Festivals for Solidarity
We are following what is happening all over the world related to Covid-19 and the impact it has on artists, the arts and the cultural field and life in general everywhere. Many artists, festival and arts organisers by now had to cancel events, festivals, performances etc and it seems that this unprecedented crisis will have further effect on all our activities for the upcoming months.
At the same time, we see proposals for solidarity arising as well as new initiatives and online festivals. We are all in this together: artists, festivals, staff, arts organisations, audiences, sponsors, funders etc.
We share here initiatives our alumni and festival colleagues are developing as a response, as proposals for solidarity or as strategies on how to deal with this situation of the Covid-19 epidemic.
If you would like to share any initiatives, feel free to contact us at info@thefestivalacademy.eu
We continue our work, which is needed as ever, together with you!
Re-imagining a post COVID-19 world
One year after taking part in the Valetta
Atelier (23-29 March 2019), some of its alumni initiated an online gathering to
reconnect and share stories on how the global COVID-19 pandemic is affecting
their festivals and communities. Mentors from the programme and alumni of other
Ateliers also joined the conversation.
Each person shared a short update of the
situation in their country, how this was impacting their festival and
livelihood, their most pressing concerns and challenges, and any creative
solutions they had come across or were pursuing.
While we are still trying to grasp what is
going on, with most of us currently in quarantine or going into lockdown, we
are simultaneously trying to understand what this may mean for the future of
arts, festivals and society as a whole. Some early questions and outcomes where
formulated during this first informal meeting which you can find here.
We hope these discussions inspire us to
find the courage and creativity to take this crisis as an opportunity to dare and re-imagine a post COVID-19 world. What
are the key lessons from this crisis, for humanity as a whole, what do we want
to see changed, how can the arts and festivals play a leading role in this
transformation?
As a result themed alumni working sessions have been set up which are organised bi-weekly to continue sharing our stories, to tackle some of these issues more in depth and to collect information and ideas that come out of these sessions with a broader community. Please follow us online here.
You can find out more about these sessions here.
COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool for Musicians
In the UK and many other countries any musicians that perform have to provide a risk assessment document. To make things easy, Adam Mezzatesta of the Bands For Hire music agency has created a free risk assessment tool that allows musicians to input their details, edit the template fields and download a pdf.
You can find the tool here.
San Francisco To Launch Universal Basic Income Pilot Program for Artists
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of San Francisco, California has put forth a number of proposals for immediate action to support the arts, including a universal basic income (UBI) program for local artists. The UBI programme will provide up to 130 artists, teaching artists, arts organizations, and cultural workers with $1,000 a month for at least six months starting early 2021.
Find more information about the city's proposals to support artists here.
Information about how to apply for an artist's grant can be found here.
Solidarity Fund for African Artists and Cultural Organisations
The African Culture Fund is opening call for proposals within its Solidarity Fund for African Artists & Cultural Organisation (SOFACO). It aims to support for creation and resilience to African artists facing the COVID-19 crisis.
Read the entire call here.
Festivals for Compassion
Festivals for Compassion is giving the chance to festivals around Europe to express their solidarity in these times of Corona by presenting a new solo composition by the Greek-Dutch composer Calliope Tsoupaki. Each festival selects their own artist and instrument. The piece will be premiered on the Dutch NPO Radio 4 on 20 June, with the Flemish Klara taking over the next day. After this, like a relay race of compassion, the work will begin its journey through Europe travelling from festival to festival, and will be shared online.
Find out more here.
European Cultural Foundation
The European Cultural Foundation aims to promote an European sentiment through developing and supporting cultural initiatives.
On Friday 11 September, they will host a webcare session on Community Conversations Democracy festivals, Corona & the future with the case study of the Latvian Conversation Festival LAMPA.
Found out more on their website and Facebook page.
STAND Foundation
The Sustaining Theatre and Dance (STAND) Foundation is an independent, non-profit and public benefit entity created by individuals within the sector to nurture, promote and celebrate contemporary South African dance and theatre.
Recently, they have been developing many projects related to the situation with Covid-19, mental wellness and the current state of the arts.
Find out more about their projects here.
“Inclusive Event Planning after COVID-19” guide
Function Central published this helpful guide which covers important topics such as:
- How Coronavirus impacted the events industry worldwide, but also led to innovations like virtual conferences and digital events capable of reaching global audiences.
- How events might look like during (and after) the pandemic, and how event planners can ensure food hygiene, safety, and social distancing.
- Why it's more important than ever to plan for inclusivity and accessibility (e.g. captioning, sign language interpretation, audio descriptions) - whether it's an in-person, virtual, or hybrid event.
- Other useful disability awareness and event planning resources - found in the other chapters of the guide.
Read it here.
Guitar Junky
This music-oriented digital magazine aiming to provide the best reviews and guides on musical instruments is sharing in-depth guides helping musicians cope during this Covid pandemic. Have a look at it below:
QANTARA
The initiative is to launch concerts via internet live streaming.
Many artists are willing to participate in this initiative, which was named "Qantara"
Qantara is a program in partnerships with artists and cultural institutions in Egypt during the current pause of cultural activities due to the Coronavirus.
Qantara in the Arabic language is the bridge that we wish to pass safely through all of the moments and difficult days that we go through together, for other happy days after the end of this epidemic.
Artists and bands:
- Massar Egbari
- Hawas
- Meshwar
- Amr Galal
- Egypador
- Rokam
- Hageen
The Qantara team will announce the rest of the participants soon, as they are continuing to receive requests to participate in their initiative.
Have a look at their page to know more about the initiative.
Artists in Quarantine
Due to the corona virus many artists are stuck in quarantine zones, not being able to travel, to do their jobs, to earn a living. Jakob Lohmann created a Facebook group which aims to create a community of artists in such situation to help each other through this period.
