SPACE

Supporting Performing Arts Circulation in Europe

PROGRAMMERS ON THE MOVE

ANNOUNCEMENT

We are looking for professional programmers or programme advisers of venues and

festivals who have at least two years experience as responsible or co-responsible
person for programming in the performing arts (theatre, dance, art performance,
street theatre or circus, but not music), who are interested in reflecting the issue of
programming international performances, who are interested in (re-)defining their
role as programmers and protagonists in the circuit of international mobility, who
want to built up and/or strengthen networks, and share ideas of audience
development.

Background:

SPACE is providing a mobile European training programme for professionals who are
programming performing arts within festivals and/or venues and who want to
deepen their knowledge and analyse and improve their recent and future work.

We are looking for 33 individuals who will be divided into 3 separate groups. Each group will
undergo a training programme made up of 2 sessions (each lasting 4 days) and taking place in
2 European countries.
The participants will analyse their role/attitude/identity as programmers, their position in the
regional/social/political context, their position as mediator between the artists and the
audience and develop visions and ideas to improve the circulation and presentation of
performing art in Europe.

Each group will have one moderator who will follow up the sessions, participate in the
discussions and support the trainees in developing their visions, and deepening their
perception of the role of a programmer, with the support of an experienced programmer (a
director of a venue or a festival), who will participate at specific “hot items” two days per
session, and also throughout the contribution of other professionals or personalities.

In addition they will be offered the chance to get to know different forms of performing arts
festivals and theatres, built up or consolidate their network on a European level.

Aims of the training:

 To analyse the identity of a programmer and (re-)define his/her attitude and role
towards the artists, the audience, the geopolitical and social context.
 To learn about the handling of freedom and restrictions (artistic, financial,
infrastructural, political, social).
 To get to know different systems of festivals and theatres in Europe.
 To compare and confront one’s own views and working tools with those of other
programmers.
 To create a network of arts professionals with shared experience and understanding.
 To develop a better understanding of Europe and its cultural diversity, both on a
practical and on a political level.
 To understand and respond to the central challenge of sustainability and its impacts on
the programmers work.
 To develop an understanding of the importance and practice of international
collaboration.

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Who can apply:

Candidates should fulfil the following conditions:

 At least 2 years professional experience as responsible person (or co-responsible

person) of a programme (or of part of a programme as adviser) for a performing arts
festival or a permanent theatre.
 Currently employed or contracted by a festival or a venue.
 Living and/or working in one of the Countries in Europe (geographically).
 Fluent spoken and written English. Applicants should submit their application and
supporting documents in English and should expect a telephone conversation in English
as part of the final selection process.
 With experience of working in an international context.

What we further expect of the candidates:

 Evidence of having been personally and directly responsible (or co-responsible) or

adviser for an international programme of a festival or a venue.
 Evidence of a professional network, preferably transnational.
 Candidates have to send the concepts of their last and next programme/project

Content and methodology:

We are not creating a training for programmers. We are creating an exchange program for
programmers focused on the issue of mobility of shows. It means that all subjects should be
connected with “foreign performances”, how to support or to improve the quality of the
circulation of show, an issue where the programmers are one of the main actors of this
mobility.
We asked to three differently experienced professional programmers to follow as mentors the
three groups in which the selected applicants will be divided. The mentor will lead the sessions,
participate in the discussions and support the trainees in developing their visions, and
deepening their perception of the role of a programmer.
There will be four themes and specific subjects for each of the 2 seminars the participants will
follow.
The four themes, which will be same for each seminar:
1. Aesthetic questions (with the interventions of philosophers, sociologists, art historian)
2. Audience development (with professionals from the field)
3. “Technical questions”, “tools” to improve the circulation of shows (with professionals
from the field)
4. Identity/role of a programmer

The subjects proposed to the mentors are:

- “Standardisation”: the growing circulation of shows might get to a kind of
standardisation? The programs of the well-known European festival are getting a bit
similar. Some artists are showing everywhere while some others do not have
opportunities to be seen by foreign audiences. What kind of influence does have the
growing circulation of shows on the work of the artists themselves? Is there a tendency
of losing “identity” and create shows to answer the “expectation” of international
festivals? What could be the role of the programmers in this new context?

- “It is not for my audience”: how to prepare the audience to attend foreign
performances.

- “How to “look at” a performance”

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 - “The history of “taste” (aesthetic): the “taste” is a cultural construction

- “Censorship”: Do the programmers have political constraints concerning foreign

performances? How to deal with it? Do the programmers censor themselves?

- “The technical obstacles of the circulation of shows”: questions of finance, artistic trips
to discover shows, supportive organisations for circulations of shows, EU programs, how
access to networks, challenge of sustainability …

- “Why this performance at this time?”: it is probably covered under other subjects
already but i find this question important because it includes the question of
responsibility and trust towards audiences and artists, and awareness of the general
situation in one’s home country.

