THE PROJECT
THE PROJECT
An Art Incubator for contemporary European non-institutionalised or independent theatre
The project will accomplish this by creating a sustainable transnational co-creation laboratory in the field of contemporary theatre, starting with the development of a need-based curriculum, continuing in the execution of three co-creation laboratory sessions, producing a target of theatre productions for display at the European Capital of Culture occasions in Rijeka (Croatia) and Galway (Ireland).
- Project Leader: Creative Laboratory of Contemporary Theatre KRILA, Rijeka (Croatia)
- Partners: Institute of the Arts Barcelona (ES), Galway Theatre Festival (Ireland), University of Arts Targu-Mures (Romania)
- Associate Partners: ACTS (Oslo), MOVEO (Barcelona), Platform 88 (Montpellier), Poulpe Electrique (Paris), ToTum TeaTre (Barcelona), Workinglifebalance (Graz)
The project title ‘Make a Move’ was inspired by a piece of graffiti that we saw on a wall during a city walk on the occasion of the third Rijeka workshop in October 2017. We thought that the graffiti piece perfectly captured the essence of our project idea: A group of movement-based theatre artists deciding to take action to affect change in the ability of the non-institutionalised and independent theatre sector to evolve and bring theatre closer to contemporary society (photo by Nicole Pschetz).
The pilot execution of the Art Incubator will take place in three consecutive sessions in Galway (Ireland), Rijeka (Croatia) and Târgu-Mureș (Romania) during the course of 2019. The duration of each Art Incubator session/ Labs will be 10 days. The envisaged number of participants is 10 full-time artists that will be selected through a public call. Participants can either be individual independent theatre makers or members of the collective (company) selected to participate. For each session, another 10 participants will be selected, as auditing participants, from the local/regional non-institutionalised and independent theatre community.
Each Lab foresees a co-creation laboratory to enable immediate implementation of newly acquired skills, while benefiting from the interaction and networking with peers, mentors, international audiences and representatives of the respective European Capitals of Culture.
Each Lab will be conducted under a specific topic that is linked both with the curriculum, the specific location and the agenda of each European Culture Capital, illustrating a key element of the non-institutionalised and independent theatre agenda and identity.
Make a Move Art Incubator Galway – Digital Practices
The first session of the Art Incubator will focus on digital practices, both from a business point of view and an artistic point of view. The artistic element of the curriculum in Galway will introduce participants to artists who create work using digital technologies – for example, sensor-based interactions, mixed-reality experiences and virtual reality experiences. Through practical workshops with these artists the practitioners will have the opportunity to experiment with these technologies to understand how they can be incorporated artistically into their own work. This aspect of the curriculum will again draw on the artistic connections established through the Galway 2020’s ‘Windows on the World’ programme, a programme of work specifically oriented towards the creation of artistic work using digital technologies.
The business element of the curriculum in Galway will draw on Galway 2020’s aim to become the first ‘Virtual European Capital of Culture’, and will include workshops and talks with the Galway-based theatre artists and digital media experts on the process of incorporating a digital outreach element in their work. For example, participants will examine practices such as the ‘live streaming’ of theatre performances, and the creation of cross-media platforms that support the creation and dissemination of live performance work. It is also our intention that participants will learn tools and practices that will enable them to incorporate a digital element into the design and dissemination of their own work during the ‘Make a Move’ project, which will also feed into the overall project communication and dissemination activities.
During the Galway session, the participating artists will begin the process of identifying project ideas for follow-up cooperation projects after the conclusion of the Make a Move project. Idea identification, formulation and conservation will be conducted in the context of a series of three workshops – to take place at each Art Incubator session throughout the year 2019 – on project development and project fundraising. Throughout the series, the participants will learn about the topic of cultural funding policies in EU countries, challenges that non-institutional and independent theatre practitioners face in the frame of these policies and identifying ways how to manage those challenges. Recognised experts in the field will lead the workshops.
Make a Move Art Incubator Rijeka – Site-specific theatre and audience outreach
The second session of the Art Incubator will focus on the topic of site-specific theatre and progressive audience outreach practices in theatre, specifically on the topic of public space and urban locations as places for artistic exploration, work and interaction with the audiences. Within artistic elements of the curriculum in Rijeka, public spaces will be explored as site-specific theatre locations, places for artistic interventions, installations, community art works and other possible forms of contemporary theatre and performing arts practices. In collaboration with an expert historian of Rijeka who will lead a study visit of several Rijeka’s locations, and in partnership with cultural experts on audience development, artists will be developing their projects inside the frame of specific locations in Rijeka that have a strong meaning for the community either past, present and/or future. This topic of public space(s) is related to Rijeka 2020 programme that encourages progressive audience development practices by proposing a vision where ”urban areas become spaces where artistic projects are created in collaboration with the local community”. During the Rijeka session, the participating artists will continue the process of new project idea identification, formulation and development initiated at the first fundraising workshop during the Art Incubator session in Galway.
Make a Move Art Incubator Targu – Mures: InsideOut – Positioning non-institutionalised theatre practices in a critical journalistic and business context
The third session of the Art Incubator is dedicated to the topics of communication, business and fundraising skills. Many times artists find it difficult to talk about their work, which sometimes results in interviews or performance presentations filled with platitudes. Considering this, it may be difficult for theatre artists and collectives (companies) to promote their work, to gain finances and further to market the performance for the audience. Therefore this Art Incubator session is dedicated to presenting a multi-perspective approach to talking about the artistic product, considering ways of ‘translating’ the artistic universe into words, using tools from the areas of theatre criticism, journalism and/or aesthetics. At the same time product ‘storytelling’ will be considered from the point of view of many different audiences and assessed from the business and management perspective, accompanied with tips and tricks from cultural management professionals. The Art Incubator session in Targu-Mures will conclude the process of developing the first set of joint follow-up cooperation proposals coming out of the Art Incubator participants projects. The goal is to finish the development of at least 5 cooperation projects, arriving at the stage of having a clearly defined project idea coupled with a business plan for the project idea execution, including potential funding opportunities.
Read more at: www.makeamoveproject.eu
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Co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union
Partner organisations:
Creative Laboratory of Contemporary Theatre KRILA (Croatia)
Galway Theatre Festival (Ireland)
Institute of Arts Barcelona (Spain)
University of Arts Targu-Mures (Romania)
Associate partners:
ACTS – laboratory for performance practices (Norway)
MOVEO (Spain)
Platform 88 (France)
Poulpe Electrique (France)
ToTum TeaTre (Spain)
Workinglifebalance Ltd. (Austria)
Supporters:
EACEA – Creative Europe (European Union)
Rijeka2020 – European Capital of Culture (Croatia)
Rijeka City Council (Croatia)
Galway 2020 – European Capital of Culture (Ireland)
Galway City Council (Ireland)
Arts Council Ireland
Sitges City Council (Spain)
