News

2012-04-25

Culture Action Europe through the lenses of Luca Bergamo

14 days before all EU Ministers for Culture gather to discuss the proposal for the next EU Culture Programme 'Creative Europe' 2014-2020, the TEH Office invited Culture Action Europe's new Secretary General, Luca Bergamo, for an interview to share his views on what needs to be done to act for culture in Europe. Follow the link to read the interview.

1. What is your personal motivation for the position of Secretary General of Culture Action Europe?
There are several reasons for why I applied for this position. Something that is very important to me is the European Union’s attempt to build a shared identity and to establish a new type of democracy, which makes the coexistence of the local and the global possible. The implication is that this idea and the cultural values that stand behind this common hope are under attack today. To some extent, the cultural sector can influence this process through community-building in two ways. First, by spreading the understanding that sustainability is based on social inclusion, economic growth, environmental responsibility and culture. Second, by contributing to building a sustainable society and fostering social inclusion. I believe that the contribution to this process of those working in the arts and culture sector is essential as they are critical actors for any social change and human development. These are the types of goals that I have been dedicated to in my working life, and Culture Action Europe is one of the actors that convey this message by engaging political actors for European cultural unification. That is why I thought that this position was an opportunity for me and that I could contribute to these common challenges.

2. Considering your vast experience in youth policies, human rights and public administration, what do you bring with you from this sector to the field you are currently involved in?
What I bring with me is mostly a different perspective and a broad approach that might be helpful for achieving our goals in Culture Action Europe and especially for influencing different sectors to break down certain barriers. As a tendency, the cultural sector represents itself as a necessary sector without explaining why. In addition, it is a sector based on strong individuality. It is therefore important to raise awareness about the fact that we have to find ways to expand, create and share culture, instead of protecting it. We have to find common points between different arts and culture organisations and similar values with other sectors including media, digital communication, education, youth and human rights. As I have been actively involved in these sectors before, I can contribute to a broader openness of the cultural sector. This includes ascribing a central role to culture in public policies, which is essential for sustainable development and for representing the voice of society through the cultural sector. Try to think about the green movement and its actions to encourage politicians, companies and communities to find new ways of development where the needs of people and nature meet. In this way, the movement has managed to raise environmental awareness by representing the voice and rights of nature. I believe that we should do similar things with culture.

3. How do you balance the interests between small NGOs and big cultural institutions?
I think that if we manage to make clear and broaden the awareness of the role that culture can play in the social change we need and that investing in culture, heritage and the arts is crucial to help get Europe back on its feet, we can find a common ground for big and small organisations to work together. Building the future together we can also find a balance between innovation and preservation, between North and South. We have to stop to only defend our own piece of the pie and work together to make culture a matter of general interest. We need to increase the capacity of civil society and to stress the importance of involving citizens in this process in order to gain more influence at a local, regional and national level. That is why it is important to support and provide capacity building activities on the ground that will benefit the development of both big and small organisations.

4. Why should the Member Centres of Trans Europe Halles get engaged with Culture Action Europe?
To a certain extent, the answer to this question is related to what I said before. What we can do at Culture Action Europe is to help TEH Members to increase their influence, to strengthen their case on the local level and to connect them with other organisations internationally. In the end, what we aim for and wish to foster is the development of a broad transnational movement that advocates for a broader role of culture in our societies. Capacity building is one of the instruments that can be used to stimulate the development of such a movement.

5. What future challenges do you identify for both Culture Action Europe as an organisation and the European cultural sector?
Let’s distinguish two different types of challenges. One long-term and extremely broad challenge is the current financial crisis. In the short term, the new EU Culture Programme (2014 – 2020) challenges the playground of the cultural sector and will imply a process of adaptation. But I think that the opportunities that this programme brings are extremely interesting, mostly because of the fact that it establishes a common framework for culture to regain relevance. The programme might also help the non-commercially oriented sector to foster a dialogue with the more commercially oriented sector (on the condition of some changes in the legal basis that we are currently promoting). Another challenge is to understand that stronger entrepreneurship does not necessarily mean a business-oriented model. The way we work will change substantially, but the changes could be beneficial for the broader cultural sector also depending on how the cultural operators will react to the changes. However, whether the new programme will be positive or not will also depend on the implementation of the new regulations. How and to what extent the needs of cultural activity as expressed by Culture Action Europe as well as by other organisations will be taken into account in the design of the new programme guide will determine the final result. That is why we all need to work to influence the European Commission in the process of implementing the programme. Another challenge for the European sector is to find a way to reconnect with the grassroots. The problem is that the voices heard at European level are mainly the voices of organisations and not those coming from the ground. It is therefore of high importance to build this connection by asking citizens for more political engagement. We should not forget that the EU is a citizens project, after all.

Interview by Plamena Slavcheva (TEH Coordination Office)

Call for proposals: Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe and ASEF Creative Networks

For the second time, Trans Europe Halles is one of the partners together with ASEF and ANA behind Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe. This project supports collaborative artistic and networking projects between Asia and Europe, taking place between the 1st of January 2014 and 30th of November 2014.

Call for workshops participants: Design Mercenaries for Living Underground.

Do you need experienced architects or designers to solve your problems with the architecture of your cultural space? In the frame of the Living Underground project, Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) will share their expertise through a workshop, 5-10th of August. An international group of architects/designers will be there to answer your questions with proposals to improve your building using few resources.

Have you ever produced or released a music track in your centre? Share your experience!

Beat Carnival (Belfast, Ireland) has formed a label: Beat Carnival Music, and their first production is “Celebrate”, a music track created by an artist in residence. A video clip is already online, featuring the famous Big Heads, symbol of Beat Carnival, and young people from the centre.

David Boyd is now looking for feedback but also ideas of collaboration for production, tour, festivals, or any other ideas this project would inspire you. Could there be network collaborations in this area?

Using traditional techniques to support contemporary art: a postcard from Estonia to Italy.

In every TEH Meetings, Creative Centre Carnation (Tartu, Estonia) always comes with examples of postcards and notebooks that they produce using old printing press. This inspired DOM (Bologna, Italy) to start a new collaboration with them. The Estonian centre used a printing press from around the early 20th century to create postcards that will be used for a festival focused on childhood taking place in DOM. At the end of the event, children will have the chance to use these postcards to write to their friends and tell them about their experience.

Antic Teatre and Mains d’Oeuvres breathe together.

Antic Teatre (Barcelona, Spain) will participate in the second edition of the festival Respirations ("breathing" in English) in Mains d’Oeuvres (Saint Ouen, France), a performing festival during which the whole centre will be filled with artists from different disciplines. This collaboration is also part of an exchange programme run by Antic Teatre, cav_a: Catalan artists visiting French artists.

Call for papers: Power to the local cultures!

Workshop of Culture (Lublin, Poland) launches a call for papers for their online magazine on the theme “The Power of Province”. The texts will be published in a special edition focused on the misrepresentation of local cultures by the general opinion.

Actes if gets a facelift!

Actes if (Paris, France) launches its brand new website! The occasion for you to learn more about this network of independent cultural centres founded in 1996 and which gathers today 25 members in Paris and its surroundings.

Voluntary in Belgrade: a volunteers project in REX (Belgrade, Serbia)

Voluntary in Belgrade, a series of get together organised in REX (Belgrade, Serbia) every month, is a project led by two volunteers in REX Through exhibitions, presentations, film screenings, etc. these meetings focus on the wide range of experiences that volunteers have in Belgrade, as well as their thoughts and impressions on the life in Serbia.

Think green: Invitation to Creative Strategies of Sustainability.

ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany) has always been engaged on the path of sustainability and green energies. In September, they will organise for the second time a week of workshops and common reflection on the theme “Creative Strategies of Sustainability for artistic and cultural centre in Europe”. This project organised in the frame of Engine Room Europe aims at giving cultural workers new inspirations to build and manage more sustainable centres.

“Cultural spaces must be respected as spaces of open dialogue and pluralistic culture of perceiving the world”: Political harassment in IZOLYATSIA (Donetsk, Ukraine)

On the 4th of April, a mob of around 100 people broke onto the premises of IZOLYATSIA (Donetsk, Ukraine), crashing the front gates and inflicting other damage to the property with the purpose of putting a halt to an educational event for non governmental organisations.This inherently non-political event was used as an occasion for political actions by protesters, who warned against the spread of new media and new technologies which, according to them, incite violence and insurrection among people.

Transiberica Network is now a reality!

Transiberica Network, a network of independent cultural centres in the Iberian Peninsula, was officially launched during a meeting organised in ZAWP Bilbao (TEH Member, Spain). This is the result of 2 years of hard work and networking, which Trans Europe Halles supported by sharing its expertise with the founders of the network.

This meeting was also the opportuniy for them to discuss the critical economic situation in Spain, and set up the priorities as well as an action plan for their network.

Call for participants: Masterclass for artists on the role of public art in Manifatture Knos (Lecce, Italy)

In the frame of ASEF’s programme Creative Encounters, supported by Trans Europe Halles, Manifatture Knos (Lecce, Italy) will organise a Masterclass residency in September on the role and perspective of public art as a tool for socio-cultural transformation. 9 artists from Asia and 9 artists from Europe will be selected to discuss and try to answer the question: “What is next in art, cities and regeneration?”

100 posters to tell the History: the Visegrad Kama project.

In 2013, Bakelit Multi Art Centre (Budapest, Hungary) together with TEH Members Tabacka (Kosice, Slovakia) and Johan Centrum (Pilsen, Czech Republic) will organise an exhibition of 100 posters showing the change of regimes in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland. This exhibition will tour in the 4 countries involved in the project which aims at illustrating the impact of political changes on culture and society.