This initiative was started after the Corona Virus forced Italy to close off the entire region of Lombardia.
Many artists are struggling under the Virus as they lose access to their studios, as exhibitions and shows are being canceled, as theatres stay closed. Especially for self-employed artists the consequences very quickly result in a financially existential threat. People are finding creative ways to deal with the individual situations they are in, they make the best of it.
"With this initiative I want to shine a light onto these people and to tell their stories." Jakob Lohmann
You can have a look at the Facebook page here and you can support these artists through sharing the page, liking their posts, as well as through donations to the artists themselves.
The Social Distancing Festival
Nick Green is a playwright in Toronto. On Friday March 13, he became one of many artists to have a production cancelled due to the need for social distancing because of the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
He created a site for celebrating artists and the work that has been cancelled/delayed/disrupted. So far, submissions have included clips from rehearsals, scenes done with cast-mates over webcam, recordings from previous workshops, design plans, and performers just doing the song they were really excited about singing into their webcam.
Nick and his team are collecting work to put up on the site, and will be launching a TON of content on Saturday, and then updating regularly.
In the meantime, their Live Streamed Events page is being updated regularly, and Nick will be featuring work throughout the week, as you can see on their Feature Work page!
This is a chance to celebrate the work that Artists didn’t get to share, and enjoy a sense of solidarity and community with fellow artists.
Have a look at the website !
"Keep engaged! Keep creating! You aren’t alone!" Nick Green
KWARTA KWARANTINA
Teatru Malta is inviting all performing artists to send them a short video (up to 15min long), to allow these artists to share their theatrical work through the platform in this time of Covid-19 unstable environment. It can be a group or individual video.
Here are some possibilities (but not limited to!)
- A theatrical performance, mime, skit or storytelling
- A poetry reading or a series of haiku
- An interactive community dance theatre piece with your family (pets welcome too)
- An original musical theatre performance with instruments and home appliances
The team will choose the ideas they believe can become the best possible videos. Teatru Malta will then pay €100 to each performer/artist involved in the making, upon receipt of invoice.
Applications started being received as of Friday the 13th and will close on March 20th at noon. All the short-listed selected videos will be posted on Teatru Malta’s facebook page. Their FOUR favourite videos will then be posted on World Theatre Day, on the 27th March 2020
The video should be sent to Teatru Malta and will be uploaded exclusively by the team, the creative property of the video will remain of the artists.
Applications with the below details should be sent to: contact@teatrumalta.org.mt
You can have a look at their website here!
FIST SOCIETY
Festival of International Student Theatre (FIST) is created in 2005, at the initiative of the students of Management and Production of Theatre, Radio and Culture at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Organized by students, FIST’s mission is to create an environment that brings together young theatre enthusiasts and gives them a platform to talk about their experiences and show their skills, as well as to present different theatrical practices of students from all around the world.
The fifteenth edition of FIST will is being held from march 14th to march 20th 2020, only this year it is arriving in digital environment.
Given the current social situation on a global level, previously planned activities of the Festival of International Student Theatre (FIST) are taking place online. The Festival was originally supposed to gather 11 academies from all Europe in different theatres in Belgrade, but having in mind the recent social events, we are moving its activities to web.
The new conception of the Festival does not include the arrival of the troupes from abroad anymore, though it is including and presenting them with an innovative, contemporary and interactive way. Previous conception and form of the Festival are adapted and moved to online environment, that way the troupes from abroad have the chance to participate via live stream or by broadcasting the videos of their plays as a part of main program.
Have a look at their website here! Here is also a link to their manifest.
GIFT 2020
GIFT 2020 will still be going ahead between 1st - 3rd May - online, as a digital festival.
The team has developed plans with the artists who were due to be part of the festival in Gateshead this year, to create an online experience in keeping with the spirit of GIFT - with lots of opportunity for connection between artists, audiences and participants. They are celebrating this as a real opportunity for experimentation, and to build on the experiences from their online iteration of GIFT 2015.
They are using this as an opportunity to explore what is possible across a range of open access platforms, and as a way of remaining connected as a community. We also see this as an exciting opportunity to reach new audiences and participants for GIFT globally.
The team will be making announcements across their social platforms about this imminently.
GIFT 2020 will include work by a host of really exceptional artists and companies including Tania El Khoury, Action Hero, Greg Wohead, Atresbandes, Luca Rutherford, Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion amongst others.
They have been able to maintain their agreement with the programmed artists and the freelance team who deliver GIFT at this point in time - at what is obviously a devastating time for the sector.
Catch global artists and brilliant new works. Immerse yourself in sensory experiences, experimental works in progress and lively debates - and all from the comfort of your armchair. Book up your festival weekend now, with a packed programme of events and performances shown in real time, and join artists and audiences tuning in worldwide to encounter bold new works, share human stories and build personal networks (with a virtual cocktail party if that’s your thing) at giftfestival.co.uk.
To be kept
up to date with their plans, you can follow them across social media
platforms @GIFTfest and also via their website.
Have a look at an article recounting the impressive and ingenious work it has been here.
Since GIFT took place last weekend, the GIFT team had a number of people contact them with queries about some of the decisions they took moving GIFT online.
As a response to these queries, this Thursday 14 May at 3pm, members of the GIFT team will be hosting a zoom webinar called Strategy to Stage - taking a theatre festival online as a way of sharing some of the processes and decision making they went through to deliver GIFT 2020.
Spaces are
limited and need to be booked in advance via this link
1ST RECONNECT ONLINE PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL
The team has decided to launch a festival of live digital performances. An online festival for all the artists to challenge their creativity, to come together on an online platform to "Re-Connect", to network and to bring joy to themselves and their audience.
