Shaping Networks, Shaped by Networks

Shaping Networks. Shaped by Networks

JORIS JANSSENS HONG KONG, 5 MAY 2016

On collective strategies for the performing arts in Flanders and Europe

FLANDERS ARTS INSTITUTE

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About Flanders Arts Institute

• Flanders Arts Institute is the supporting institute for the arts in Flanders - Merger of VTi (performing

arts institute) with the centres for visual arts and music

- We started in 2015 - Our core functions

• Field research and documentation

• Professional development • Development of international

relations

• Our history is firmly rooted in the developments in European performing arts since the 1980’s. - VTi started as a centre for

international development, documentation in 1987.

- It grew out of the VTC (Flemish Touring Circuit), a touring netwerk of independent venues.

- Strongly connected to European history of international networking.

• We have a lot of research material about the (international) collaboration and netwerking in Flanders and Europe - International touring and

coproduction. - Interconnections between

local developments and international developments

- Link with professional development.

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So what will we talk about this morning?

• Some truths and myths about IETM, the International network for contemporary performing arts - Some facts & figures about

IETM today. - Strong stories about the

early days

• About how international collaboration changed the performing arts: the case of Flanders. - The context in the eighties

• Artistic • Organisational • Cultural policy

- Some trends in the production, presentation and networking of performing arts since then.

• About how these changes challenge (international) networks… - How did IETM react to this? - Provocation: what could this

all mean for the networking of creative producers in Asia?

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FLANDERS ARTS INSTITUTE7

01 SHAPING A NETWORK — SOME TRUTHS & MYTHS ABOUT THE IETM


What is the IETM?A “membership organisation which exists to stimulate the quality, development and the context of contemporary performing arts.”

• Membership in 2015 - 532 active members

• including 17 Associate Members (funding agencies, arts councils, cultural institutes)

- … coming from all performing arts disciplines

- They cover all functions in the ecosystem:

• venues, festivals, companies, producers, independent curators, research and resource centres, networks, governmental bodies…

• Geography - 88% of the membership is

based on the European continent

- Countries with the largest membership:

• France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia

• Activities - Two plenary meetings each

year in a European city - Smaller meetings around the

world • Eg Satellite Meeting Gwangju &

Caravan Meeting Seoul (2015) - And also

• Collection and distribution of information on international opportunities

• Commissioning research and publications

• Advocating the value of the performing arts sector on diverse platforms

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Where and when did it start?The summer of 1981 at the Inteatro Festival, Polverigi, Italy

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Villa Nappi, Polverigi

Inteatro FestivalStarted by Roberto Cimetta

Polverigi is a small village in the middle of nowhere in Italy. In 1977, Roberto Cimetta, an Italian director and playwright, created the Inteatro festival Polverigi there, in the setting of Villa Nappi, which the local mayor allowed him to use. The Villa Nappi was home to companies of all kinds, from all parts of world. Cimetta gave artists as a place to meet to rehearse and audience. He also invited his international colleagues there, in the summer of 1981.

They talked about setting up a network and meeting on a regular basis, to share experiences about supporting the work of artists. The first ‘real’ Informal European Theatre Meeting was organised by ONDA in Paris, later that fall.


Théâtre Gérard Philipe , 15 October 1981

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Number of people claiming to have been at one of these two gatherings

Number of people conceiving IETM at the Villa Nappi in Polverigi in summer 1981

Number of people at the first ‘real’ IETM meeting in Paris in October 1981


Why was IETM such a success?What needs did it cater for, in what context? How was all this organised?

• The context for international collaboration - International collaboration

by intergovernmental organisation

- Performing arts landscape dominated by large festivals

• Eg Wiener Festwochen - New alternative festivals

popping up • Festival of Fools, Kaaifestival,

Festival de Nancy, Copenhagen International Festival

- East-West division in Europe: the ‘iron curtain’.

• Knowledge exchange in predigital era - Detecting talent:

• The combination of a ‘nose’ for talent and a ‘network’

- Practical know-how • How to organise a festival,

visa issues, policy issues - Empowering members for

advocacy • What arguments for

supporting contemporary performing arts?

• The structure: informal, but closed - Membership

• Cultural ‘entrepreneurs’: festival directors (sometimes producing artists)

• Not the artists - Informal structure

• Everyone could organise a meeting

• Bureau managed by Flemish Theater Circuit (1984)

• Not-for-profit international organisation based in Brussels in 1989

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02 COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS — THE CASE OF FLANDERS


The impact of international networking?Flanders and Brussels as a case study

What has been the impact of international networking in Europe since then? This can be a tricky point to make. The impact of networking, of meeting people, of knowledge exchange is often quite difficult to prove in terms of cause and effect… But what we can do, is have a look at some developments in the contemporary performing arts in Europe since then. We will take Flanders and Brussels as a case. Flanders is a very good example of how international networking has really shaped the development — almost out of nothing — of a very dynamic contemporary live arts scene ànd of an innovative policy for supporting contemporary performing arts. In this chapter, I will first sketch how these developments took off in the eighties and early nineties. Second, we will have a look at some major trends and crucial transformations in the international touring and coproduction since the nineties. International networking initiatives, such as the IETM, did have an effect on the emergence of a transnational system for producing and presenting contemporary performing arts.