Call for proposal to next Crossroad East/West debate - “A man on the road”

On the 21st of April, REX (Belgrade, Serbia) will hold a debate on how the public opinion and the institutions treat migrants who pass through Serbia to join Western Europe. For this occasion, REX is looking for activists or artists interested in this topic to participate as an external eye in the debate. A writer will also be hired to produce an essay for their website and the final publication of the project.

Engine Room Europe: what happened so far?

Half-way through the tree-years project Engine Room Europe, we asked all the partners in charge to give us the summary of what has been achieved through the programme until now. Discover the results gathered in one report!

Happy Birthday Antic Teatre! Crowdfunding for the book of their 10 years.

In 2013, Antic Teatre (Barcelona, Spain) is turning 10 years old! Do you want to offer them a gift? Participate to the crowdfunding they set up to produce a book in three languages (Spanish, Catalan and English) to describe the story of this centre who has now become one of the main agents in revitalising the Casc Antic neighbourhood of Barcelona. With this book, they also want to show how an independent cultural space is created, developed and established.

Cultural collaborations in Eastern Europe: a cycle of debates, presentations and meetings in Poland.

From 8th to 10th of March, Workshop of Culture (Lodz, Poland) gathered an international group of 120 cultural operators to work on new models of cooperation in the frame of the International Seminar “Culture for the Eastern Partnership”.

TEH Members Tabacka Kulturfabrik (Kosice, Slovakia) and Bakelit Multi Arts Centre (Budapest, Hunary) also took part to this event.

Encouraging local creativity to support sustainability: a pancake fair in IZOLYATSIA.

During the traditional Pancake week, IZOLYATSIA (Donetsk, Ukraine) invited about 60 local artisans and designers to communicate with each other and with the local community, to show their products, techniques and hold free workshops for citizens. An event which attracted the record number of visitors per day – more than 1500 guests in 3 hours.

Village Underground expands to Lisboa!

Former employee of Village Underground (London, UK) is opening Village Underground Lisbon, in collaboration with the original centre in London. Instead of old train wagons, they will use recycled containers from the harbor of Lisbon to build artists studios for up to 70 people. There will also be 2 buses, one for a café and one for a meeting place.

A new circus school in Suvilahti.

Finland's biggest circus school moved in Suvilahti (Helsinki, Finland), the former power-plant building, making the centre a significant hub for new circus both on an national and international level.

What is sustainability? The Think Tank met in Paris to work on a common definition and an action plan for the network.

At the end of February, several TEH delegates and Secretary General Birgitta Persson gathered in Mains d’Oeuvres (Saint Ouen, France) to discuss sustainability strategies within the network. This first Think Tank organised outside the annual meetings was very inspiring and the team came out with a suggestion for a definition of what “sustainability” means from Trans Europe Halles’ point of view.

“Architecture of cultural centre Stanica will never be finished”: Stanica builds a new artistic space using sustainable strategies.

TEH Member Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) is a prominent centre when it comes to leading centre in the transformation of public spaces into cultural places. In 2013, they will build a new space using sustainability strategies, in collaboration with STEALTH.unlimited, discovered during their art performance in TEH Member Röda Sten Konsthall (Gothenburg, Sweden).

In 2012, their efforts have also been rewarded with the Bauwelt Advacement Award for the renovation of a synagogue in Zilina. In 2014, a new cultural centre and international gallery space will be opened in this building. There is only one condition to make this dream come true - to find one million euro.

What if bikes were not only made for biking? A new collaboration between Not Quite and Manifatture Knos.

Another collaboration between TEH Members! Karl Hallberg (Not Quite, Sweden), the so-called rural centre of Trans Europe Halles, is organising a workshop in Manifatture Knos (Lecce, Italy) to build bikes with alternative functions in order to make biking more attractive. It is also for him an opportunity to learn more on how manager Michele Bee and his team run their cultural centre and develop their projects. Different contexts, different points of view: no doubt that this journey will be inspiring for both of them!

Call for participants: a residency programme for professional international artists in contemporary performing arts in Arts Printing House

Arts Printing House (Vilnius, Lithuania) offers a residency for professional international artists in Contemporary Performing Arts: Contemporary Circus, Theatre, Dance. For the first time, Arts Printing House opens residency to the managers of performing arts: art directors, festival programmers or managers of the field.

Win a free place in “Sagra dell words” writers retreat in OZU

Writing creatively requires time and space.
Writing creatively requires training the eye to observe closely what goes on around us.
Writing creatively requires discipline and the fostering a habit.

Far too often, in our everyday lives, the hustle and bustle of work, family and other commitments get in the way of writing. We want to write creatively but it usually ends up at the bottom of our to-do list.

How good would it be then to spend a week away with writing being your chief priority?

“Into the roots”: a one week course on healthy and hearty food in OZU

"Into the roots" is a hands-on one week course that weaves together ancient philosophy and profound conversations, with foraging hikes and cooking classes. You will delve into the secrets of old medicine, finding out how our ancestors understood nature and how they kept their health. You will hike out to the mountains in search of local wild edible plants, will return to find out how to turn them into healthy gourmet dishes and you will learn about the history of our nutrition and how it all evolved.

Call for participants: the 14th International Festival for Young Theatre in Kulturzentrum Schlachthof

Participate to the 14th International Festival for Young Theatre in Kultruzentrum Schlachthof (Bremen, Germany) on the theme: WORLDDESIGNS.BREAKOUT

Portugal is for sale!

Delayed fundings, big cuts in the culture budget and a lot of people leaving the country for the former colonies. Portugal is one of many countries that have been hit very hard by the financial crisis. How do they cope with the hard times and is there still hope? Ada Arduini (Interzona, Italy) and Project Manager Maja Lindquist went to Lisbon, to take the temperature of the independent culture scene and see what’s still cooking in the very southwest corner of Europe.

Voices of the volunteers: the story of Carl and Linus, participants in the 220 Volts! project in Fabryka Sztuki.

In December, Carl Stenqvist and Linus Lindgren, 24 years old, had the chance to fly in Lodz, Poland, to take part in the 220 Volts! project in Fabryka Sztuki. The first one is studying urban planning, the other one communication, and both of them are volunteers in Mejeriet (Lund, Sweden), another TEH centre.

They tell us the story of their Polish week, and the start of this project which gives young volunteers the opportunity to get a professional training on cultural management through very concrete projects. A professional training, indeed, but also a strong personal experience, as it seems.

Call for participants: New activities, great names and good opportunities at OZU cultural centre.

OZU (Monteleone Sabino, Italy) starts 2013 with a lot of new workshops in the fields they are mostly involved in: food, writing, dance and music.

Attention! It is still possible to have a 15% discount on the improvisation and choreographic composition workshop, Spazi di vita, by applying before the 16th of February.

Call for partners: Do you want to host DOM’s creative journey from Romania to Paris?

During the summer 2013, TEH Member DOM La Cupola del Pilastro (Bologna, Italy) and their theatre company Laminarie will go on a trip overland, similar to the one that Constantin Brancusi carried out by foot from Romania to Paris. This journey is part of a theatre project dedicated to the life of the sculptor. Along the way, the group wants to organise four creative stop-over in other cultural organisations.

Are you willing to host a piece of their journey?

Travel with Stanica in TEH centres!

Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) shortens the distance between TEH Members! Their new initiative, the “Kunstbus”, brings the participants in a one-day trip to another European country.

On the 9th of December, the bus traveled to Vienna, Austria, where the group had the chance to visit WUK, one of the biggest cultural centres in Europe, but also another TEH Member.

“Put all the shit together and you’re going to have a good soup”: recipe for an artistic residency in Culture Factory Polymer

Culture Factory Polymer, the old toy factory in Tallinn, Estonia, has a year round international artist residency program. But their residencies are maybe a bit different from what you already know. Ernest Truely, coordinator of these residencies, invites you to a guided tour behind the gigantic walls of the factory, and introduces the specific rules of the building.

Read them carefully! They might save your life.

Spaghetti architecture and vibrobots: Learning the techniques of digital technology in a playful way in IZOLYATSIA.

Did you ever consider spaghetti as a material for an architecture project? This is one of the ideas IZOLYATSIA had in order to prepare children and adults for their IZOLAB, the first digital studio in Ukraine to be opened soon. Through playful workshops, participants started discovering all the possibilities that the digital technology will offer to them in the future.

VIVA Lab Cosenza is preparing for the future!

The performance festival organized in the frame of VIVA Lab Consenza has now come to an end! On the 8th and 9th of December, some of the most important names of the performance scene were gathered in southern Italy, for an event which was organized hand in hand with the local community of the city. Read the full summary of this project in which Trans Europe Halles was an active partner!

A new collaboration within Trans Europe Halles for Living Under(ground).

Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) invited the new TEH Member Manifatture Knos (Lecce, Italy) to take part in their Living Under(ground) project, a creative laboratory focused on public space. Manifatture Knos share the same interest in the reuse of public space for cultural purpose and is part of a program to turn abandoned railway stations into creative centres.

DOM La cupola del Pilastro and Laminarie won the UBU Prize 2012!

Newest TEH Member DOM La Cupola del Pilastro and Laminarie were awarded the UBU Prize in the “special project” category for their activities in Bologna. This prize is one of the most important award for Italian theater and is voted by 54 top art critics of the country.

Johan Centrum: The city of Pilsen pays tribute to the legend of Czech underground culture

The abandoned railway station used by Johan Centrum for its activities in Pilsen has a new address: Johan Centrum’s proposal to rename the bridge where it is located after Ivan Martin Jirous, the symbol of the Czech underground culture, has been accepted by the city. A very good example of the links that the centre managed to build with the local government, which also illustrates the theme of TEH Meeting 77 to be held in Johan Centrum: “Cooperation, not competition”.