This Festival is a nonprofit volunteer activity and an invitation to participate in a group to create an alternative space for artists.
Performances should be designed for Instagram live feature, taking into account the features of this media.
Each performance can be performed by one or more performers. (In one space, or sharing live feed online - of course for health consideration In the current situation, the presence of artists in one space is not recommended.)
The use of classical texts or stage plays is permitted if the texts and performances are based on the online platform. The priority is with works written and designed solely for online performance.
The time limit for each performance is between 15- 2 minutes.
Deadline to apply: 30 March 2020. You can contact them at rcperformancefestival@gmail.com
You can have a look at the article presenting this new Online Festival here.
Last Minute Live Art
Dr Bill Aitchison started an initiative as the collective Last Minute Live Art which is working with people around the world to create interactive 1 to 1 performances that can be given and watched in private apartments. These performances are made in response to the situation of being quarantined as a result of the virus. The performances are made over a video call and that will connect performer and audience. The collective has just organized their first performances which will start next month within the festival programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. They are actively looking for performers who are willing to work with them to develop a performance and for opportunities to present this work to a wider public.
Have a look at his website and at his Facebook Page !
Coronavirus: Resources: Arts, Culture and Cultural Mobility
All sectors are affected by the Covid-19 pandemia but we are very much aware that the alternative and independent art scene is / will be particularly under pressure. This list of resources has been compiled by On the Move, in partnership with Circostrada*, as a way to gather information and initiatives internationally (particularly in Europe, Asia and the USA) that can be useful to share, know about and/or be inspired from.
This list is by no means comprehensive and can be easily enriched thanks to your feedback and proposal to include new resources. Feel free to email them any initiative related to one of the sub-topics below at mobility(at)on-the-move.org
Have a look at the website here.
NordicBaltic Festival Platform
The NordicBaltic Festival Paltform aims to foster cultural cooperation in the region by enhancing the number and strength of connections as well as the capacity and visibility of festivals in the area.
The team offers Live streams which are unique opportunities to see a LIVEstreamed performances on the FestivalsOnDemand website. The first one took place on Wednesday, 18.03.2020, from the Plastforma: Forum of Physical Theaters in Minsk, Belarus.
In this time of Quarantine, the team is sharing performing arts online, providing the chance to continue engaging with the regions festivals! Find out more about the production and join the free live stream here - https://festivalsondemand.com/…/welcoming-the-sun-live-fro…/
Culture funding watchXRambourg Foundation: International Virtual Conference
Cultural Funding Watch in partnership with Rambourg Foundation have joined with various parties of the Creative and Cultural sector around the world to gather their knowledge and experiences of best practices in the field, to debate and carry out an inquiry by putting into profit the technological and digital assets we have to communicate and connect in this time of physical disconnection, through an international virtual conference on March 20th.
International Virtual Conference “Art Emergency Response Mechanisms: what can inspire us for the CC sector?’’
Registration on this link: https://bit.ly/33tOovm
This virtual space aims to gather artists, cultural workers and creatives, institutional representatives, fund initiators where they could share their best practices from previous experiences on how to mobilize funds, exchange their know-how in handling crisis; making a clear shift of our attention to how we can support artists and audiences, collaborators and comrades, ideas and work, through present platforms and programs. The idea is to be a step ahead on an organizational level and find out how to best allocate our resources by asking the right questions.
Have a look at the Facebook Page here.
Janelas de São Paulo: artistic production in quarantine
The City of São Paulo, together with the Municipal Secretary of Culture, announced on 19 March the launch of a public notice for artistic production on the windows of buildings and houses in the city of São Paulo. The project will include around 8,000 initiatives, has a total budget of R $ 10 million and will cover theater, music and poetry, among other languages.
Called Janelas de São Paulo, the announcement also contemplates the availability of content produced on a virtual platform, so that residents can view the artistic production at any time. Information on the ceiling for resources allocated to each project, as well as the date on which registration begins, will be released soon, according to the secretariat.
Have a look at the article here.
Trickle Up: Original Content From NYC Artists
Helping Those Affected by the COVID-19 Shutdowns.
This platform has been created for independent NYC based artists. It is a subscription based service so artists can continue to create work and upload it to the website and receive some income for it.
"This is an artists helping artists network. If we can get 10,000 subscribers at $10 a month, then every month we can give $10,000 to 10 different artists affected by the Covid-19 cancelations. And every month 10 new artists in need will get $10,000. If we surpass our goal, more people will get help." (Trickle Up- NYC Artists Network)
Find more information by looking at the website.
Immunity of the Arts - Web Panel
This web panel, initiated by Master Performing Public Space, invites you to join a discussion about the possible impact of the current global health crisis (COVID-19) on artistic and cultural interventions in public space.
What is the state of the arts field right now?
How can the arts adapt to social behavioural changes?
What is the future for public space as a 'shared space for engagement'?
International Speakers:
- Karen Cheung, Head Dance & Performing Arts, West Kowloon Cultural District 西九文化區, China
- Ása Richardsdóttir, Secretary General, IETM Network, Belgium
- Alessandro Carboni, Performer & Researcher, Italy
- Bojana Panevska, Managing Editor & Educator, DutchCulture centre for international cooperation / TransArtists
Moderated by Heleen de Hoon, Head Master Performing Public Space, The Netherlands
Share your thoughts in a post panel Q&A.
JOIN MEETING:
https://us04web.zoom.us/s/893296418?pwd=Q0dpeWJvU3JiVlc4eTJDWUc4clhvdz09
Have a look at the Facebook page !
Share your art from home - #CreativeEuropeAtHome
The European Commission asks beneficiaries of the Creative Europe Programme to showcase their art work using #CreativeEuropeAtHome.
