MEETING - TRANS EUROPE HALLES MEETING64 - HELSINKI&HÀ¤MEENLINNA/FINLAND
Trans Europe Halles (TEH) is the European network of independent places of culture, for the majority installed in waste lands rehabilitated in multidisciplinary artistic centers. Created at the beginning of the Eighties, TEH joins together currently more than 44 members coming from 25 European countries.
TEH organises bi-annual meetings for its members to join and exchange about various contemporary topics.
Artfactories took part to the 64th meeting, which took place in Helsinki (Korjaamo) and Hà¤menlinna (Verkatehdas).
It was a great chance for the team of Artfactories to meet new colleagues and discuss about projects. Here is an overview of our activities during the meeting.
Thurday 25th October 2007
Korjaamo - Helsinki
The Working Groups
Thursday 25th October 2007
Morning: Introduction of everyone attending the meeting, and general introduction session.
Afternoon: workshops to imrpove and create new projects within the network, on different topics (please find links to the email adresses of the persons leading the workshop)
1) Independent art spaces leadership training
Artfactories, international resource platform for cultural places all over the world, aims at driving cooperation, citizen initiatives and solidarity exchanges.
We have noticed through our activities that the demand for transmission is very high. We often get enquiries from project holders who would like to improve their skills in managing their art centre, since they are very often self-made managers.
This is the reason why, in 2007, we have initiated a training named "Euro-Asia independent art spaces leadership training". It is organised in partnership with Trans Europe Halles and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). It will be held in Paris (mainly in Mains d’OEuvres) from 9th to 15th December for 22 participants from different countries in Europe and Asia.
2) Aurora Borealis
Aurora Borealis is a project to strengthen the ties between cultural houses in the Nordic and Baltic region with their peers in the Barnets region. The aim is to enhance the mobility of artists and art and to enhance the competence of the centres. The project is convening a conference in Oslo,
Norway in February 2008.
3) EUROPEX
Europex was a project founded by the European Commission through the Grundtvig 2 program (Socrates-Leonardo da Vinci). The main objective of the project was to exchange know-how between European professionals of culture (artists, administrative and technicians), through
different actions:
Staff, trainers and learners exchange between European partners
Artistic and technical workshops, leading to the production of tools or events by the learners (shows, festivals, sounds or video production, website...) The project was coordinated by Système Friche Théâtre at La Friche La Belle de Mai of Marseille.
Two others member centres of TEH took part in the project: Circolo Culurale Buenaventura and Stichting Melkweg.
We decided to stop the project for 2008 in order to respond to the 2009 call for proposals with more European partners. We think that this exchange will be really useful and successful only if we try to multiply the number of centres participants.
4) Belarusian interns
It is vitally important to send Belarusian artists and cultural operators to TEH centers as interns
because it would help them
to get educated on modern European ways of developments of Culturals centers
to get to know new trends and aspects of cultural diversity inside of EU and place of Belarus in it
to break down stereotypes that are imposed to the Belarusian population by the Belarusian regime. It could be done by means of contemporary art and with a help of young artists and cultural operators who get knowledges in TEH centers
to prepare European centers that Belarus would sooner or later become a free and a democratic society and a big wave of new cultural projects would come from Belarus.
5) Norwegian meeting
The Autumn TEH meeting in 2008 will be at Tou Scene in Stavanger, Norway, 25th to 28th September. In 2008, Stavanger is European Capital of Culture. In that occasion Tou Scene has launched the project Tou Works, which now is open for submissions (www.touscene.com/touworks). Nils Henrik Asheim from Tou Scene will inform on this project and also collect proposals from other TEH centres that would like to present something at Tou during the three summer months (mid June - mid August). Ideas for the meeting itself are also most
welcome.
6) The Lift
"The project The Lift gives young people at TEH centres the chance to go abroad and work at another cultural centre of the network for 2-12 months with the support of EVS - European Voluntary Service. The project has been up and running for a year now and it’s time to evaluate
the exchanges that have taken place in TEH so far and point out future directions for the project together. This slot at the Project Fair is therefore mandatory for TEH-centres that are accredited as sending and/or hosting organizations, regardless if they have sent or hosted volunteers yet. A separate agenda has been sent out by Project Manager Emma Ernsth.