Viva Performance Lab kicks off

As TEH’s profile continues to grow, its expertise and support is requested
more and more. The latest addition to this process is a partnership with Viva
Performance Lab, an initiative by the city hall of Cosenza, Southern Italy,
to explore ideas around local arts initiatives, international networking and
building a collective approach to Cosenza’s cultural development.

TEH advising in the development of Marina Abramovic Culture Centre

The bottom-up theme of the TEH Meeting 74 in Gothenburg, Sweden really hit the nail on the core competence of Trans Europe Halles. The network is full of people from all over Europe who are influencing local and regional politics through cultural actions and who know what it takes to reconvert an old industrial building and bring it to artistic and communal life.

BEEznes Conference

During September 6th and 7th the BEEznes conference took place in Łódź, Poland. The conference focused on how to develop corporate volunteering in the cultural sector, by establishing a cooperation between arts, culture and the business sector. This experience was documented, please watch the video in TEH TV.

TEH is a good example!

Trans Europe Halles has been quoted as a good example in a report from the Expert Group on Better Access and Wider Participation in Culture, commissioned by the European Union Open Method of Coordination (OMC). Find out more about this report which supports some ideas which independent cultural centres also stand up for.

Polish/Ukrainian Jazz Festival

Jazz Bez is a Polish/Ukrainian music festival with more than ten year tradition in Lublin (Poland) and will be held for the fifth time. Musicians from all over the world will meet and perform.

Cav_a goes to Croatia

The second edition of Antic Teatre’s international cultural exchange programme “cav_a” will take place in Rijeka (Croatia). Cav_a is a cultural exchange programme devised to share, understand and create awareness of contemporary creative performing arts practices in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, and in return learn about such practices in each host country is visited.

Samovar - Winter Fair AT IZOLYATSIA

Winter Fair at IZOLYATSIA (Donetsk, Ukraine) will bring together local craftsmen and artisans who create amazing things from wool and felt, glass and clay, textiles and straw to organize a magical winter wonderland and give the holiday mood ahead of the New Year.

Independent arts under dictatorship: Piotr Kuljeu’s statement about the situation in Belarus

During TEH Meeting 74 in Gothenburg, Piotr Kuljeu, from Art Siadziba in Minsk, Belarus got a phone call: he learnt that the KGB closed his independent cultural centre before it was even opened and arrested the volunteers working in it. Piotr decided to shorten his stay in the Meeting and flew back to his country. Shortly before he left, we recorded his statement about the situation in Belarus: Watch on TEH TV: http://www.teh.net/tv/

Dimanche Rouge for Kultuuritehas Polymer

Kultuuritehas Polymer was selected as a partner for the Dimanche Rouge monthly series of performance festivals. This event with 70 artists from 24 countries was staged parallel in Paris and Tallinn on Oct. 19-21. Performance spaces in Estonia were chosen to emphasize an inspiring axis between the independent centre for non institutionalised art Kultuuritehas Polymer and the state art museum KuMu.

Stanica connects arts and football!

Stanica (Žilina, Slovakia) launched a fund-raising campaign to support the construction of a new exhibition space for fine arts in the Neolog Synagog. And they got the support from the best Slovak football team, MŠK Žilina!

No reeducables at Off Limits

No reeducables is a installation by Francisco Ruiz Infante at Off Limits November 19-23rd inspired by Stefano Massini’s “Mujer no reeducable” that was written in 2007 after the murder of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaja. The piece is a series of instantaneous of the Chechenia’s war inspired by the journalist chronicles and a reflection about freedom of speech and journalism. After reading Mujer no reeducable, the visual artist Ruiz Infante proposes us a specific tour of sonorous resonances, images and some slogans.

China Dox @Subtopia

Subtopia is working with the Swedish Documentary film club Doc Lounge and a number of other partners to present a three days film festival called China Dox. The festival is focused on independent Chinese documentaries and will take place in Stockholm 4-6th November, 2012.

Videonale-Donetsk at IZOLYATSIA

In partnership with Videonale, the oldest European biennale of video art, IZOLYATSIA holds an exhibition (October 13 - December 2) of contemporary video art. It consists of works from the 13th Videonale edition which program was selected from 1776 applications received from 76 countries.

VAIN ATTEMPTS - Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg at Röda Sten Konsthall

Röda Sten Konsthall proudly presents: Vain Attempts – the first comprehensive solo exhibition in Gothenburg by Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, running October 6 through November 25, 2012.

Culture Action Europe’s Conference and General Assembly "Act for culture, act for Europe"

From 9 to 11 November 2012 Culture Action Europe's Conference and General Assembly takes place in Brussels (Belgium) with the aim to develop the capacity to foster sustainable models for lifting Europe out of its crisis. The contribution towards the conference costs can be lifted under certain conditions.

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: Workshop for emerging artists in Cosenza, Italy

Trans Europe Halles is involved in a new contemporary art project in Cosenza, Italy, which aims at developing the cultural offer of the city and to professionalise the local cultural workers. From the 1st to the 9th of December 2012, 8 emerging artists from different countries will take part in a workshop with Tania Bruguera and Cristiana Perrella. At the end of the week, they will have the chance to participate to a performing festival to be held in the city centre. Hurry up: deadline for application is 5th of November!

Leaders Lab in Verona, Italy October 22-23rd

Bossless models and slow food when TEH Leaders Lab, TEH:s Cross-European leadership programme within the Engine Room Europe project, visited Interzona in Verona, Italy October 22–23rd. The topic of the public talk held on October 22th, was "Bossless models and situational leadership underlying collective creative process". The workshop was held by Artway of Thinking and was related to the structure of Interzona, who is built entirely on voluntary efforts.

Bottom Up! More local networks

Thinking globally and acting locally has lead to a round table of Estonian independent cultural practises recently in a symposium „The Hand that Feeds You“. Participants worked on relations between initiatives and their donors but also on the definition of legitimacy in the representation of marginal interest groups, listened to researchers' reports on the historical background of citizen initiatives and struggled to put together a proposition about better inclusion of independent practises in the base legislation of culture.

ENCATC meeting on Networked Culture in London

In 12-14 September, former TEH Communication Officer Plamena Slavcheva was invited to talk during the ENCATC conference in London. This event organised under UNESCO’s patronage focused on new creative ideas to improve cultural management and education at a time where the demand for multidisciplinary competences is increasing. Plamena’s presentation introduced the idea of transculturalism as a way to transcend the traditional concept of culture which still implies a separation between “us” and “them”.

Creative Strategies of Sustainability

Between the 10th and the 16th of September, the first “Creative Strategies of Sustainability” took place in ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany), in the frame on Engine Room Europe. During one week, the participants coming from 15 European countries had the opportunity to reflect on their professional practices and on how to make them more sustainable. Goals and actions plans were also set up to prepare for the next workshop in one year!

Audio-visual event ZVUKOIZOLYATSIA 2: Outside in IZOLYATSIA

On September 28-29th, 2012 IZOLYATSIA (Donetsk, Ukraine) presents ZVUKOIZOLYATSIA 2: Outside – an audio-visual event, which is a new attempt of a dialogue between avant-garde music and possibilities of cutting-edge visual technologies synthesised in an industrial space.

Culture Factory Festival 2012 in Polymer (Tallinn, Estonia)

A message to those who are in for something really different! You probably missed the Culture Factory Polymer Festival this year, but keep your eyes peeled for this longest alternative cultural event in Estonia, traditionally filling 10 long days with an array of art from insane performances to printing workshops for the elderly. Word is spread mouth to mouth and the impressive international programme comes together only days before the festival starts.

Picking olives in Italy?

Hungry for a taste of Italia? In November, Ozu (Monteleone Sabino, Italy) organises the 2012 edition of olive picking weekends. Join them for three unforgettable days during which you will discover one of the marvelous hidden corners of Italy, and taste the traditional style of life and the genuine food, while discovering the secrets of their green gold: extra virgin olive oil.

B2B Festival - Barcelona to Berlin, Antic Teatre

International electronic music and mixed media festival featuring artists from Berlin and Barcelona

And Why John Cage?

And Why John Cage?, produced by Antic Teatre, on tour in Slovakia and the Czech Republic September 27th - October 5th

Call for artistic project

Antic Teatre and La Central del Circ are looking for artistic project for a creation residence and coproduction.

TOU SCENE - DANCING CITIES

Tou Scene (Stavanger, Norway) is looking for centers willing to take part in their new European project, “Dancing Cities”. This project will gather twenty performers/artists from four European countries to create a performance dealing with cultural diversity and intercultural tolerance.

Job Opening at fD!

freeDimensional, a New York based organisation that advances social justice by hosting activists in art spaces and using cultural resources to strengthen their work, now invites applications for the position of Manager.

Call for Passionate people

La Seconda Luna is a prize-money conceived to publicly acknowledge the value of passion.

19th Banlieues d’Europe Meeting in Turin, Italy

From 21st to 23rd of November, the network Banlieue d’Europe organises its 19th meeting in Turin, Italy. During three days, the role of culture faced with the rise of nationalism in Europe will be discussed through workshops, lectures, and an Artistic and Cultural Projects village. The detailed programme will soon be released: keep an eye on their website!

Connected by the Border

Trans Cultura Foundation (Poland) together with Workshops of Culture (Poland) and partners from Eastern Partnership countries has started the international project dedicated to the building of the new model of culture networking in Eastern Partnership and non – EU countries.

Word Art Collective

A non-profit initiative, Word Art Collective is curating an art and design exhibition exploring the theme of European identity. Artists based in Europe are invited to submit their original and digital artwork to the exhibition. The deadline for submission is 14 September 2012.

Bottom Up! Konstepidemin

Great things can be achieved through inspiration and strong will. The founders of Konstepidemin, Robert Jonsvik and Jens Mattiasson, proved this when they took over the former Epidemic Hospital and turned it into Sweden's largest Independent Art Centre.