The European Commission has launched #CreativeEuropeAtHome – a social media campaign that is running on our Creative Europe accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. With this, the European Commission is crowd sourcing the effort to highlight great online cultural activities throughout the Creative Europe community – available to culture lovers currently stuck at home.
The European Commission asks beneficiaries that offer online cultural activities to post about it on social media. The posts should include the dedicated hashtag #CreativeEuropeAtHome and the handle/username of Creative Europe on the platform in question.
The European Commission will share selected posts that adhere to these criteria on the Creative Europe official accounts. Commissioners Mariya Gabriel and Thierry Breton, will also give visibility on her Twitter account to these activities.
Find more information here.
Australia Council for the Arts: First Nations' Roundtables
The Australia Council for the Arts is hosting a series of First Nations' Roundtables for arts and creative independents, and organisations, to discuss the current situation that affects us all in relation to COVID-19.
A weekly Roundtable enables people to connect, share and put forward ideas on how we navigate this period of the COVID-19 challenge.
Join Chair of the First Nations Arts Strategy Panel, Wesley Enoch, and Executive Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts, Lydia Miller, in the third roundtable forum in an ongoing series of updates and discussions.
You can register here for the next edition on 3 April.
If you are interested contact FirstNationsArts@australiacouncil.gov.au
Have a look at previous roundtables here.
Covid-19 Culture and Creative Industries
Covid-19 Culture and Creative Industries portal www.cci-covid19.org is an initiative of Nhimbe Trust, under Nhimbe Global Affairs Observatory. Through an innovative, responsive and proactive approach, the Observatory curates culture, arts and heritage oriented interventions in response to complex emergencies. Programming is targeted at countries / communities at risk of conflict, in conflict, engaged in post-conflict reconstruction, affected by natural disasters and impacted by political or socio-economic ‘crisis.’
Mission Statement: To offer information resources, technical support and crisis response expertise, to the Cultural and Creative Industries ecosystem, for the strengthening of sector
COVID-19 preparedness and response mechanisms.
Have a look at the Facebook page here.
To contribute to this information resource portal, email at info@cci-covid19.org or reach
the portal’s contact form.
hireartists
hireartists is a marketplace designed to facilitate creative exchange during an unprecedented economic crisis for the already-precarious arts and creative sector at large.
Built by artists and for artists, hireartists connects buyers and supporters with experienced practitioners possessing decades of experience, for the purposes of online instruction or to help with creative and non-creative tasks.
For artists, this is an opportunity to deploy their skills, diversify their income, and hopefully gain meaningful support, For everyone else, this is a moment where we can both help and use this moment of confinement as an opportunity to grow your world.
hireartists takes no commission: your money will go straight to artists.
Have a look at the website here.
Stay home - Listen to Music from here
Nowhere Online Platform presents the third edition of the music album "Music from Here".
The album, as in the previous two editions, includes a diverse mix of music genres that will be enjoyed by audience, critics and cultural managers in Egypt and the Arab world.
During the previous two editions, the main purpose of the project was to present bands from within Alexandria, which the team tried to overcome and open up to modern musical works from all over Egypt to discover everything new that could not be envisaged, given the centrality of the musical movement in Egypt.
The musical artworks presented in this edition do not represent the opinion of Platform but the views of its owners. This free product is intended to spread and publicize existing bands in action.
Listen and download “Music from here - Third edition” Music album here !
Universal Minutes - Random Scream (Davis Freeman & Sam Vanoverschelde)
Timely Art. Do take part! Capture your 17:21/5:21 pm wherever you are in the world.
The team asks you
to send them one photograph that you take at 17:21 from March 30- April 19. "A
time when most of us would be finishing work. Or starting our journey home… But
not now."
They ask you to take as many photographs as you want at 17:21 / 5:21 pm And select just one each day and send it on to them: sam@visualkitchen.org
"These are surreal times and we need to capture it in some personal way".
Random Scream
(Davis Freeman & Sam Vanoverschelde) has been working on a project that was
supposed to be in the Zsenne gallery during this week but they had to adapt. It’s a photography project where multiple photographers, artist and enthusiast all take photographs during the same minute all over a city 5 days in a row.
You have to send your name, a short three line Biography and an optional short text on the final day that might add some context to your vision over the days, to create a book/exhibition with all pictures at the end.
Have a look at the Facebook page here !
European Cultural Foundation launches the Culture of Solidarity fund
European Cultural Foundation launches the Culture
of Solidarity fund.
The European Cultural Foundation invites you to apply !
The fund supports imaginative cultural initiatives that, in the midst of
the global pandemic crisis reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe
as a shared public space.
All around the globe we see people reaching out to each other,
practicing small and often imaginative human gestures of everyday solidarity,
uniting us, across balconies, social networks, cities and countries. It is
exactly this culture of solidarity the European Cultural Foundation has set out to capture and
encourage.
Find all details, including the April 27 deadline, via https://www.culturalfoundation.eu/culture-of-solidarity.
UNO Fest Online
UNO Fest, created by Intrepid Theatre has always pushed the boundaries of what solo performance can be. Facing this global pandemic, they are not able to gather in the theatre together and must keep their communities safe. They are not cancelling or postponing this year’s UNO Fest, instead they are working to bring UNO to your home with UNO Fest Online.
Experience full shows online, interviews with the artists, video content from new shows in development, free streaming solo performances, and Facebook Happy Hours with artists and artistic staff.
You can buy a ticket to access online shows and content for Week 1 or Week 2. Tickets are $10, $20 or $50 (which includes a $30 tax receipt). Once you buy a ticket, you will receive a code and link to unlock shows in that week of the festival. There will also be free online content on our Facebook Live throughout the festival. E
Explore the calendar on their website. Have a look at the Facebook page!