- “Thematic programming”: festivals or seasons programmed around a certain topic or

geographical area. What other criteria is there?

- “Own productions, commissioned work” : this is often a part of the programming

When and where

Group 1
Session 1 – Brussels, 20-23 May 2010, in the frame of KunstenFestivaldesarts
Session 2 – Riga, 26-29 August 2010, in the frame of Homo Alibi Festival

Group 2
Session 1 – Essen, 30 June-3 July 2010, in the frame of Theater der Welt
Session 2 – Eurométropole Lille, 24-27 November 2010, in the frame of Next Festival

Group 3
Session 1 – Rotterdam, 29 September-2 October 2010, in the frame of De Internationale Keuze
Session 2 – Glasgow, 2-5 March 2011, in the frame of New Territories Festival (dates to be
confirmed)

Language:

The working language of the training programme will be English.

Application procedure:

In order to apply, candidates must electronically send the following documents in English to
prog@spaceproject.eu into January 24th 2010, h.24.00 CET:

 A completed application form (download here).

 The concepts of their last and next programme/project
 Professional CV
 An accompanying letter explaining their motivation for joining the training programme,
their expectation of the benefit that the training may bring to their professional life over
the long term, and the value they can bring into the group.
 Confirmation of their availability for, and commitment to, the dates and duration of the
training programme

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In the selection of candidates we will take into account the geographic and cultural diversity of
Europe and be aware that the group of programmers corresponds to these circumstances.
Candidates will be informed within one month of the deadline whether they have been selected
or not.

Financial conditions:

 Enrolment fee for the whole training programme (2 sessions): 500 €

 The fee is due one week before the beginning of the first training session (date)
 International travels of the participants will be arranged and paid by the organisers
(local transportation within the participants' country are at her/his charge).
 Accommodation and meals will be provided and paid for by the organisers.
 Few scholarships are available to successful applicants who can provide proof of
hardship and who are unable to rise funding elsewhere.

SPACE - Supporting Performing Arts Circulation in Europe

Nine national cultural institutions with an international policy and practice created a platform to
analyse persistent imbalances (between countries, regions, artists, disciplines and performance venues)
in terms of the circulation of performing arts works in Europe, and to experiment with new tools and
mechanisms to reduce them. SPACE has created a 3 year-long project, supported by the European Union
and based on three strands of activity. These are:

 The creation of an online tool, Travelogue, to collect and compare data and produce an analysis
of any imbalances that exist.
 Mobile training programmes for performing arts managers, programmers and
journalists/critics.
 The reinforcement of the institutional capacity within national support organisations
throughout Europe.

The partners in the SPACE project are: ONDA in Paris (National office for the circulation of performing
Arts), VTI in Brussels (Vlaams Theater Instituut), TIN in Amsterdam (Theater Instituut Nederlands),
NTIL in Riga (New Theatre Institute of Latvia), British Council in London, ETI in Roma (Ente Teatrale
Italiano), Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council in Zürich, The Red House in Sofia, the Institut umění -
Divadelní ústav (Arts and Theatre Institute) in Prague. The Zentrum BRD des Internationalen
Theaterinstituts in Berlin. IETM cooperates also in the project.

SPACE has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This Open Call for Applications reflects the views only of the Space partners, and the Commission
cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein.

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 APPLICATION FORM
PROGRAMMERS ON THE MOVE
Please type and return by email with your CV and the presentation (p.6) attached
to prog@spaceproject.eu into 17 January 2010, 24.00 h. CET

1. Personal data

Name:

First Name:

Gender:

Age:

Date of Birth:

Nationality:

2. Contacts

Postal address (street, number, city, postal code, country):

Telephone and/ or mobile phone:

E-Mail:

Web:

3. Actual occupation

Name and address of organisation or institution:

Function:

Web:

Please describe your role and position in the organisation

max. 10 lines

4. Previous work experience(s) in programming

max. 20 lines

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5. Your professional project: how you see your professional life within 5
years (in which kind of institutions, with which function,…)

max. 10 lines

6. Attach the concepts of your last and your next programme/project

max. 1 page each

7. Visa

If you need a visa for some European country, please indicate:

8. Scholarships for Programmers on the move

Please indicate if:

- Your employers will cover the expenses of the training: yes/no

- You are expecting a scholarship from an other organisation: yes/no

- You are expecting a scholarship from Space: yes/no

9. Information

Please indicate how did you get the information of the training programme:

Confirmation of availability

I confirm my availability for, and commitment to, the dates and duration of the
training programme Programmers on the move; I agree to be included, if selected,
in any of the three groups.

Name and signature: ___________________________________________

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