Bottom Up! Röda Sten Art Centre

The old boiler house, which became the Röda Sten Konsthall twenty years ago, has been involved in the urban development of the area where it is situated since its establishment. Involving actively in the very space where the building stands under a huge bridge, The Röda Sten Konsthall is also one of the only spots in Gothenburg where you can actually reach the water. The industrial harbour blocks the way to the river everywhere else in the city.

The Living Underground Workshop and Symposium in Stanica

One of our member centres, Stanica, hosted the Living Underground Workshop and Symposium.

Crossroads East West Project at REX

Bojana Piškur, member of the Radical Education Collective and custodian at Modern Gallery Ljubljana, will be participating in the Crossroads East West residence programme in Belgrade from 24 September to 3 October at one of our member centres, the Cultural Centre Rex.

‘Landing figures’ at PRAC

The Bulgarian part of the A-team project was held at Pro Rodopi Art Centre in Bostina between 15 July- 5 August 2012.

Two New Art Residency Activities in Zilina

We are happy to announce two new residency activities. The Spanish light designer, Laura Murguia and her Slovak guest artists will focus on bringing life and memories back to the deserted Nova Synagoga. And photographer Peter Snadik cannot wait to share his experiences and create new works back in Zilina.

Frogs In Hot Water: A play hosted by REX

Throughout August, REX is hosting the rehearsals of the play FROGS IN HOT WATER performed by the Spreeagenten theatre company. Premiere of the play is on 18 September at 8 pm. The revivals will be taking place between 19 – 23 September at 8 pm.

Conference On Audience Development, 16-17 October, Brussels

"Creative Europe", the European Commission's proposal for its future funding programme for the cultural and creative sectors for the period 2014-2020, proposes an important new focus on audience development in order to foster long-term audiences for European cultural works.

Apply for artistic residencies in Košice

In the frame of European Capital of Culture, NGO Košice 2013 is running an international Artist in Residency programme for emerging artists open to collaboration with local artists.
Deadline for applying: 20th of August

On the Move meeting in Portugal

On 24-25th May, Camille Dumas from the TEH Executive Committee joined On the Move’s meeting and the seminar “International Artistic mobility and Territorial Diplomacy” organized by its member the Roberto Cimetta Fund.

Clowns don't like kids!

The second edition of the International Clowns Festival took place from the 1st to the 17th of June at Kulturfabrik, Theatre Esch & U4 in The second edition of the International Clowns Festival took place from the 1st to the 17th of June at Kulturfabrik, Theatre Esch & U4 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

Call for machines and musicians

Do you know any musicians using machines as instruments with connection to Trans Europe Halles? Would you like to play together or work together in any other way?

Documentary film screening at Off Limits

On July 12th, there will be a presentation and screening of the documentary "Y yo entonces me llevé un tapón" at Off Limits (Madrid, Spain). The documentary reveals many clues about how "En el balcón vacío" (At the empty balcony) a mythical Spanish movie about the exile, was made.

Stanica is Living Under(ground)

In June, Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) organised a Volunteer Day with the aim to involve the local community in Living Under(ground), a programme within Engine Room Europe using creative architecture to explore public spaces. Stanica also offers workshops and artistic residencies until the end of 2013.

Out in Riga

Riga, not the first place that springs to mind when you think about an interesting music scene. We beg to differ. Latvia’s capital is booming. The city bursts with music, art and culture. On July 12th, six very different music acts will come to P60 (Amstelveen, The Netherlands) for an evening of high quality Baltic music.

Rural animator - a new qualification for artists and culture workers?

Katharina Trabert, from the Engine Room Europe A-Team project, participated in the conference ”Rural animators- a new profession?” in Crete between June 7-9th. According to Trabert, the artist or cultural worker serves as a rural animator putting his/her skills for potential new sources of income and stronger impacts of his/her work on regional development.

Protests against the Romanian government

On the 24th of June, Trans Europe Halles sent a protest letter signed by Secretary General Birgitta Persson to the Romanian government and Prime Minister Victor Ponta. The protest letter is one of many letters and strong reactions from all over the world against the emergency bill intended to politically subordinate the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) and change its mission.

2nd Meeting of Red TransIbérica

At the end of June, the founding members of Red TransIbérica (Trans-Iberic Network) met at cultural centre El Hacedor in Burgos, Spain. During the past year, the network has served as a model for the establishment of regional networks of independent cultural centres, and has collaborated with Trans Europe Halles throughout the process.

Advocating for culture: the art of entertainment?

On the 5–8th of June, the TEH Coordination Office attended the Next Step EU conference in Herning, Denmark, about the new European programme for culture: Creative Europe. It was also an occasion to meet again with the Nordic Advocacy Group to talk about the concrete initiatives that the participants had developed to advocate for independent culture since the end of January. A lot of ideas came up.

A-Team: Artists for Change activate Europe

The A-Team has been very active this past month! On the 1st of June, Wilfried Agricola de Cologne presented his final project at NOASS (Riga, Latvia) while UK-based artist Alexia Mellor opened her Unicorn Union in Fengersfors (Sweden) in collaboration with Not Quite.

Art sounds festival at Röda Sten

Göteborg Art Sounds (GAS) is the largest festival in Sweden for art sounds, modern composition, improvisation and electronica. On the 1-3rd June, Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden) will host the festival's sound installation Nomos II by Gianandrea Gazzola and the concerts by Roberto Dani, Sidsel Endrese and Philip Jeck.

TEH Meeting 73 in Košice, Slovakia!

During some warm spring days 10-13th of May, TEH Meeting 73 was held at Tabačka Kulturfabrik, Košice, Slovakia. More than 100 cultural workers, artists and researchers attended the meeting and had the chance to explore the theme of Overcoming Borders. TEH would like to thank everyone who participated in the meeting and contributed to its success! Special thanks to the Tabačka team for the great hosting and organization!

TEH welcomes two new members!

During the TEH General Assembly at TEH Meeting 73 in Košice, Slovakia, Antic Teatre (Barcelona, Spain) and Haceria Artes Escénicas (Bilbao, Basque Country) became TEH Members. Antic Teatre is an independent cultural and social centre for multidisciplinary arts, based in a cultural heritage building constructed in 1950 in central Barcelona. Similarly, Haceria Aretoa works with restored industrial buildings. Haceria is a multifunctional space which functions as a platform for anyone wanting to “make” (“hacer”) and exhibit his artwork.

A-Team kicks off in Riga!

The Engine Room Europe programme A-Team tackles community issues through creative action. Four artists have been selected to realise four creative processes in partnership with culture centres in Bulgaria, Latvia, Slovenia and Sweden from May till July 2012. The German artist Agricola de Cologne is already working at NOASS (Riga, Latvia) on the theme of tolerance towards minorities in local communities. Follow A-Team´s blog to know more about the project developments!

How to make group decisions?

Within the framework of the Engine Room Europe programme Leaders Lab, Mains d'Œuvres (Saint-Ouen, France) invites you to take part in a workshop on group dynamics and collective decision making on 4th June. This workshop is dedicated to leaders of artistic and cultural structures that wonder how to create a dynamic that allows everyone to contribute to the collective decisions when it is necessary. Find out more at the website of Mains D'Oeuvres!

How to build an independent cultural centre?

As part of the Engine Room Europe Programme Living Under(ground), Stanica (Žilina, Slovakia) has opened a call for participation in a workshop on the creation of cultural venues. During the workshop different speakers from Trans Europe Halles will share their experience in cultural centre creation and will discuss the different ways to deal with the subject of architecture of cultural centres, low-cost building possibilities (but not only) and public spaces in which the cultural centre operates. The deadline for applications is on 15th June! To apply click here.

Send your film to Waterpieces 2012!

The "International Contemporary and Video Art Festival WATERPIECES", hosted by NOASS (Riga, Latvia), promotes audiovisual arts events in the Baltic countries for 12 years now, representing the fresh material in moving image art. Artists from Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia are invited to submit their film work by 31st June! Follow the link below to learn more about the participation criteria and procedure.

Are you an artist wanting to go to Ukraine?

From 12 July until 25 August 2012, Izolyatsia (Donetsk, Ukraine) will hold its third annual artists-in-residence program. The centre is now accepting proposals from artists wanting to explore the notion of moving image via the prism of a determined research theme. Artists working in all media (including performance and text) are welcome to apply. The deadline is on 8th June 2012.

Interzona celebrates its 20th anniversary!

On 31st December 2012, the last night of the year, Interzona (Verona, Italy) will turn twenty and for this reason the centre is planning to show and tell what is going on throughout one year inside the walls of Interzona's Warehouse 22. One year in the life of Interzona could be the working title of this project for the 20th anniversary of the cultural association.

Protest against Pope Benedict XVI’s

From 7th June till 13th July, Off Limits (Madrid, Spain) will host the exhibition NO Projected Above the Pope by Santiago Sierra and Julius von Bismarck. The artists projected the word NO above the Pope during several of his appearances at World Youth Day in Madrid, 2011. Here, the technique is used to project the message “NO”, which will appear, inevitably and involuntarily, on the films and photos taken by others.

Notebooks made of recycled old books?

Born out of chance and necessity, TEH Friend Creative Center Carnation (Tartu, Estonia) has the unique capacity to produce and sell the TEH Tartuensis series of sustainable and elegant notebooks that you can now order here. Also special about this offer is that TEH Members get a 25% discount on orders for notebooks. Support your struggling TEH Friend Creative Center Carnation with this unique opportunity! Find out more at the Tartuensis website!

First Eastern Partnership Culture Congress in Lublin, Poland!

TEH Friend centre Workshops of Culture (Lublin, Poland), together with a team of representatives of the Programme Council, working groups and Congress organizers has participated in elaborating and publishing of the Recommendations from the first Eastern Partnership Culture Congress, held in Lublin, 21 – 23 October 2011.