Flanders is the northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. In Belgium, the competence for cultural policy resides not with the federal Belgian State, but with three communities: the Flemish community, the French Community and the (small) German Community.

Flanders Arts Institute works within the context of the Flemish Community and the data we collect are focused on work supported by the Flemish Community, which is also very active in Brussels.


The situation in Flemish performing arts in the eighties


The ‘Flemish Wave’ of the eightiesRosas, Fabre, Vandekeybus, Needcompany, Alain Platel, Meg Stuart, Luk Perceval, Ivo van Hove,…

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Funding for dance back thenFlemish community funding for dance in 1985

Klapstuk Festival

Rosas

Royal BalletThe 1980’s in Flanders showed a remarkable artistic dynamics. Remarkably, at that moment, there was no developed policy framework for contemporary performing arts…

Funding for dance back thenFlemish community funding for dance in 1985

Support for contemporary performing arts in that time was… peanuts. But the peanuts have proven to be very important. While there was almost no project funding in the mid-eighties, emerging artists received small support from the International Department, which helped them to connect to international networks…

Collaboration is the key to the development of the local scene in Flanders in those days.


Bottom-up & collective strategies… were important for the “ex nihilo” creation of a performing arts landscape in Flanders in the eighties

• Collective artist-run self-organisation - Schaamte, les Ballets C de la B

• Coproduction and presentation: new arts centres and festivals - Vooruit, STUK, Kaaitheater, Klapstuk, Monty, CAMPO

(Nieuwpoorttheater) • Collective strategy for touring and international promotion

- The VTC (Flemish Theater Circuit) became VTi (Flemish Theater Institute)

• Advocacy and lobbying - Vlaamse Directies Podiumkunsten (employer’s advocacy

umbrella) • International networks and coproduction partners

- Networks: IETM, ONDA, EFAH,… - Hebbel Theater, Théâtre de la Ville,…

In the absence of a contemporary arts policy framework, the generation of the eighties managed to spark off international careers. Almost out of nothing, a number of gifted organisers and entrepreneurs developed a landscape for contemporary performing arts, through a number of collaborative strategies, both domestic and international. Different functions in the ecosystem were tackled collectively: production, touring, presentation, international promotion, documentation and advocacy.


How did policy makers react to this?

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10.000.000

20.000.000

30.000.000

40.000.000

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992

Rosas

Vandekeybus

Platel

Funding for contemporary dance on the riseFlemish community project funding for dance: evolution 1985-1992


Rosas

Major policy innovations since 1993Flemish community project funding for dance: evolution 1985-1992

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There was a major shift in 1993: the opening to different disciplines, and multi-annual funding. The critical thing is this : since then, the Flemish laws are really fit to support bottom-up initiatives, evaluated by peers, allowing for multi-annual planning.

• Theatre Decree (1975) - Only annual subsidies for theater companies

• Performing Arts Decree (1993) - New disciplines: dance and music theatre - New types of structures: arts centres - Multiannual envelopes and projects

• Arts Decree (2006, 2013) - New disciplines: visual arts, music, architecture - New structures: workspaces and management bureaus - Grants for individual artists - Functions: development, production, presentation,

participation and reflection


Shifting the balanceBallet, contemporary dance structures + projects

• First Level - Second level

• Third level

Rosas

Les Ballets c de la b

Ultima Vez

Meg Stuart

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

4%3%

1%1%

2%2%

2%2%

2%

3%

5%

5%

6%7%

11%

44%

Royal BalletRosasUltima VezLes Ballets C. de la B.EastmanDamaged GoodsKris VerdonckWorkspace BrusselsPeeping TomAction ScéniqueSoitKobalt WorksKunst/WerkDeep Blue/Field WorksProjects > organisationsProjects > artistsGrants > artists


Trends in international collaboration since 2001Source: http://data.kunsten.be

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In its current research, Flanders Arts Institute is mapping out the international dimension of the performing arts, including performances abroad as well as international co-productions. The position of the artists in the system is also a major topic for research.

• The distribution of Flemish performing arts shows abroad

• The number of international coproducers involved in these productions

• The position of artists in the system

http://data.kunsten.be

# productions per year

Before focussing on developments in the international arena, we will give an overview of the number of productions per season. This has increased year after year. The graph distinguishes between new creations that year (blue), and productions presented earlier (grey). We call the latter ‘re-runs’. The number of new creations each year remains stable. The increase in the number of productions on the bill each year is mainly due to these ‘re-runs’.

Reruns

Creations

Source: http://data.kunsten.be



Performances abroadSource: http://data.kunsten.be

How much where these productions shown outside of Belgium? The number of international shows has been on the rise since 2001.



Performances abroadSource: http://data.kunsten.be



Intercontinental touring since 2001

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Number of foreign coproducersSubtitle

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Many performing arts productions are made today based on a partnership between companies and sometimes various festivals, art centres and other domestic and foreign partners. This graph shows how many foreign organisations have collaborated each year in theatre, dance and music theatre productions.



