Rose Fenton introduces the Atelier: “much more than a 7-day training programme”

On 24 October 2011, Rose Fenton, Director of Free Word (London, UK), introduced participants to the objective and vision of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers IZMIR 2011 on behalf of all mentors and presenters. Furthermore, she asked: “Are our festivals fit for purpose? What does a Festival of the future look like?” Good evening Vice Governor, Mr Mayor, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentleman, On behalf of my fellow Atelier mentors - I want to say what a huge pleasure it is to be here in Izmir, and also to welcome you, the participants, to the 4th EFA Atelier for Young Festival Managers. Hugo De Greef from Brussels, Nele Hertling from Berlin, Ching Lee from Singapore and Robyn Archer from Australia are already here. Michal Merczynski, from Poland, Fruzsina Szep from Hungary and Jonathan Mills from Edinburgh, will be joining us later in the week. It is an exceptionally adventurous group of festival programmers and pioneers. And we are very all much looking forward to spending time with and getting to know you – the next generation of Festival Programmers and pioneers. This is my 4th Atelier – I have followed every edition – and once again, as always, we have an extraordinarily wide ranging and inspirational group of participants. All of you work in different cultural contexts; some of you are independent, others are in larger institutions, and, between you, you cross many art forms – music, dance, theatre. So, yes, a great diversity, but all united by your passion for Festivals, and what a Festival can do: opening up new possibilities for artists, new horizons for audiences, and all finding a place for your festivals in the fast changing, social and political landscape of today’s turbulent world. It is a world with many opportunities and many challenges – technology is collapsing distance and opening new paths to artistic creation and communication; the environment is under threat as we thoughtlessly consume the world’s resource, and we live in uncertain economic times. Are our festivals fit for purpose? What does a Festival of the future look like? You have brought with you many questions to debate. “How to introduce the contemporary into what can be often quite traditional programmes?”, asks one of you. “How to relate to the city in which an international Festival takes place?”, asks another. And “as well as festivals enabling artists to dare, how about encouraging audiences to dare?”, points out yet another of you. Although the Atelier is led by artistic considerations, several of you have inevitably highlighted the economic recession. “Does culture depend on money?”, is someone’s very direct question. I am sure we will have interesting discussions around that subject. Some people would argue that given the financial crisis this is not the time to act internationally – it’s too expensive, let’s just put our heads down, focus on the home patch. Others will argue that this is precisely the time to work internationally… And this is what the Atelier is about. More than ever we need to engage with one another, to exchange ideas, to share our resources and to find strength in collaboration: to find courage in opening up new visions for the future. These – and many more issues – will be explored and debated formally – and informally – as we progress through the week. More formally – though never completely formally – through lectures, debates, presentations, discussion of your case studies; and informally eating and drinking together and visiting the city. Visiting the city is a core part of the experience. The Atelier – as ever – is embedded in the city that hosts it, so as well as our festival explorations we will be going on an exploration of the rich history, landscape and heritage of this ancient port, with its many international connections and influences. We are always on the move across the city – today we are in the Music Museum, other venues are the National Izmir Library, the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Centre, the Historic Gas Plant, built by the French and now a social and cultural centre. We will also be visiting the historic sites of Ephesus and taking to the water in a boat trip. Whilst we describe the Atelier as a 7 Day Training Programme – as you can see from the timetable, it is much more than that. But perhaps above all it is a place for co – learning and reflection - you have a lot to learn from each other, we have a lot to learn from you. Over the past 5 years our ideas, as much as the participants, have been challenged and refreshed. The Atelier is also a place for forging friendships – personal and professional – friendships that are so much the motor of our work. Many of these friendships will last a lifetime. I talk from personal experience. Over the past years – more than 25 years in some cases! – many of the Atelier mentors have collaborated, taking artistic risks together, building international networks of support. 5 years on from the first Atelier in Goerlitz many of the participants are still in touch and continue to work together. So here’s to 7 days of festivals and festival debate, but also of fun and long lasting friendship. And , alongside allowing the artist - or indeed the audience - to dare, let these 7 days open up a space to help you – to help us all - the Festival Managers and Programmers to dare as well. Download Rose Fenton’s speech here.