Culture Action Europe through the lenses of Luca Bergamo

Countdown Creative Europe 10th May - 14 days to go!

Today, Trans Europe Halles call on all TEH Members, Friends and Ambassadors to support the next EU Culture programme 'Creative Europe' 2014-2020 and to put pressure on their politicians by sending them the statement on Creative Europe (elaborated by Culture Action Europe after input from us and all members) BEFORE 10th May when all EU Ministers of Culture will discuss the proposal for the next culture programme.

Another TEH Member forced to close?

Today, the TEH Coordination Office received the sad news that TEH Member L'Avant Rue (Paris, France) is running the risk of imminent closure due to withdrawal of part of its funding. As a compensation the centre will only receive limited funding for specific residency projects. L'Avant Rue is therefore calling for international support. Help by signing the online petition for L'Avant Rue!

TEH Meeting 73 explores the theme of Overcoming Borders

The theme of TEH Meeting 73 Overcoming Borders to Independent Cultural Development will introduce the unique geopolitical position of Tabačka and Košice that lie close to three borders and will put a spotlight on independent culture in Slovakia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. Keep on reading to learn more about the meeting's programme and about Košice's multicultural and multilingual identity.

Call for proposals for Asia-Europe collaborations

In partnership with Arts Network Asia and Trans Europe Halles, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is supporting new artistic and networking collaborations in the framework of the Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe 2012-2013 programme. Deadline for the submission of proposals will be extended from 30 June 2012 to 31 July 2012. Successful applicants will be informed by 31 October 2012.

Want to get professional training for volunteers? Apply now!

If you have experience in volunteering at a cultural organisation, wish to work in the cultural sector in the future and would like to meet like-minded people from all over Europe, participate in professional training and learn how to run cultural projects (both in theory and in practice). Take part in the international Engine Room Europe programme 220Volt! and apply for a training at Fabryka Sztuki (Łódź, Poland). The deadline is on 15th June 2012!

Next round of applications for Staff Exchange!

Staff exchanges are taking place across Europe already! Deadline for the next application round is 25th May 2012. Before the TEH Meeting 73 at Tabacka, please make sure your centre has submitted a hosting form (at the bottom of this page) and discuss with your staff if there is anyone within your organization who would like to take part in an exchange. Staff Exchange programme is open to TEH Members only. Don't miss this opportunity to learn and exchange with your fellow Trans Europe Hallers!

Living Under(ground) goes public!

Engine Room Europe programme Living Under(ground) attracts new audiences via the public Pecha Kucha Night (PKN) presentations at Stanica (Žilina, Slovakia), starting on the 22nd of June 2012. The event will stage the most creative architecture, design and public space projects and inventive solutions. If you have a suggestion for a great low-fi architectural project to be presented let us know! Between April 30th and May 6th, Stanica will also host a workshop on alternative architecture.

Prac collaborates with Stanica and Tabačka

In April 2012 Prac (Bostina, Bulgaria) toured Slovakia with the Bulgarian-Slovak Physical Theatre Project Ball. Prac presented it in Stanica (Žilina, Slovakia) and Tabačka (Košice, Slovakia). In Stanica, the performance was also shot as a videoproject. Ball is a production by Petar Todorov with participation with one of the best Bulgarian and Slovak performers Desislava Mincheva and Jaro Vinarsky. It is a project about the relationship between people and the planet Earth.

New exhibition space kicks off at Izolyatsia

The first exhibition at Izolyatsia’s new space MEDPUNKT, entitled Gender in IZOLYATSIA: Seams of Patriarchy and Identity Tailoring will run from 20th April until 8th July. The exhibition is dedicated to the problematics of gender in the Ukrainian context. Avoiding an unreflected enumeration of possible Ukrainian gender stereotypes, the exhibition strives to uncover social and psychological mechanisms of gender construction.

Are you an artist who wants to go to Tartu, Estonia?

In partnership with the Tartu Artist in Residency (AiR) program, Creative Centre Carnation (Tartu, Estonia) invites artists from a variety of disciplines to apply for residencies in centres across the city of Tartu, Estonia. Applications can be made via the Tartu AiR webpage.

Want to reduce your electricity bill?

An effective way of reducing the energy consumption is changing the traditional fluorescent lamps to LED lamps. Kaapelitehdas (Helsinki, Finland) have now changed 500 of them. In comparison - the LED lamp needs no ballast and consumes only 22 watts of power. And it's at least 5 times more durable than the traditional fluorescent lamp.

Debate on the art work "Gypsies and Dogs" at REX

Within the frame of Crossroads East-West and as the part of the project Think about others – think about yourself, supported by Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self Government, Cultural Centre REX (Belgrade, Serbia) will invite artists, theoreticians, curators, activists and cultural institutions representatives from Belgrade to discuss the art work Gypsies and Dogs by Zoran Todorović. According to some Roma organizations and activists, the work was produced through obvious violation of children’s rights. The debate will be held on April 27th at REX.

Living Underground workshops and residencies in 2012

Living Underground is a creative laboratory focused on the use of public and cultural space. There will be several residencies between April - November 2012 and two workshops between June - November 2012 at Stanica (Žilina, Slovakia). The aim of the activities is to introduce different approaches to set up (build or renovate) a cultural venue with low-cost building opportunities. The deadlines for participation will be announced soon!

New programme at Röda Sten

From March 23rd until April 1st, 2012, Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden) invites you to a group exhibition by young curators from Göteborg, Sweden. Shortly after, between april 14th and May 6th, 2012, the centre will host an exhibition commemorating the 30 year anniversary of education and research in photography.

Last carnival at Beat Initiative?

Beat Initiative (Belfast, UK) organised once again the colorful Belfast's St Patrick's Day Parade which took place on March 17th at Beat Carnival Centre. The event counted with artists working on the floats and costumes and teams working with youth groups and community centres to prepare their participation. Unfortunately, this could be the last event of this type in Belfast as Beat Initiative does not count with the support of the City Council anymore.

New exhibition space at Izolyatsia

On April 20th, 2012, Izolyatsia (Donetsk, Ukraine) opens a new exhibition space MEDPUNKT which will serve as an experimental curatorial platform for young Ukrainian artists. The initiative is the result of the centre's continuous effort to reinhabit the industrial structures of a former insulation materials factory by gradually integrating them into the art-centre’s cultural space.

Get sustainable!

Kulturfabrik (Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg) has recently devoted itself to reflecting on sustainable development and a continuous improvement of its own practices for minimising its impact on the environment. As a result the centre has developed an Environmental Charter which aims at becoming a global and coherent programme beyond sporadic and disparate activities.

In-Sonora opening at Off Limits

The Opening Concert of VII In-Sonora Festival will be held at Off Limits (Madrid, Spain) from May 24th to April, 11th, 2012. After 7 years evolving as a reference in the field of Sound and Interactive Art, the seventh edition of the festival brings a lot of innovative proposals related to sound art.

Eco-cups network in Slovakia

Stanica (Žilina, Slovakia) and Tabačka (Košice, Slovakia) together with two other cultural centres in Slovakia started to use recyclable plastic cups, which are washable and can be used permanently. This idea prevents the creation of unrecyclable plastic waste that is usually produced during festivals or other crowded events. Why not follow this example at your centre?

Circus Art at Subtopia

Circus Arts is a circus production company active in Subtopia (Stockholm, Sweden). Their fire circus production The Burnt Out Punks have been touring Europe since 2006, playing for more than 250 000 people in 8 countries leaving blown away audiences behind with their unique mixture of theatre, circus and street art.

Artist in Residency at Off Limits

Núria Güell, artist in residency at Off Limits (Madrid, Spain), presents her project Aplicación Legal Desplaçada #3: F.I.E.S. For the project, she issued an open call to prisoners subjected to the F.I.E.S. regime (Inmates under Special Observation), inviting them to write a poem, a short story or to make a drawing to illustrate the institutional torture to which they are being subjected.

Music Freedom Day at Bakelit

On March 3rd, 2012, Bakelit Multi Art Center organises a whole day full of music, dance, theatre, film and open discussions raising attention to music censorship and artist discrimination. The centre will highlight gentle and loveable ways of intercontinental cooperations from Africa to Transylvania.

Music Freedom Day at Konstepidemin

On March 3rd, 2012, Konstepidemin (Göteborg, Sweden) will host Jag var på besök i världen (I Visited the World) - singing string quartet Stråf meets the composer Stefan Forssén from Göteborg, Sweden and the Estonian National Poet Doris Kareva. This poetic concert will offer an experience somewhere in the space between jazz, folk and contemporary music.

Eco-posters exhibited at Izolyatsia

Between January 29th and February 29th, 2012, the Platform for Cultural Initiatives IZOLYATSIA (Donetsk, Ukraine) presented 30 works of international artists submitted to the International Triennial of Ecological Posters, The 4th Block, which has been held in Kharkiv, Ukraine since 1991.

TEH in closer contact with the Swedish Minister of Culture

In February 2012, TEH Secretary General Birgitta Persson, wrote a letter to the Swedish Minister of Culture to express the network's position on the new 'Creative Europe' Programme by the European Commission. In this letter, TEH also made a statement in support of the we are more campaign.

Meeting of 21 German Members of CAE in Berlin

As a result, the meeting participants agreed on a letter of recommendation that will be sent to several politicians from Germany and Brussels. The message consists of an ongoing support of smaller initiatives, non-profit orientated projects, networks, separated budget lines for creative industries, culture and arts.

First impressions of ERE Staff Exchange

The Staff Exchange Programme is part of Engine Room Europe Project (2011-2014), initiated by Trans Europe Halles. Its aim is to create mobility opportunities for cultural workers and to exchange knowledge through practice-based learning at another TEH Member centre. Laura Gabrielaityte, the international programme coordinator of Arts Printing House (Vilnius, Lithuania) is the first Staff Exchangees who was sent to Subtopia (Stockholm, Sweden) for a period of two weeks in February 2012. To learn more about her first impressions, we invited her for an interview.