Free State Digital Creative Fest - Online Exhibition launch
This festival is a Visual Art & Augmented Reality project of INFINI3, funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa, which showcases collaborative work by selected Free State based artists.
The festival partnered with The Radioactive Blog, which hosted a 4 day hackathon with the 21 artists (and this group of artists consists of 7 poets, 7 visual/fine artists and 7 digital artists), from the 24th to the 27th of March 2020. Thuthukani Ndlovu was the facilitator of the hackathon.
The artists were tasked with responding to the current Corona Virus Pandemic, therefore this is the main theme of the whole exhibition. In order to get the full experience of this exhibition, please download the Artivive App (available on iStore. Google Play for free) before entering the site. This Augmented Reality app will enable to scan each artwork in order listen to the poems and watch the AR video/pictures based on or inspired by each artwork. We will be sharing the link to the Online Exhibition here on this platform on the 9th of April at 12, so invite as many friends as possible.
One of the amazing things about this online launch is that you can attend it from anywhere, as long as you got a Facebook account. We hope you enjoy the art we've created, and don't forget to share the Art and exhibition link with others. (Facebook event artwork by Tshepang Jiane, one of the selected visual artists).
Performance of Snapshots by Convergence Theatre
Performance of Snapshots by Convergence Theatre: New Virtual Theatre about Islam, Sexuality, and Cultural Appropriation
Convergence Theatre presented its virtual performance of by Asif Majid, livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday March 27 2020 at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 7 p.m EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 11 p.m. GMT (London, UTC+0).
Snapshots is the latest production in Convergence’s Incubation Cycle. This new and innovative dramatic text examines the intersection of Islam, sexuality, history, and cultural appropriation in an effort to foster open and supportive dialogue about these issues. Framed as a series of video and phone interactions between two couples, Snapshots delves into the struggles to embrace and communicate the multiple identities one can hold.
As a result of public health concerns around COVID-19, Snapshots is being presented as an entirely virtual work -- no performer is in the same physical space as any other. Thus, this performance of Snapshots offers an opportunity for theatre-makers around the world to consider what virtual theatre can be, at a moment of self-reckoning for the field. Join Convergence for this experiment in virtual theatre, followed by a Converging Minds post-show discussion on Zoom led by Convergence’s Artistic Director Elena Velasco (accessible via this link immediately following the performance).
Have a look at the performance on the website here (12:20) or on Youtube here.
TMW Quarantine stories – Tallinn Music Week
Conference from a Distance - Series of interviews with some of the foreseen conference speakers 2020
Due to COVID-19, Tallinn Music Week 2020 and the Creative Impact Conference scheduled 25-29 March 2020 has been postponed to 26-30 August, but meanwhile they are sharing thoughts and experiences of this strange time by some of their brilliant conference speakers.
The Talin Music Week team is now interviewing speakers who were supposed to take part into the Tallinn Music Week. They ask them how they feel about the situation, how they deal with it and how they understand it. You can click here to read more about this.
Keith Nurse (Principal/President Sir Arthur Lewis Community College Morne Fortune, St. Lucia and Unesco Expert), The Festival
Academy expert, was supposed
to be a speaker for the Tallinn Music Week. He participated into this ‘conference from a distance’ through
video in which he expressed his thoughts about the
Covid-19 crisis and the impact and opportunities coming from it. Have a look at
the full length video here.
Safe Events - Training / Upskilling Opportunities during COVID-19
Safe Events take a practical approach to Event Safety that makes your life easier and your attendees safer.
They will be including details of upskilling / training opportunities that they know of that may be of interest to event professionals. They offer a list of Courses, FB Lives, Webinars and so on.
You can get in touch and let them know of any opportunities you think should be included. Email them at mark@safeevents.ie
Have a look at the website and the list here.
Post-Coronavirus Opportunities for Cultural Organisations and Artists
A free webinar from Counterculture on the post-Coronavirus opportunities for cultural organisations and artists
“Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.” - Emily Dickinson
On Tuesday 21 April, this free webinar will explore how the Covid-19 pandemic might affect society, the economy, politics, human interaction and artistic practice; examining how the arts and creative industries could find advantages amidst the challenges in the first 100 days after restrictions are lifted and in the longer term.
Mark Ball (Creative Director, Manchester International Festival) is one of the previous experts of our Ateliers, he will be a speaker for this Webinar.
Registrations are now closed !
Have a look at the website here.
Create In Public Space MOOC
In the view of the health and containment situation in many countries, the FAI-AR (Higher Art Education in Public Space) has decided to re-open the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Create in public space.
Registration and courses are open at least until 30 April 2020. Click here to access.
What is public space? Why do artists choose to work in these unconventional places? How do they use these spaces around the world? What kinds of legislation and technical characteristics do professionals have to take into account?
You can access this 4-week MOOC packed with tools and inspiration to help you understand and play a role in artistic creation in public space.
As you progress through the course, you
will learn about different artworks designed for public space, the way they
interact with their locations, and the specific features of writing and
audience relations in this context.
You will be given methodological tools and practical exercises to help you try out these ideas and take on the role of a creator. You will get support from various European artists and professionals, who will share their experience and knowledge with you.
Would you like to organize a training session before this date around Create in public space? Contact the team at info@createinpublicspace.com.
Get more information on the website.
Follow Your Art
Follow Your Art is a funding campaign to support artists and art workers hit by the covid-19 measures across European countries and beyond. Each funding cycle aims to provide 500 euros to 50 artists / art workers in 3 different countries, since art and solidarity don’t stop at the borders. The first cycle targets Belgium, Tunisia and Italy. The testimonials by artists and art workers applying for the support prove how urgent the support is needed: theatre and dance performances, concerts and exhibitions are cancelled world wide. Follow Your Art encourages people all over the world to make a donation from 5 euros onwards, and thus creates an international solidarity movement.