Origin of foreign coproducersSource: http://data.kunsten.be



Type of foreign coproducersTo support, or to be supported

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You can make a distinction between two types of partners. The red bars are foreign companies that partnered with Flanders' supported art centres and/or festivals. The bar rises slightly. The growth is mainly in the blue bar: these are foreign co-producers who contribute to productions by Flemish companies (co-production contributions, residencies, etc). The growth appears to be especially here: the capacity of Flemish performing arts production is being maintained because more and more overseas partners can be mobilised.


The number of performers each year• The next two slides deal with the position

of artists in this emerging ‘transnational’ system for production and touring. • First, the graph on the left shows that the

number of artist has risen. • The graph on the next slide suggests that

the rise is due to fragmented employment. The rise is to be situated in two ‘categories’ of artists: • Those who have only been involved in one

Flemish productions in a 4-year timespan, and ‘freelancers’ working with different organisations.

• The number of artists working with only one company does not rise.

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Fragmented employmentWith how many companies does an artist work?

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0

2000

4000

6000

8000

1993-1997 1997-2001 2001-2005 2005-2009

Working with 1 company23 to 5More than 5One offs...


03 CHANGES IN AND CHALLENGES FOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION


Shifting practicesThe development of a transnational system for the production and presentation of performing arts

• These trends show that prototypes have been shifting: - Companies have become

flexible production units. - Freelancers from different

disciplines and countries join forces to make a production.

- They assemble a transnational network of coproducers, where they show the work.

• Production capacity and mobility of artists has increased a lot since the 1980’s, due to a.o. - The impact of international

networks, - The development of

national policies, - The development of EU

policy,

• But how sustainable is the growth? - More productions - More shows abroad - More artists - Funding is under pressure,

but more foreign coproducers are engaged to maintain the growth. • Annual growth ratio of 11%

(average) • This is exponential growth • Doubling time: 6,15 years.

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Science fiction of international coproductionWhat if the annual 11% rise of the number of coproducing partners would continue?

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YEAR N° coproducers2020 10902026 21802032 43602038 87202044 174402050 348802056 697602062 1395202068 279040


How sustainable is the growth? We have some sorting out to do….

Plug in and play!Thomas Friedman’s optimistic view on changes in the world economy.

• The playing field is being levelled. • Three stages of globalisation:

- Globalisation 1.0: Nations - Globalisation 2.0: Companies - Globalisation 3.0: Individuals

• More opportunities for individuals to ‘connect and collaborate’ globally.


What kind of art does this system produce?Richard Sennett’s bleak view on the work culture of global capitalism, which clearly resembles practices in the arts field…

• The precarious position of flex-workers in the knowledge economy. - Freelancing > difficult socio-economic

conditions - This system asks for a certain kind of

artists • Not only artistic skills, but also social skills

- Difficult to develop a consistent artistic body of work

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Challenges for international networks

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• Economic pressure: both internally and externally - The ‘coproduction bubble’: how sustainable is our way of working? - The legitimacy of arts funding is under pressure in a lot of countries in Europe. - Political agendas increasingly driven by economic interests.

• Individualisation - Freelancing has an impact on socio-economic position of artists. - Freelancing has an impact on the art being made.

• Internationalisation & globalisation - Ecological sustainability - Inequality in the transnational system for touring & coproduction

• Digitalisation


Sorting out for (international networks)?

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• Is the aim and function of a network still relevant? - IETM sees itself as a ‘biodegradable’ network

• Who are the possible partners of our network? - Many more potential partners, also individual players, but also more vulnerable partners

• Connecting to the local and the global - The need to seek more connections on a local level > outside of the arts. - Why connect globally in a changing world? What is your interest?

• Resources of the network? - Funding under pressure: how to relate to economic political agenda’s? - What is ‘membership’? What does solidarity mean? Who can put what on the table?

• Formats & processes - Live meetings and retreats? Digital formats? - Formal or informal network?


How did IETM respond to all this?

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• Expansion of the network - Starting op new networks, eg. Culture Action Europe, Balkan Express,… - Connecting to other continents via Caravan meetings, Satellite Meetings, …

• Opening up the network to companies and to individual artists - The type of partners has shifted 180°: focus on smaller companies

• Knowledge exchange on survival strategies. • New topics: focus on different meanings of sustainability

- Focus on capacity building: demand from network & political agendas. - Other topics: advocacy of the value of the arts, ecology, the refugee crisis,…

• New formats, next to live meetings - Live meetings remain the backbone, but have another function. - IETM Campus and staff exchange are new formats for capacity building.


But what about the Creative Producers Platform?

You are bright people taken initiatives in sometimes difficult conditions. There is a similar energy in the region as in Europe in the eighties. But the world has changed. And so have the performing arts.

For older and larger networks it’s difficult to change. Can you inspire us with new ways of working together and sharing?

The discussion is open.

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Shaping Networks, Shaped by Networks