Crossroads East West call for practitioners

Do you want to participate in the mapping of the processes and projects of intercultural dialogue? Crossroads East West (Belgrade, Serbia) searches for a variety of contributions from different countries in Europe. To find out more about the project, read the interview with its coordinator Nebojša Milikić.

Creative Strategies of Sustainability

Within the framework of the Engine Room Europe project, the International Cultural Centre ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany) organises a week of seminar, 10-15th of September 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The theme of the seminar is Creative Strategies of Sustainability for artistic and cultural centres in Europe.

Trans Europe Halles selected by the European Commission for an Annual Operating Grant 2012!

Trans Europe Halles, a European Network of Independent Cultural Centres, has received a €59.000 Annual Operating Grant from the EC Culture Programme for 2012 (Culture Programme 2007–2013, Strand 2). We are delighted about the fact that this is the largest annual grant ever received by Trans Europe Halles (TEH) from the European Commission, and that TEH scored 91 out of a possible 100 points.

EAR call for artists by NOASS

As part of the Engine Room Europe programme European Artist Residencies (EAR), Culture and Arts Projects NOASS (Riga, Latvia) invites visual artists to offer their ideas for the creation of art works in an urban environment. NOASS is looking for artists from all TEH Member centres and Friend organisations are invited to join the project. One of the artistic elements that should be used is water. The deadline for proposals is now extended until 31st May 2012!

Call for artists by A-Team

As part of the three-year European project Engine Room Europe, A-Team - Artists for Change will realise four creative processes in Sweden, Bulgaria, Latvia and Slovenia, teaming up artists, cultural managers and local mediators who will deal with local community issues. For this project, A-Team searches for artists working in any medium affiliated with TEH Member centres or Friend organisations who enjoy process, research and community-based work and interactive dialogue.

Music Freedom Day 2012 at ufaFabrik

ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany) presents Music Freedom Day 2012 under the title Hatua kwa Hatua (Step by Step). It will be held on Saturday, 3rd of March, 2012 at 20:00h. An evening will be dedicated to the artists and members of the Cambodian cultural centre Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS), meaning “The Brightness of Art”.

Röda Sten Programme 2012

From February 11th till March 18th, 2012 Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden) will exhibit a selection of artistic proposals within the Platform #2 - On Notions of Space and Inherent Power Relations. Among the projects that will be presented are Obstruction, an installation by Gustav Hellberg, and Without/Within, a site specific performance by Flytande Galleriet.

Off Limits presents Permission for the Revolution

The exhibition Permission for the Revolution (Attitudes toward weak censorships and their modes of operation) explores and debates about new forms of resistance by citizens in societies that call themselves or are nominated as democratic. The inauguration will be held at Off Limits (Madrid, Spain) on February 18th and the exposition will be available till March 16th, 2012.

A Festival of Words at OZU

Sagra delle words (A Festival of Words) is a residential creative writing course which aims to challenge, inspire and transform your writing. The course will be led by Sheree Mack between 3-10th of June, 2012 and will be hosted by OZU (Monteleone, Sabina, Italy).

Documentary photography at Izolyatsia

On December 10th, 2011, Izolyatsia (Donetsk, Ukraine) hosted the photographer Alexander Chekmenev (Kiev, Ukraine) who presented to the Donetsk audience his newly published monograph on life in Donbass. The photos were followed by explanations of the images’ origin and principle of choice. Alexander described the portrayed people, their work, struggle and way of living.

Two TEH Members lost their venues

The cultural centres Z-Bau (Nürnberg,Germany) and A4 - Zero Space (Bratislava, Slovakia), both TEH Members, got recently deprived from their venues. First, Kulturzentrum Z-Bau (Nürnberg,Germany) had to close in October 2011 after the City Council of Nürnberg took over the management of the centre’s building. Z-Bau’s team informed us about the details in a farewell letter which you can read here. In less than a month later, we received similar alarming news from A4 - Zero Space (Slovakia, Bratislava). After a selection procedure for a new manager of the venue, A4 was not elected to stay in the building. For this reason, tomorrow (December 22nd, 2011) there will be demonstrations in front of the Slovakian Ministry of Culture in Bratislava.

Sustainable Public Areas for Culture in Eastern Countries (SPACES)

SPACES is a project, financed by the European Commission, in which TEH takes part as an associate partner, represented by TEH Ambassador Annette Wolfsberger. The project assembles artists and cultural workers in four Eastern partner countries, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, who aim at reflecting societal issues in the public realm of their city. It will take place from December 2011 to December 2013. To learn more about the project, TEH invited its project manager Ina Ivanceanu for an interview.

What is the future of the European Project?

The Stockholm conference on the 9th of December was organised by Intercult (Stockholm, Sweden), Riksteatern and the European Commission (Sweden) and presented prominent speakers such as the Culture Minister of Sweden Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth and Vladimír Šucha, Director of the Directorate-General for Education and Culture in the European Commission.

TEH represented in Europe and beyond

During the past month, TEH was represented in Europe and the wider world by TEH Embassadors and the TEH Coordination Office. All four events were different in their scope and thematic although they all emphasized the importance of culture on both local and global level. To share the experience with you, we gathered the impressions that we received from the TEH representatives that were sent to present the network.

A project in partnership with Melkweg

How to Disappear in Europe? is a project that brings 27 young European photographers, one from each EU-Member State, to portray an illegal person from their country as a hero. The project is organized in partnership with Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) which will present the project´s three months long exhibition at the Melkweg Gallery. The project is currently looking for more European partners among other TEH Members.

Latest from Mains d'Œuvres

The indie festival Mo'Fo’12 is celebrating 10 years of life and independence between 27-29 January 2012 in Mains d'Œuvres (Paris, France). It consists of 3 days of pop, folk, rock, experimental and electro, with more than 20 concerts, showcases, merchandising, public youth workshops, a re-broadcasting of the concerts on a giant screen, restaurant and bar. Mains d'Œuvres was also the host of a Latvian video art screening showed the recent tendencies of Latvian video art. It took place on Friday, November 25th, 2011 and was organized by Inga Lace from Latvia who is currently in EVS Volunteer at Mains d'Œuvres.

The life of coal-miners presented by Izolyatsia

On December 11th, 2011, the photographer Aleksander Chekmenev (Kiev, Ukraine) presented at IZOLYATSIA his recently published monograph Donbass, which depicts the lives of coal-miners who work in illegal mines.

A Report on the Condition of NGOs and Independent Culture in Belarus

For reliable information on the Belarusian cultural reality.

Culture Action Europe: The position of culture within the new EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020

On the October 6th, the European Commission published its proposals for the next generation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020. The documents cover proposals for Culture Action Europe’s campaign objective on the so-called structural funds, which account for around 35% of the EU budget and which have played a significant role in funding cultural projects in the past and current budget rounds.

Community project by Izolyatsia

Together with its neighbours and friends, Izolyatsia (Donetsk, Ukraine) is developing the Donetsk City Guide for a Japanese Hipster.

Off Limits calls for Swedish artists

Swedish artists are hereby invited to submit proposals for the Spanish/Swedish collaboration 6 EUROS/100 SEK budget Artistic Practices and Precariousness. Deadline 31st December.

Artistic goals and social responsibility of Dutch venues under pressure

Results of a national survey on programming and audience in The Netherlands

International Coalition for Arts, Human Rights and Social Justice (ICARJ)

As a member of ICARJ, TEH supports the network in its effort to contribute to the cross-integration of arts, human rights, social justice and development agendas.

Information and Tips on Crowd Source Funding by Auro Foxcroft, Village Underground (London, UK)

A few words on the basics of crowd source funding by Auro Foxcroft, Village Underground (London, UK). Village Underground has used crowd source funding for their public art project The Wall.

FILM RESIDENCE by SUBTOPIA

Subtopia (Stockholm, Sweden) offers residency support to low budget feature film productions.

New TEH member Off Limits (Madrid, Spain) calls for Swedish artists!

Off Limits turns to TEH to help spreading the news about their first collaborative exhibition abroad “6 EUROS/100 SEK BUDGET” Artistic practices and precariousness.

EVS superstar a.k.a Anna Bardyova aimed high and reached high

An EVS success story by Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) & REX (Belgrade, Serbia). Anna Bardyova was sent by Stanica to REX and now she is organising events, presenting other foreign volunteers to Belgrade and REX. With great success she is attracting large audiences and has even the caught the attention of the Serbian media!

The Wall: A public art project by Village Undergroud (London, UK)

The Wall will be London’s most public gallery.

¡Bienvenido Off Limits!

TEH proudly present its brand new Spanish member Off Limits (Madrid, Spain). Off Limits was unanimously accepted as the 52nd member at the General Assembly in Meeting 72 in Bordeaux, France

TEH within the we are more campaign

The European Union is currently deciding on its framework budget for the period 2014-2020 through a long and complex negotiation process that began in 2010.

Second TEH Leaders Lab explored Free Culture in Spain

On November 9–10th, the participants of Leaders Lab, TEH:s Cross-European leadership training programme within the Engine Room Europe project, met at La Casa Invisible in Malaga, Spain.

The latest from Izolyatsia

On Sunday, 9th October 2011 the biggest industrial area of the art-center Izolyatsia (Platform for Cultural Initiatives) hosted more than 160 visitors who came to take part in the discussion on civil society development and opportunities that personal and institutional initiatives could bring to change the urban space.

Creative Ways of Storing Food for Winter by REX

Cultural centre REX invites you to MICROCULTURES - Creative Ways of Storing Food for Winter Week (No Preservatives Added)! From 13 till 19 October in the Kalenić open-air market in Belgrade and from 21 - 27 October in the open-air market in Leskovac, Serbia.