Follow your Art is a non-profit designed to help support artists and art workers. It’s an initiative of Sana Ouchtati, supported by Ziad Erraiss and Eva Blaute.
This initiative is two-sided:
- Call for artists
- Donate
Per cycle we want to support 50 artists and art
workers from 3 countries with 500 euros. The first cycle targets Belgium, Italy
and Tunisia.
Depending on your situation: register for the call as an artist / art worker, or donate to support artists and art workers who are left in an insecure situation.
Like and share the fb-page here !
Learn more about this initiative :
https://www.follow-your-art.org/about-us/
https://www.follow-your-art.org/call-for-artists/
https://www.follow-your-art.org/donate/
Kukaya Social Distance Festival
01 - 03 May 2020
"We are Kukaya Festival, Malawi's third biggest music festival platform for local artists to nurture talent and earn a living through such art. We are raising funds to support our online festival dubbed Kukaya Social Distance Festival. Malawi's First ever Virtual Festival, with an aim of providing visual content and quality entertainment in the build-up, (throughout the month of April,) and during the Festival, slated for 1st - 3rd May 2020.
As a Festival that has also been affected by the pandemic, as many in our industry have, our main aim is to still continue to do what we love and share our art during this time, and what better time than whilst the world is in lockdown, to continue to provide entertainment to those staying home."
They have collaborated on a collective call to action for social awareness on the ongoing Covid 19 global pandemic. The collaboration will consist of a multiple level content series, inclusive of four (4) main activations.
Further support for Artists: Donations are open for all those interested to support our artists (who have all committed to performing pro bono,) on their gofundme page follow this link KukayaFest
Have a look at the Facebook page here and at the website here.
Have a look at the full presentation of the Kukaya Social Distance Festival !
Tshisimani - Center for Activist Education EPISODE 4
Episode 4: Arts in crisis: the role of creativity and the arts in times of physical isolation
Writer Ben Okri argues that in the crisis of this pandemic we need art more than ever. “We need art to remind us why life is worth living. …It is in the face of death that art becomes most powerful”
However, the arts industry that includes artists and many more behind the scenes labour, came to a complete standstill before the lockdown. This has put many people in the arts sector in a precarious position.Art is often understood as being crucial to a sense of hope and well-being; to express resistance and to offer room for imagining alternatives. What are the opportunities and difficulties for artists to respond to this moment? How are arts-activists adapting to a world that is in isolation? What does the future hold for the arts?
Mike van Graan Productions, Qondiswa James and Anele Selekwa will lead a conversation exploring what this moment means for artists and educators - what they're facing, how they're responding and what paths may lie ahead.
Tuesday, 28 April 2020
13:00 – 14:30
Have a look at the website here.
The webinar has been live streamed on their Facebook page
This episode was part of a 5-part video education series on the Covid-19 crisis. More information about episode 5 will follow.
Howlround TV - Segal Talks
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us.
The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presents SEGAL TALKS: Rimini Protokoll’s Daniel Wetzel, Helgard Haug, and Stefan Kaegi (Germany) live-streaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 27 April 2020 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 17:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 18:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2)
SEGAL TALKS is a daily one-hour LIVE online conversation from Monday to Friday about making art and making sense in the Time of Corona.
SEGAL TALKS was conceived, created and curated by Frank Hentschker in March 2020.
SEGAL TALKS has been made possible by the support of Susan and Jack Rudin(†), the Hearst Foundation, and Marvin Carlson, Sidney E. Cohn Chair, The Graduate Center CUNY.
Find more information here.
Here is the Youtube page where you can see all livestreamings and Segal talks. Here you can see the past events and talks.
Global Webinar | Contagious Cities: Facing and Understanding the Pandemic
The Cultural Research Network organises a global webinar on April 30 2020 - Contagious Cities: Facing and Understanding the Pandemic. Participants are invited to register for the zoom webinar.
Are we ready to face the global challenge of Covid-19 pandemic outbreak? Do we know how microbes, migration and metropolises cohabitate or relate to each other? Can we tap into the artistic and cultural creativity to better understand the global infectious diseases or even investigate how they travel across urban and human borders?
The webinar will raise and discuss these questions in a live conversation with artists, curators, researchers and cultural producers of the Contagious Cities. This international cultural project was developed by Wellcome Trust in 2018 to mark the centenary of the 1918 flu pandemic that infected a third of the world’s population and killed 50 million people. The VSG will share important insights from the Contagious Cities project, that brought together international curators, artists and scientists through residences across New York, Hong Kong and Geneva to explore how epidemics spread in urban environments.
The webinar will be available via zoom. To register please visit here: https://contagious-cities.eventbrite.com
Date & Time: April 30, 2020
New York 8:30 AM / London 1:30 PM / Moscow 3:30 PM / Hong Kong 8:30 PM / Sydney 10:30 PM
Contagious Cities was an international cultural project led by Wellcome which supported local conversations around the global challenges of epidemic preparedness. It ran from September 2018 to September 2019.
Have a look at the website here.
SA platform is helping artists earn money with QR codes
An online donation platform has been launched to help musicians and performers generate livestreaming income during the COVID-19 crisis
BUSQR (pronounced ‘busker’) provides registered artists with a simple snap QR code that can be embedded into any live stream on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
This allows fans to contribute funds to their favourite artists in real time while they perform live on social media. The platform also notifies artists if someone has contributed and allows fans to send a personal note to an artist.
