to ensuring that the results are applicable to a broad range of other organizations who aims to develop their audiences. Consortium of partners consists of Project leader Students’ City Cultural Center (SCCC) from Belgrade, Serbia (Public Institution)and four project partner organizations: Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) from Cetinje, Montenegro (NGO); Academy of Applied Arts from Rijeka, (APURI), Croatia (Public University); Faculty of Audiovisual Communication at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) Madrid, Spain (Public University) and International Centre For Archival Research ICARUS Croatia (NGO part of the international network) and two affiliated partners: Institute for Art in Context, Universitat der Kunste (UDK), Germany (Public University) and Center for Public History (CPH), Belgrade, Serbia (NGO).