7) International Artist Residencies Exchange Project
A practical session to exchange information for centres that would
like to host international artists for a residency and/or
like to introduce artists they have already hosted to find residencies in other TEH centres.
Centres are encouraged to bring a sheet describing the conditions of residencies they can offer and dvd’s, images etc of artists they would like to help to find further residencies.
Fiona O’Mahony, Farnham Maltins
Sarah Harper, L’Avant Rue
8) The 25th Anniversary of Trans Europe Halles
We worked hard throughout the years to build up a good reputation in the European cultural world and we succeeded because we have the best experts, the nicest people and the most interesting centres in our network. BUT what we are really known for and what others envy us is that we throw the best parties! So people, there is a reputation to loose. We need lots of good ideas and people who are willing to commit to this good cause and help making our anniversary a party
nobody will ever forget.
Gudrun Goldmann, Kulturzentrum Schlachthof
9) Electronic arts in the network
Come and meet Pixelache and discuss collaboration around electronic arts in Europe.
Pixelache Network is an informal network of electronic art festivals
* Pixelache Helsinki
* Pixelvà¤rk Stockholm
* Piksel Bergen
* Piksleverk Reykjavik
* Mal au Pixel - Paris
* Pixelazo Medellin
Pixelache events present projects experimenting with media and technology from a broad range of disciplines: artists, engineers, designers, researchers, architects, etc. Pixelache focuses especially in presenting the activities of various international grassroot networks and communities such as the VJ community, media activists, the open source community and the demoscene. The goal of Pixelache is to act as a bridge between the traditional creative disciplines and rapidly developing electronic subcultures. The seventh edition of Pixelache Helsinki festival will focus on education and will approach this theme from different perspectives. (13-16 March 2008 www.pixelache.ac/university)
10) Conference “Factories of the Imagination†: a common space for a new creativeculture across Europe and Russia†(October 2008, Moscow/Russia) (Performancespace)
The Conference “Factories of the Imagination†is a project that will be organized in the framework of the EU-Russia Cooperation Programme. The task of the conference is to speak about the present situation in which contemporary independent Russian and European culture exists and to
focus on the main aspect - physical spaces for it as a crucial resource for its development and cooperation.
The Conference will take place in Moscow for 4 days at the premise of the Proekt_Fabrika (Moscow/Russia). The Conference will be organised by Proekt_Fabrika and Aktovy Zal in partnership with Trans Europe Halls Network and with the participation of Melkweg (The Netherlands), Mains d’OEuvres (France) and Arts Printing House (Lithuania).
Asya Philippova : space@proektfabrika.ru
Evening: Performing arts night:
The Arrested Performance
The "Free theatre" Project is started on March 30, 2005 and will be ended when the situation in Belarus will be changed from dictatorial regime to democracy.
The project’s main organizational resource is the Civil Initiative “Free Theatre†and Public association “Guild of the Belarusian dramatists and scenarists†, which has been in existence since 2004. The Civil Initiative and Association was formed by the initiative group of the independent Belarusian dramatists and scenarists, experienced in the theatrical and cinematographic spheres. Founders of “Free Theatre†: Natalia Koliada and Nikolai Khalezin.
On august 22, The Belarus Free Theatre appeals for support of the Artistic Community of the World in regards of arrests of up to 60 spectators, all actors, managers, directors of Free Theatre including three children of 6, 7, and 8 years old together with our friends French Director Christian Benedetti, Director of Theatre-Studio Jerome Impilizzierri, and Assistant to director Nina Reno and Netherlands professor Boris Gerets and Production Manager Mark Jansen.
It is happened on August 22 when about 30 representatives of three different special forces (OMON, KGB, and district police) entered a rented facility where the Free Theatre planned to show its performances.
Friday 26th Octorber 2007
Morning: Seminar "Innovating White Rabits": Improving economy and developing cultural offer at the same time.
Afternoon: Workshops on different topics, lead by professionals in the fields: production, marketing, cooperation with companies, bar and catering, real estate, grants.
Evening: Dinner and Trans Europe Bar: as a tradition in the network, every participants brings some speciality drink from his country. Followed by a cultural programme.
Saturday 27th October 2007
Morning: Journey to the centre Verkatehdas, one hour drive from Helsinki, to discover this huge brand-new beautiful building and its cultural activities.
Afternoon: Genral assembly: decisions are taken and orientations/missions of the network are discussed.
Evening: Cultural programme