“The uptake from artists from around the country has been phenomenal,” BUSQR founder and radio personality Jon Savage said. “It’s functionality has started to be noticed by other industries looking to connect with audiences in a different way. Some of my personal heroes are already using it regularly including the likes of Zolani Mahola, Arno Carstens and Rob van Vuuren.
Savage’s partner at BUSQR, Jason Stewart, said: “We’d also like to encourage any influencer who wants to raise donations during this period, as well as charities with ambassadors, to sign up with BUSQR to raise funds using a unique QR code. It’s the perfect mechanism.”
BUSQR says it seeks to solve “a lot of the ‘pain-points’ for live performers like musicians, singers and comedians who have lost their income streams due to lockdown and social distancing protocols put in place by countries seeking to halt the coronavirus pandemic.”
Interested artists can sign up with BUSQR here
Have a look at the article here.
ITALY- GREECE "RESTART PROJECT"
Bibart - Bari International Art Biennial at this historic moment it is transformed into an international public art container for the promotion of artistic creation through technology and new media in collaboration with Eye's Walk Digital festival in Athens.
The theme of the first edition of Digital VideoArt festival is: “ITALY- GREECE: "RESTART PROJECT”. A platform for contemporary video art and audio-visual performances.
We passionately believe in Digital Arts, in the poetry they can provide to our life.This is the time for everyone to enjoy their experimental and poetic turn-of images, sounds and words.
The selected works will be displayed on the Bibart Biennale TV youtube channel from May 9th until September 12th 2020. From 5 to 12 September 2020, a week of live screenings will be scheduled at the Bibart Biennale exhibition site, located in Bari at the Church of Santa Teresa dei Maschi.
Participation is free. Video art and performance
videos, also in the form of a youtube link, must be sent by 7 May 2020 to: info@eyeswalk.gr.
For
more info you can have a look at the Facebook page of BibartBiennale or Eyeswalk.
Here are their Instagram accounts: @eyeswalk_festival and @bibartbiennale
Music from Here - Special edition "Time out"
In response to the current conditions that the world is going through, and due to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. Platform invites Arab musicians and bands residing in the Arab region and abroad to send their musical works that were produced during the global quarantine due to the pandemic, to exploit their use within the special volume of the music album "Music from Here" that is presented online to listen and download for free.
At Nowhere online Music Platform, the team aspires to discover musical works produced by Arab musicians and their partners around the world, using different production techniques inside their homes and with different production possibilities.
They do not aim to provide musical works that talk directly about the ban or infections or even Covid-19 around the world. but we seek to discover musical works that carry a good technical contribution that was done during that period and archiving those materials to allow reference to them someday in the future.
The invitation is open to Arab artists residing in the Arab region and abroad and their partners around the world.
- The bands or musicians chosen for the last selection will receive a payment for the use of the music product.
- All works submitted for participation will be put on the Platform website for listening in addition to announcing them on social media.
- The final selection process for the winning works will be carried out according to different stages (the best thirty music works from the audience’s selection and then the final selection of a music committee across the Arab world that includes directors, critics and musicians from the Arab world).
- Applying for participation from 5th may 2020 to 5th June 2020
- First selection June 15, 2020
- Final selection June 30, 2020
- All musical genres and shapes are welcome, while keeping these works at an acceptable level in recording and handling.
You can apply through the following link: (link will be available 5th of may 2020)
This work is supported by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture
Have a look at the website here. To listen to previous releases of music from here
- First edition: https://www.nowhereonlineplatform.com/vol-1
- Second edition: https://www.nowhereonlineplatform.com/vol-2
- Third Edition: https://www.nowhereonlineplatform.com/vol-3
Theatreworks - Lectures
In May 2020, TheatreWorks started its virtual programme in the form of a series of alternative training and a shared space in ZOOM led by Dr. Ong Keng Sen, one of the experts of The Festival Academy, for The Curators Academy.
He hold a series of 4 separate lectures to the wider public, together with consultations and clinics to train and share with a smaller group of participants. Ong says, “I will be lecturing and sharing my knowledge in a series known as “Curating No-thing.”
This thought leadership programme looked at activating one’s communities through art and rethinking our relationships with money and production. Many artists, writers, producers and cultural workers are already curating in their daily work but there is little reflection space for them to evaluate what is curating, how to curate, and for whom they should be curating for".
The series spanned topics such as Creating Worlds, Ethical Generosity, Rethinking Value, Small Actions and Listening.
Date and Time:
Lecture Series #1 - 19 May 2020, 7pm (SIN) / 11am (GMT)
Lecture Series #2 - 21 May 2020, 7pm (SIN) / 11am (GMT)
Lecture Series #3 - 26 May 2020, 7pm (SIN) / 11am (GMT)
Lecture Series #4 - 28 May 2020, 7pm (SIN) / 11am (GMT)
If you have any questions or did not receive a link, please e-mail SOH Kai Ruo at kairuo.tworks@gmail.com
BOZAR at Home
Anton Vanderhasselt is a Music Production Officer at BOZAR, Belgium. He was interviewed by Indian Dribble concerning his experience during the corona crisis.
The team launched the “BOZAR at Home” online program that features the artistic and cultural diversity of BOZAR, offering live concerts, a virtual visit of the Keith Haring exhibition, singing workshops, sofa screenings, a selection of suggested literature during the crisis, and more.
It requires collaboration to set this up, for example with their artist in residence Avi Avital whose concert they had to cancel due to the lockdown. Luckily he was very flexible, and open to their suggestion of live streaming his concert via the BOZAR online network. In a weird way this situation brings them all closer together.
