Atelier Legacy: former Atelier participants engage in collaboration

Nadin Deventer and Piotr Turkiewicz attended the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Varna, Bulgaria (2009). Since then, they have worked closely together, for example in a partnership within the pan-European network jazzplayseurope. The next project is a unique cooperation between their organisations, the Polish Festival Jazztopad and the German jazzwerkruhr: the 24-hour-run takes place on 26/27 November 2011 in Wroclaw/Poland. The contemporary arts and cultural scene of both countries are at the heart of the interdisciplinary project. During the 24 hours more than 20 most exciting musicians from North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) will combine forces with the young Polish jazz scene in a veritable marathon of concerts, meetings, musical and visual interventions in public spaces and private homes. The project is to be continued in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2012. The project between Festival Jazztopad and jazzwerkruhr is just one example of initiatives related to the Atelier for Young Festival Managers, an initiative launched by the European Festivals Association (EFA) in 2006. The Atelier offers young festival directors the opportunity to extend their network at international level, to broaden perspectives, to connect and share different management skills from all over the world, to develop new cooperation projects and co-productions, and to get inspired by other young artistic directors as well as renowned ones. The next Atelier will take place in Izmir, Turkey, from 24 until 31 October and is hosted by the International Izmir Festival. Following the last remarkable edition in Singapore (May 2011), the Atelier IZMIR 2011 will bring together 42 talented young festival managers from 31 countries, eager to learn from the experience of eight renowned festival directors, artists and cultural managers from all over the world. Find out more about the Atelier for Young Festival Managers, the 24-hour-run, Festival Jazztopad and jazzwerkruhr.