Laznia Nowa Volunteer Project

The volunteer project by Laznia Nowa welcomes the first meeting with partners and trainers which takes place in Krakow from 12th till 15th October.

Olive oil by OZU

Also this year OZU cultural centre (Monteleone Sabino, Itlay) will make its small-scale production of extra virgin olive oil, with the aim of bringing attention to Sabina region, its cultures and traditions. You can take part in the process in November 4-7 and 18-21, 2011. There are a few places still available!

Great interest in TEH at ”Fábricas en red” conference in Bilbao

The Cultural Department of the Basque Government has initiated a series of grants and events to support cultural operators, organisations and artists to set up creative spaces in the Basque country. Around 160 people active in the field gathered on 13th October 2011 and spent the day together to talk about the results of this initiative so far and also to discuss if and how to organise themselves as a regional network.

Bakelit presents Five in One

The "Five in One" initiative is an international art project of the Bakelit Multi Art Center which aims to get Czech, Slovak, Polish and Hungarian prosaic and visual artists together for common thinking and working and creating a valuable, high standard show. The premiere will be at Bakelit MAC on 24-25-26th October 2011.

Engine Room Europe: Living (under)Ground at Stanica

As part of TEH:s three-year network project Engine Room Europe, Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia) hosted a creative laboratory focused on public and cultural space in August 2011. Living (under)Ground includes four month-long projects in residency, with the aim to analyse and improve the architecture and landscape surrounding cultural centre Stanica.

Moroccan acrobatics in Hangaren at Subtopia

September 25th 2011 is the day for the premiere of the show Chouf Ouchouf in Hangaren by Subtopia situated in Botkyrka, Sweden. Chouf Ouchouf is a performance about challenges in life told with breath taking acrobatics, endearment and joy.

Calling video artists for Moving Buildings at P60

Moving Buildings is an audiovisual festival at P60 (Amstelveen, The Netherlands) with the ambition to close the gap between high and low art. Now you have the chance to participate! Submission deadline is October 10th.

TEH founder Cor Schlösser retires from Melkweg

TEH was well represented at Cor Schlösser’s retirement party at Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) on September 8th 2011. No less that four Ambassadors were in attendance (Philippe Grombeer, Paul Bogen, Annette Wolfsberger and Sandy Fitzgerald).

TNT goes Tabačka!

On September 15th–16th, TNT (Bordeaux, France) turned into Tabačka Kulturfabrik! Artists, DJ's, performers and staff from Tabačka (Košice, Slovakia) invaded TNT for two days of Slovak culture, food and prices...

TEH takes part in Pop-up Debate during Kulturnatten in Lund

TEH interns Plamena Slavcheva and Edith Salminen took part in the panel debate with international speakers to discuss how cultural organisations today engage with their audiences and stakeholders. Mia Christersdotter Norman from Röda Sten (Göteborg, Sweden) and Jouko Astor from Verkatehdas (Hämeenlinna, Finland) took part in the panel. The debate was organised in partnership between link2 and Trans Europe Halles for Kulturnatten (Night of Culture) in Lund.

TEH at We Are More Conference in Sopot, Poland

On 27–30th July, the Baltic holiday resort of Sopot played host to the international conference "Więcej Kultury - We Are More". Inspired by the Culture Action Europe campaign of the same name, this conference provided an opportunity for over 180 delegates to engage with experts, debate, and workshop on the content of the next EU Cultural Programme 2014-2020.

TEH Ambassador Sandy Fitzgerald at Platforms Congress in Barcelona

The second Congress of European Production Centers and Platforms, PLATFORMS 2011, held in 2010 within the framework of the EUROPES Festival, took place between 12–14th July 2011 in the auditorium of the Espai Cultural Caja Madrid in Barcelona. TEH Ambassador Sandy Fitzgerald was invited to speak at the congress.

Engine Room Europe: Crossroads East West at REX

As part of TEH:s three-year network project Engine Room Europe, REX/Fund B92 (Belgrade, Serbia) presented the launch of Intercultural Dialogue programme Crossroads East West with two debates on June 26th and 27th. These debates centred on 'Working Conditions for Cultural Workers' with invited guests from Spain, Slovenia and Serbia.

TEH collaborates with the City of Lund and Link²

Link², Innovator for Culture & Creativity in Lund, Sweden, is offering the chance for two cultural operators working in the realm of Neighbourhood and Community Arts to travel to Bordeaux and attend TEH Meeting 72, 27–30th October 2011.

Successful year of youth exchanges at Stanica

Stanica reports a successful year of co-operation and exchange of European youth volunteers through the EVS (European Voluntary Service) programme. Besides hosting and sending a number of young volunteers, Stanica also attended the European Youth Week in Antwerp, Belgium.

NOASS presents the WATERPIECES 2011 Festival

The 11th International Contemporary and Video Art Festival WATERPIECES 2011 will take place between 8–10th September 2011 at Floating Art Gallery NOASS and BETANOVUSS (Riga, Latvia).

Experiment with art and technology at Mains d’Œuvres

Mains d’Œuvres (St Ouen, France) invites you to Open Atelier #1 with CRASlab on September 10th. Experience art and technology in a new mix!

Let's Talk About Art: Ars Häme at Edinburgh Art Festival

Eija Hirvonen from Ars Häme/Verkatehdas (Hämeenlinna, Finland) reports from the Edinburgh Art Festival in August 2011, where Finnish/British collaboration project Wasp Factories took form.

PRAC and ufaFabrik to cooperate in September

In September 2011, PRAC (Bostina, Bulgaria) and ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany) will cooperate for the first time with the support of Goethe Institut-Sofia.

TV show “Helt Magiskt” recorded in Hangaren in Subtopia

Subtopia's 2 300 sqm large film and television studio “Hangaren in Subtopia” is currently used by many major film and television productions. Most recently, Swedish television SVT and its production of "Helt Magiskt" is being recorded in front of a live studio audience.

TEH Meeting 72, "Neighbourhood/Voisinage", will take place at TNT in Bordeaux, France, on 27–30th October. Register now - deadline is 15th September!

Estonian Artists in Residency at Not Quite

In July, Art Container from Culture Factory Polymer (Tallinn, Estonia) came to organise the 18th Global Art Container event at Not Quite (Fengersfors, Sweden).

Suvilahti celebrates a full festival summer

Summer is the time for concerts and festivals in Suvilahti, the sister centre of Kaapelitehdas (Helsinki, Finland). This summer was kicked off with a free-of-charge concert with Finnish pop acts on the Helsinki Day, June 12th. Almost 30.000 people visited Suvilahti during the warm Sunday.

Eastern Partnership Culture Congress in Lublin, Poland

Lublin will host an Eastern Partnership Culture Congress between 21st-23rd October. The Congress will be the first event of its kind in Poland and it is a part of a wider project entitled “Eastern partnership as a cultural product”, which is run by Lublin City Office in cooperation with The Centre for Culture in Lublin and Foundation Trans Culture.

New Artist in Residency platform in Maribor, Slovenia

Pekarna Magdalenske Mreže has, in collaboration with MKC Maribor and Maribor 2012, established the new Maribor residency platform – Maribor GuestRoom.

New network of independent cultural centres in Spain and Portugal

From June 3rd-5th, a meeting to constitute the Network of Independent Cultural Centers of Spain and Portugal took place in Espacio Tangente in Burgos, Spain. 19 centers participated in the encounter, together with TEH Ambassador Xavi Pérez and member of Culturaindependiente.com, José Luís Rodríguez.

The Right Bus to Europe leaves from Subtopia

The latest addition to the creative hub Subtopia is RättBuss (The Right Bus). A company in form of a large bus that houses bus-clubbing, concerts, art exhibitions and more. RättBuss is "simply the mobile house of culture we all need and always longed for". Look out for the bus in your city this summer!

IZOLYATSIA project focuses on former factory life

ZvukoIZOLYATSIA is an experimental audio-visual project created in a dialogue with the space of the former insulation materials plant in Donetsk, Ukraine.

PRAC collaborates with Zahrada from Slovakia

Pro Rodopi Art Centre (PRAC) from Bostina, Bulgaria starts a collaborative project with newly established independent cultural centre "Zahrada" ("Garden") from Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

Łaźnia Nowa initiates volunteer project

In July 2011 Łaźnia Nowa begins with a volunteer project called “Design and implementation of a training programme for volunteers in culture management based on the experience of the members of the Trans Europe Halles network.”

(Dis)assembled off to a great start at Röda Sten

"(Dis)assembled" by STEALTH.unlimited is a project and an exhibition on different ways to imagine the city. Until August 21st, visitors can watch and join in the constructions growing in the yard next to Röda Sten.

Engine Room Europe: Building Bridges at Mains d’Œuvres

"How to give me Utopia" is part of the Engine Room Europe project Building Bridges managed by Mains d’Œuvres (St Ouen, France), working with high school students to develop ideas for the city's development.

Creative Encounters: Call for artistic Asia-Europe projects

Creative Encounters is a new initiative that aims to support collaborative artistic projects in the framework of the Asia-Europe dialogue. Trans Europe Halles is one of the partners promoting this initiative for projects taking place between November 2011 and November 2012.

TEH at cultural network conference in Buenos Aires

On May 10-13th, Auro Foxcroft from the TEH Executive Committee attended the network meeting of Red de Centros Culturales de América y Europa (RCCAE) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The theme of the meeting was "Cultural Centres: Information and Communication Technologies".

Wanted: European partners at P60

P60 (Amstelveen, The Netherlands) is looking for partners for the 5th edition of the visual art project Moving Buildings, 10-19th November 2011.

