Past Projects
Changing Room
CHANGING ROOM (2008-2010) was the biggest project ever organized by Trans Europe Halles. It was one of four pilot projects awarded a European Commission grant for cultural networks supporting mobility. The aims of the project was to test, study and evaluate a cultural professionals exchange and training programme within Trans Europe Halles. Twenty-five TEH members were partners in CHANGING ROOM.
Read more on the Changing Room Toolkit.
Click here to download the research study publication by the SIbelius Academy which was made as a part of the project: Changing Room - Mobility of Non-Artistic Cultural Professionals in Europe
Trans Nordic Net
Trans Nordic Net (2008-2010) was set up as an informal platform with the aim to facilitate Nordic cooperation within Trans Europe Halles.The concept of Trans Nordic Net is based on the experiences of implementing the Trans Nordic Project (2005-2007).
As a conclusion to the 3-year project the Project Manager asked one of the newest Nordic TEH members, Not Quite (Fengersfors, Sweden) to carry out short interviews with all the Nordic TEH members on the topic of international networking. To download the booklet, "Nordic Perspectives on European Networking - 13 independent cultural centres in conversation", please click here.
The final report of Trans Nordic Net can be downloaded here.
Project Manager of Trans Nordic Net was Anna Weitz, please contact her through our Contact point.
New Times New Models
NEW TIMES NEW MODELS is a project run by Pekarna magdalenske mreže (Maribor, Slovenia) in collaboration with TEH. The project is supported by the European Cultural Foundation. NEW TIMES, NEW MODELS (NTNM) investigates models of practice in the way independent cultural centres develop:
a) specific self-governance models
b) relationships with statutory bodies and the private sector with the aim of improving such relationships for the betterment of cultural development in Europe.
In January 2010 Pekarna magdalenske mreže organized an international NTNM conference, and further conferences on the topic are planned. A blog has been launched and a book published, available for free download here.
Water Sinking Cities
Water Sinking Cities was a project developed
and managed by EVS volunteers at Trans Europe Halles Member Centres P60
(Amstelveen, The Netherlands) and
NOASS (Riga, Latvia). Two international groups worked on the project's
theme: Water as a element of the nature and water embedded in sinking
cities reflection.
The project involved nine young media artists from the three cultural
centres who performed a live show in each venue, using audio-video
expressions and collecting material inspired from three exchanges
between June and September 2010. Research on the local environment was
done in the different cities, and used in the audiovisual works for the final
presentations. Read more at the project's website.
Collaboration between Europe and Russia
In 2008-2009, the NGO's Aktovy Zal, TSEH Dance Agency and the Trans Europe Halles centre Proekt_Fabrika in Moscow realized a project that focused on the reconversion of industrial buildings into creative spaces.
The project consisted of several different parts
and included both a conference and a series of festivals. Trans Europe Halles was a partner in the project that aimed at supporting new and
non-commercial cultural operators in Russia.
Together with Aktovy Zal and TSEH Dance Agency,
Trans Europe Halles developed the concept for and the content of the
conference "Factories of the Imagination – a common space for a new
creative culture across Europe and Russia" with workshops, lectures and
seminars, that took place at Proekt_Fabrika in Moscow 9-11th of October
2008. In 2009, four festivals of modern contemporary Art were
organised within the project. The festivals were dedicated to the different
European partner organisations and Trans Europe Halles members Arts
Printing House, Mains d'Oeuvres and Melkweg were all presented
throughout the project.
The Lift
Many young people are engaged as volunteers in our different member centres. The TEH project The Lift gave these young people (aged 18-30) the opportunity to go abroad to another member centre as a volunteer for 2 - 12 months through European Voluntary Service (EVS). The Lift aimed at coordinating the exchanges of volunteers between the member centres, to support and encourage the young volunteers to develop their own project ideas together and to inspire and support the members in getting started to send and host volunteers within the EVS-scheme. The project was supported by the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs.
