Plan B for international cultural mobility

Cultural mobility is more than cross-border movement of individual artists, works or performances. It is an integral part of cultural and creative processes. Cultural mobility can take many different forms from residencies to networking opportunities, from touring to international co-productions. By 2020, the cultural mobility (as any other types of mobility) had reached new highs.
With the COVID-19 and following restrictions and lockdowns, cultural and creative sectors have had to face unimaginable challenges to their daily operations, and in many cases to their very survival. Cultural mobility has nearly stopped altogether, replaced mostly with digital formats. As the rollout of vaccines is progressing and societies are slowly reopening, so is the outlook for mobility of artists and other cultural professionals looking possible again.

Plan B for international cultural mobility discussion will focus on the impact of broken connections due to the COVID-19 pandemics, and try to imagine the future of cultural cross-border cooperation: how do we restore and strengthen connections, how do we build viable and sustainable networks, how do we co-produce, and how do we participate in diverse culture and art? We seek for sustainable solutions and strategies that would allow mobility while respecting safety regulations.

Online REGISTRATION is open until Thursday, 10 June, 12:00 CET.

The event will be held in English.
Further information: info[at]motovila.si

The purpose of the A Plan B for the Cultural Policies of European Cities series of online discussions is for representatives of various European cities to exchange their experiences in providing support to artists, cultural creators and organizations during the crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Examples of good practices can serve as a model and a stimulus for European cities at a time when cultural entities must find new ways to operate.

Marie Le Sourd is since 2012 the Secretary General of On the Move, the cultural mobility information network active in Europe and worldwide. Prior to this position, Marie Le Sourd worked in Singapore for the Asia-Europe Foundation (Cultural Department) from 1999 till 2006 and directed the French Cultural Centre in Yogyakarta-Indonesia from 2006 till 2011.
Marie Le Sourd has over the years nurtured a knowledge pool on international cultural cooperation, funding schemes for the mobility of artists and cultural professionals, networks and web-resources. She is overall interested in the multiple impacts of mobility on artists and cultural professionals and evaluation process linked to these.

Barbara Poček has been collaborating with Ljubljanas Glej theatre since 2010. She is a member of the Glej’s Artistic Council, Programme Coordinator of the TRIGGER platform, and takes care of internationalisation projects, executive production and the Resident Programme. Since 2017, she is a member of the Board of Directors of IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts). She was one of the co-founders of the open platform for the promotion of contemporary illustration, Biennial of Independents (2007-2015) and of the educational platform Design Biotop (2013-2019), which promotes design as a tool for strategic solutions to social and economic challenges. She nurtures an interest in the intersections between different media and disciplines, and therefore maintains a broad spectrum of activities fostering connections between different social and professional communities. In her free time, she is also a photographer and a member of the Čipke initiative (an initiative for women with a sense for technology, science and art); where she co-creates within the female DYI music collective Kikimore.

José Rodríguez is a professional with almost two decades of combined experience in international project management, marketing communications, and innovation. Since 2014, he works for Trans Europe Halles—the European network of non-governmental cultural centres—, where has served as network manager, EU project manager and communications director. In the past, he worked for La Salle Innovation Park Madrid, the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AECID), the Embassy of Spain in the Czech Republic, the Instituto Cervantes in Rome and the Triple Helix International Association. For some time, he worked as interim managing director at public cultural centre Agora, Spain. Moreover, he co-founded and coordinated Red Transibérica, the Spanish network of independent cultural spaces, for several years. A part from his “official job”, he also doubles as a freelance strategy and communications consultant. He is the author of “To Sell or Not To Sell? An Introduction to Business Model Innovation for Arts and Cultural Organisations” (IETM, 2016).

Ragnar Siil is an international cultural policy expert, Founder and Director of Creativity Lab – leading cultural policy and creative industries think tank and consultancy in the Baltic Sea Region. Formerly, he has held positions of Estonian Undersecretary for the Arts, chairman of the European Union expert group on cultural and creative industries, key expert for the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture&Creativity Programme and expert at the European Creative Industries Alliance. Ragnar is a director of board at Cultural Policy Designers Network, he has advised many European cities with becoming European Capitals of Culture and members of UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Ragnar’s doctoral research at Estonian Business School focuses on developing creative cities.

The Plan B series of online discussions is organized by the Motovila Institute and the City of Ljubljana. The Plan B for international cultural mobility event is part of the activities of the Centre for Creativity Platform Partner Network. The project is co-financed by the EU (from the European Regional Development Fund) and the Republic of Slovenia. Motovila is also supported by the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Public Administration.