Other than the online program that they offer on their website they are still perfecting their app. "For an institution like BOZAR it is imperative that the art we program reaches the public in one way or another, so these online solutions are important for us to keep in touch with our audience (and maybe reach a new one as well, two birds with one stone-wise)". The virtual tour of the Keith Haring expo is a perfect example of this.
Have a look at the Bozar Website !
You can also check the article by Indian Dribble here.
Vrystaat Kunstefees - May opinions | Meanings in May
Vrystaat Kunstefeed are offering conversations during the month of May.
Next one is about Theatre for young audiences, presented by Yvette Hardie, one of the Experts of The Festival Academy.
📅When | Wanneer:
13 May | Mei 2020, 2.00-3.30 pm SAST
💻 Where | Waar:
The on-line conference platform Zoom
Die aanlyn platform Zoom
Have a look at their website here !
StopHatredNow 2020 - antiracist and intercultural platform
#STOPHATREDNOW 2020 – New Standards
Tools for inclusive, anti-racist and feminist action
11.–15.5.2020
The field of arts requires more tools to answer the needs of a changing world.
#StopHatredNow is an intercultural and anti-racist platform organised in collaboration with several art and intercultural organisations. The platform strives to create discourse and offers tools to create a more inclusive, diverse and feminist art field.
Inclusivity, diversity, non-discrimination, accessibility and social as well as ecological sustainability are issues that determine the future of every art and cultural institution. #StopHatredNow is aimed at individual artists, cultural influencers, and institutions of art and culture, but anyone interested in the topics is welcome.
The 2020 edition was organised under the theme "New Standards" by UrbanApa, Culture for All, Cultural Centre Caisa, Goethe-Institut Finnland, University of Arts Helsinki, Interkult ry, The City of Helsinki, Kiila ry, Globe Art Point, and Zodiak – Center for New Dance.
The events was held in English or Finnish. The language of each event was written in the program.
#StopHatredNow2020 was held virtually via Zoom platform, and all events were free of charge! The stream was also shared to the #StopHatredNow facebook page.
Satu Herrala & Eva Neklyaeva, two Alumni of The Festival Academy were the speakers on feminist leadership on Monday 11 May.
Have a look at the Facebook Page for more information here.
Also visit their website here.
Empathetic Audience Engagement During The Apocalypse
Andrea Jones is an independent consultant and experience designer working with museums to reinvent storytelling and interpretive methods in the service of greater relevancy for audiences.
She offers Transformative Learning Experiences.
In this article, three topics are raised in the context of the global Covid19 Pandemic:
Part 1- You First, Then Audiences: Letting Go of Our Pre-Virus Identities
Part 2- The New Frontier: What Adapting and Surviving Looks Like
Part 3- Inspiration for Experimentation: Examples and Concrete Ideas
Have a look at the full article here.
Support Art Workers Greece
In the era of Covid19, people in the field of Arts and Culture have found themselves in dire need of support for radical reformation concerning their precarious working conditions and insecure livelihoods.
On May 7th 2020 over 200 people working in the Arts and Cultural sector in Athens, Greece, gathered under the Parthenon, on Dionisiou Areopagitou street to transcribe with their bodies a message that is both particular to the current moment in Greece and universal to creative workers globally, namely the demand to # SupportArtWorkers .
More information about the Initiative and its Requests:
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Support-ART-...
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/23844...
You can also have a look at the full video here.
The coronavirus, art and culture in South Africa
Mike Van Graan, one of the Atelier Facilitators of The Festival Academy, was invited to write an article about the impact of coronavirus in South Africa.
Mike Van Graan is an award-winning playwright, the former president of the African Cultural Policy Network and the founding Secretary General of Arterial Network. He is currently a fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS). See www.mikevangraan.co.za for more.
"We are into the third week of our hard lockdown in South Africa. Only essential workers are allowed outside to work. The rest of us are required to stay indoors, permitted out only to acquire food and medicine. No outside exercise. No walking the dog. No alcohol being sold. Not even cigarettes. All of this with the aim of “flattening the curve” of infection, to provide more time for our health services to prepare for the eventual spike in critical cases."
To know more about the impact of the coronavirus in South Africa, click here for the full-length article.
Artists at Risk (AR) Covid-19 Emergency Fund launched
Following the closing of borders to limit the spread of coronavirus, artists have no longer been able to take up offers at AR Safe Haven Residencies. In response to the crisis, Artists at Risk (AR) launched an emergency fund to ramp up its support for artists within their regions of domicile. These are art practitioners of almost all disciplines currently facing threats to their freedom and in need of urgent assistance, as human rights and democracy face new challenges during the pandemic. The new fund covers the living costs of artists at risk and, where necessary, relocates artists to a place of safety within their own country or region. Artists at Risk (AR) is grateful to everyone who has generously donated to the fund. Read about our new AR Covid-19 Emergency Fund supported artists below.
To make a donation, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/artistsatrisk
Livestreaming Fundación Teatro a Mil's Sixth National Programmers Meeting
#TeatroHoy
An opportunity to dialogue, strengthen networks, and build collaborations among participating presenters, and between presenters and performing arts professionals.
Find out more here.
Latest initiatives of CCS and CCIs
- Survey for Cultural and Creative Sector/Cultural Creative Industries and COVID which is being launched by the Makers’ Mobility project, coordinated by the European Creative Hubs Network:
https://twitter.com/CreativeHubsNet/status/1270280847174840322?s=20
- New publication on COVID and Cultural and Creative Sectors on European Cultural and Creative Cities in COVID-19 times:
- First month of existence of the CreativesUnite platform:
https://twitter.com/europe_creative/status/1268841554980016129?s=20
footSTEPS
As a result of lockdown, Gemma Connell, one of our Alumni, started a new personal project. She gave herself the mission of creating a short, one-shot dance film in every new location she visits.
Have a look at it there!