Trans Europe halles still encourage youth exchange within the network. Go to go Youth Exchanges for more information!
Click here to go to The Lift Handbook - our recent publication with practical advice about networking through EVS. You can download it our read it for free online.
Trans Nordic Project
The project, which was supported by the Nordic Culture Fund, aimed to do research of and increase the contact, collaboration and communication between independent cultural centres in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Further, the project wanted to increase the possibilities for these cultural centres to collaborate with other cultural centres in Europe and to set up a platform of Nordic/Baltic independent cultural centres. For more information please contact Project Manager Emma Ernsth on emma@teh.net. To read the final report of this project, please click here.
24 hours at home in Europe
Photographers, artists and amateurs from all TEH centres were invited by Kulturzentrum Schlachthof to participate with their personal photographic view of 24 hours in Europe. The leading questions of the call for entries were: How do we live in Europe? What defines our social and cultural dimensions? Which distinctive characteristics and peculiarities define our daily routines? The submitted series of photos should follow the course of one day: 24 pictures, one for every hour of the day. The competition started during the TEH Meeting 62 in September 2006. 38 photographers from 15 European countries participated in the competition and gave their personal view on everyday life in Europe. The entries were later displayed in an exhibition at the Town Hall of Bremen from 23rd of February to 7th of March 2007. The exhibition offers humorous as well as provoking views of Europe today. To find out more and to have a look at the winning pictures, please visit www.24h-europe.net. If you are interested in hosting the exhibition, please don't hesitate to contact medien@schlachthof-bremen.de.
Europex - International Exchanges for Staff in the Network
Many different professions are represented at a culture centre but not all of them have the possibility of gaining European experiences in their daily work. Europex aims at professional development for staff through exchanges between the centres and through joint workshops. The project is funded by the European Commission under Grundtvig 2 and is coordinated by Séverine Cappiello at La Friche la Belle de Mai, France: scappiello@lafriche.org.
Youth Exchange Project (YEP)
Trans Europe Halles organised a youth exchange project (YEP) under the theme of European voluntary service between 1997 and 1998. The programme was aimed at unemployed young people aged 18-25. Seven volunteers were chosen to take part in the project and work for six months in hosting art centres located across Europe.
The aim of YEP was to develop mobility of young Europeans and to provide an opportunity for volunteers to improve their vocational and language skills.
'Factories of the Imagination'
Prior to the publication of 'Factories of the imagination' –book in 2001 (see Publications), there was a lack of meaningful studies on citizens’ cultural initiatives based in former industrial spaces, which realistically portray and observe the complexity of these experiences. In order to address that need and to give guidance to those, who may also consider using abandoned spaces and transforming them into cultural and artistic venues, Trans Europe Halles
produced 'Factories of the imagination', which presented the experiences of its centres.
The book was based on the experiences of people, who had converted former industrial sites into cultural centres. They had proved through their work that the transformation of former industrial buildings into cultural spaces is significant both for the area and its residents and for urban, cultural and artistic renewal of the local communities.
The purpose of the book was to create an educational 'tool', which gave a clearer understanding of this cultural phenomenon. It was also of value to both the public and private sectors and for everybody, who was, or was seeking to engage in projects of similar nature and share their experiences with the existing centres throughout Europe. The book was a result of the knowledge and skills found in the centres of the network. These cultural pioneers had shown through the years that their work was not marginal but had in fact resulted in professionally managed and artistically successful cultural spaces.
'Factories of the imagination' revealed the history and experiences of the centres, the problems they had faced over the years and solutions they have created to overcome the obstacles. Through the book, Trans Europe Halles aimed to encourage the emergence of new cultural spaces throughout Europe.
Phoenix Project
The Phoenix project was launched in Copenhagen in 1996 and it sought to position art at the heart of exchange and dialogue between different components of European society.
Workshops and artistic events were used to build up and develop the relationship between citizens, younger generations, cultural organisers, politicians, teachers, scientists, social workers and artists, on both a theoretical and practical level.