Respirations performing arts festival at Mains d’Œuvres

Experience dance, theatre and performance in 4000 square metres at Mains d’Œuvres (St Ouen, France), 17th-19th June 2011. 10 short works, 10 inspirations, 10 ways of breathing the world!

Mains d’Œuvres curates Budapest exhibition on resistance strategies

Inspired by Wim Delvoye's witty remark 'Better being a virus than catching a cold', this exhibition, which opened on May 24th, examines alternative methods functioning as strategies of resistance in today's society.

STEALTH.unlimited presents »(Dis)assembled« at Röda Sten

»(Dis)assembled« is a project by STEALTH.unlimited taking place at Röda Sten (Göteborg, Sweden) between 11th June - 21st August 2011. The exhibition is an effort to reclaim imagination in shaping the city around us.

ARTfactories/Autre(s)pARTs at seminar on Street Arts and Social Art

The Ser’p’art Company organises a meeting on Street Arts and Social Art in Capestang, France, 5th-12th June 2011. The seminar will gather around 40 artists from different countries, and includes a round-table talk with TEH Friend organisation ARTfactories/Autre(s)pARTs.

Mecklenburg Inspires: Open Call for artistic residencies

The cultural association and TEH Friend organisation Mecklenburg Inspires invites artists and creatives from all disciplines to stay and work inspired by the beautiful region of the German Riviera (German Baltic Sea).

TEH welcomes new members in Ukraine and Hungary

Izolyatsia in Donetsk, Ukraine and Bakelit, Budapest, Hungary join Trans Europe Halles.

Join OZU in the creation of an interdisciplinary performance

Open call for participants to multidisciplinary workshop at OZU (Monteleone Sabino, Italy) on August 4-6th 2011.

Join the Meetphool Network - a platform for the performing arts

Link up, promote your work and keep up to date with the sector.

Welcome to TEH Leaders Lab Talk #1 at Mejeriet on May 9th

Indulge in new perspectives during the interactive lecture Evolving Leadership, mingle with the leaders of 13 independent cultural centres from across Europe and find out what Trans Europe Halles and Lund's new project link2 is all about.

€960.000 to network project Engine Room Europe

TEH is happy and proud to announce that our new network project Engine Room Europe has been awarded a €960.000 grant from the European Commission’s Culture Programme. Engine Room Europe is a three-year project focused on independent cultural workers and their creative processes. The main objective of the project is to increase the capacity and sustainability of independent culture in Europe.

Vifira presents "Hello!" at Subtopia

Influenced by Isaac Newton and his apple, the French countryside and the suburbs of Stockholm, Vifira throw themselves into their most conceptual piece yet.

Report from Istanbul: What's the place for arts and culture in the city?

Marko Brumen from TEH member centre Pekarna Magdalenske Mreže (Maribor, Slovenia) recently participated in the workshop "Making Places for the Arts" in Istanbul. Read Marko's report from the workshop below!

Help needed for The Beat Carnival!

TEH member Beat Initiative in Belfast has recently received news that its grant for The Belfast City Carnival, organised by The Beat for the past 18 years, has been awarded to a commercial events company for 2011. The Beat urgently needs the support of colleagues and friends worldwide.

TEH supports the Free Belarus Now campaign

On March 19th it was three months since the crackdown on opposition protesters in Minsk, Belarus. Many of the protesters are still imprisoned and facing many years in jail. TEH dedicated the day to the Free Belarus Now campaign through events at several member centres around Europe.

MINDWARE: Artistic residencies in Lublin, Poland

In 2011 Poland will start its presidency of the European Council of the EU, which will be associated with a series of artistic events. One of the events happening in Lublin and belonging to the national cultural programme will be a programme of artistic residences called "MINDWARE. Technologies of Dialogue."

Manifesto for Independent Culture in Spain

Throughout 2010 the identification, cooperation and internationalisation project www.culturaindependiente.com took place in Spain. The project was realised in collaboration with Trans Europe Halles, the international platform Artfactories and a partial funding from the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development.

Digital Storytelling workshop for participants 50+

This summer cultural centre Watershed in Bristol (UK) will host a Digital Storytelling workshop for older learners (50+) with little or no experience of digital media as part of the Grundtvig learners programme. The workshop will take place from Monday 6th - Friday 10th June 2011 and focuses on the topic of love.

CHANGING ROOM Study published!

Changing Room - Mobility of Non-Artistic Cultural Professionals in Europe is a first-of-its-kind research study by the Sibelius Academy examining mobility issues of the “backstage staff” of European culture within the Trans Europe Halles project CHANGING ROOM.

Sign the "we are more" manifesto!

we are more, the Europe-wide arts advocacy campaign set up by Culture Action Europe, has now launched its manifesto online. With the manifesto, we who value and shape contemporary European cultures call on national governments and European decision-makers to strengthen the recognition of the role of arts and culture in the development of European societies by increasing the support to culture in the next EU budget.

TEH at Culture in Motion conference in Brussels

Birgitta Persson, Secretary General of TEH, was invited to present the CHANGING ROOM project at the Culture in Motion conference in Brussels, Belgium on 15 – 16th February together with other projects grantees mostly from the Culture Programme. There was a lot of interest for CHANGING ROOM from other participants, especially the MatchMaker, which is now open source and open to everyone.

TEH at To Culture With Love. Management workshop in Potsdam

On February 13 – 16th, Marian Söderholm from the TEH Office participated in the second edition of To Culture With Love. Management workshop in Potsdam, Germany. TCWLM is an international workshop for European young professionals and students working in the field of arts and culture.

Cambodia and Roma culture in focus on Music Freedom Day

ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany), REX (Belgrade, Serbia) and Konstepidemin (Göteborg, Sweden) are three of the TEH member centres who will participate in this year's Music Freedom Day on March 3rd. UfaFabrik offer an evening of music, film, readings and talks, all focusing on the history and contemporary life in Cambodia.

Milón Méla workshop at OZU this summer

This year, OZU (Monteleone Sabino, Italy) will host the Milòn Méla Source's Research Workshop between 30th June – 9th July.

TEH condemns the assassination of Guatemalan artist Victor Leiva

TEH are concerned to hear about the assassination of Guatemalan artist Victor Leiva on February 2nd. There are around 3000 crimes against artists, cultural actors and spiritual leaders in Guatemala yearly.

Exhibition about LGBT rights at REX

On 4 -11th February, REX (Belgrade, Serbia) and Swedish initiative Article One presented an exhibition showing the history and contemporary life of LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/trans-gender) persons. Article 1 of the Declaration of Human Rights provides the basis for the exhibition with the same name.

Disturbing the public opinion at Röda Sten

Disturbing the Public Opinion: Art, Culture and Action - Another Possible Image of Iran is presented at Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden) between 8th March – 3rd April, 2011. The event encompasses diverse forms of expression such as drawing, painting, performance, theatre, film, video, found and altered objects, action, photography, poetry and more.

TEH's New Network Project "Engine Room Europe" granted €960.000

Cultural workers and their creative processes in focus in a three-year capacity building project dedicated to the sustainable future of the European independent cultural sector.

Trans Nordic Net Publication: Nordic Perspectives on European Networking

13 Nordic TEH delegates interviewed about the role of international networking in a booklet which rounds off the project Trans Nordic Net.

Celebrate Music Freedom Day with TEH!

On 3rd March 2011, several TEH centres will participate in the global campaign Music Freedom Day. The day is a celebration of musical freedom of expression, and will present concerts and events happening at the same time all around the world.

Röda Sten presents: Testaments Betrayed

Röda Sten is proud to present “Testaments Betrayed” - the first comprehensive solo exhibition of Loulou Cherinet in Sweden. Cherinet's photographic and video based work is rich with references to cinema and documentary filmmaking.

New premieres at Łaźnia Nowa

Łaźnia Nowa Theatre (Cracow, Poland) present two premieres within the framework of a project dedicated to Sławomir Mrożek. The two new stage productions – “Mrożek Performance” and “The Fall of the Eagle’s Nest” (Polish: “Upadek orlego gniazda”) will be shown on 27th-29th January.

Subcase Circus Fair at Subtopia

Swedish circus, variety and street art are part of a growing movement. Audience interest is increasing and more and more venues and festivals present shows of these art forms. On the 17th -18th of February 2011, the third edition of Subcase will take place at Subtopia (Botkyrka, Sweden).

Subcase is part of Subtopia’s work for supporting Swedish artists and creating possibilities for Swedish circus, variety and street art to tour in Sweden and around the world.

Registration for TEH Meeting 71 has opened!

TEH Members, Friends and invited Guests are now warmly welcome to register for TEH Meeting 71 at Creative Center Carnation in Tartu, Estonia.

NEXT Festival of Advanced Music at A4

In December 2010, A4 (Bratislava, Slovakia) was the scene of the 11th edition of NEXT Festival for Advanced Music.

Platform Art Project at Tabacka

In November last year Tabacka Kulturfabrik (Kosice, Slovakia) hosted four presentations of centres from Trans Europe Halles. Platform Art is a project focused on propagation of independent cultural centres from around Europe. The project started in 2009 with introductions of centres from four countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

Help TEH support Belarus Free Theatre fight for freedom and justice

TEH Solidarity Fund open for contributions. Get your name on the list now!

Mass arrests in Minsk in the aftermath of the presidential election

Belarus Free Theatre’s Natalya Kolyada released on bail

TEH STARTS SOLIDARITY FUND TO SUPPORT BELARUS FREE THEATRE

TEH has decided to start a solidarity fund to support Belarus Free Theatre to continue their work and fight for freedom and justice in Belarus.

The Naive Art Museum of Latvia represented at FESTNAIVE-2010, Moscow

10 paintings selected for this year's exhibition, focusing on Ecology and Culture.

Old Prison in A Coruña, Spain, takes first steps to become a cultural centre

TEH invited to share experiences around independent cultural management.