Curating culture360.org #3 | Marie Le Sourd and Elena Di Federico, On the Move

This month of August, culture360.org presents the third selection of the series entitled Curating culture360.org. Selected content ‘curators’ review and reflect on the news, articles and opportunities from Asia and Europe they discover on culture360.org. The curators then present a personal content selection, following a theme or narrative driven by their own artistic interests and direction. culture360.org intends to publish Curating culture360.org every two months, inviting artists and cultural commentators from Europe and Asia in turn.

This month the On the Move team, Marie Le Sourd and Elena Di Federico present a new exciting curatorial journey of culture360.org.

On The Move towards the necessary interconnection between Arts and Environment

The core mission of the network On The Move is to facilitate and improve the conditions for the mobility of artists and culture professionals across Europe and the world, through a free information service and advocacy actions. On The Move (OTM) is currently developing, together with its 34 members and associated partners, a Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Cultural Mobility, to be launched in early 2013, tackling social, policy and environmental issues connected to mobility.

Considering environment, one of the pillars of “sustainability”, OTM is particularly interested in exploring which environmental issues are at stake when cultural mobility - and cultural exchange at large – take place, and how they can be taken into account by different mobility actors. Environmental concerns can form the backbone of a stronger connection between Asia and Europe through arts and culture: both culture and the environment are cross-sector concerns, and the exchange and mutual inspiration within and between the policy and the grassroots level across the two regions can be highly significant and fruitful.

We kept all this in mind when selecting the articles and news from culture360.org and other sources. We invite you to take some time to get inspired and (to continue) to take action!

>>> Magazine:

Asia-Europe perspectives on art and climate change

This short article based on an ASEF-initiated roundtable "Climate for Change" at the 5th World Summit on Art and Culture in October 2011 highlights the core challenges related to environmental awareness, actions and policies in Asia and Europe, and the key differences between the two regions. Alison Tickell, director of Julie's Bicycle: "The task is insurmountable – we have to work on making it manageable“.
https://culture360.asef.org/magazine/asia-europe-perspectives-on-art-and-climate-change/

Interview: Sacha Kagan of the Institute of Cultural Theory, Research and the Arts

This article dated October 2010 is still highly relevant considering the difficult path of the so-called "creative cities". Get inspired by S. Kagan’s words about what a “cultural creative city” is, and find out more (if you don’t know it yet) about the very good network www.cultura21.net initiated by S. Kagan and committed to "cultures of sustainability".
https://culture360.asef.org/magazine/interview-sacha-kagan-of-institute-of-cultural-theory-research-and-the-arts/

Urbanity and new governance in Eurasian regions

Another precious flashback into 2010 with inspiring reflections, ideas and links on the contribution of culture to today's world. “Crucial voices emerging from the system” advocate for new models of society which overcoming the economy-centered mindset and indicators. "In hearing such perspectives, experiments and their results, where culture seems to transcend disciplinary imaginations and hold cross-disciplinary negotiations, one sees hope" (Deepak Srinivasan).
https://culture360.asef.org/magazine/urbanity-and-new-governances-in-eurasian-regions/

Between Art and Environment: a selection of best case studies

An excellent initiative from the Asia-Europe Foundation to not only raise visibility on good practices on arts and environmental sustainability issues in selected Asian countries but also to identify gaps for policy actions.
https://culture360.asef.org/asef-news/between-art-and-environment-a-selection-of-case-studies/

>>> Resources /publications:

Creative partnerships with other sectors: Discussion paper

The research paper prepared for the 5th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Australia by IFACCA focuses on creative partnerships between arts, culture and other sectors - including the environmental sector. A very rich and mind opening reading, providing ideas, references and good practices.
https://culture360.asef.org/publications/creative-partnerships-with-other-sectors-discussion-paper/

Green Mobility Guide for the Performing Arts

This guide produced by Julie's Bicycle and On The Move accompanies professionals of the performing arts sector willing to green their practices, and provides them with resourceful case studies and glossary. Check out OTM website from October 2012: the Italian and German versions of the Guide will be also online (together with the English and French ones, already available: http://on-the-move.org/library/article/14222/green-mobility-guide-for-the-performing-arts-new/).

https://culture360.asef.org/news/europe’s-first-green-mobility-guide-for-the-performing-arts/

>>> Opportunities :

India | Green World Art and Culture Festival 2012

An interesting Festival taking place in November 2012 (deadline for applications: 31 August) and including an artist-in-residence program. Based on an artists' initiative, this Festival is very much linked to its local and rural environment. "The Festival provides an opportunity to interact, experiment and work with local materials to extend one’s visual language".
https://culture360.asef.org/opportunity/india-green-world-art-and-culture-festival-2012-open-call/

EOS VAP Visiting Artist Program

If this program sounds rather new, this is an interesting endeavor to link art, sciences and environment, through the support of the Earth Observatory of Singapore. To be followed closely...

https://culture360.asef.org/opportunity/eos-vap-visiting-artist-program-2012/

The COAL Art and Environment Prize

The French-based platform COAL (Coalition for art and sustainable development) was created in 2008 and is articulated around three main areas: the COAL prize (as in the weblink below), a soon to be stronger platform of exchange and resources between art and ecology, a work on curating projects related to art and environment (information from the last dossier of STRADDA: Can art save the planet? – only in French: http://www.horslesmurs.fr/-Stradda-prochain-numero-.html).

The next call for applications will be in 2013, but this initiative is highly worth to follow > http://www.projetcoal.org/coal/category/prix-coal-2013/

>>> Culture news:

Today all will be different

This one-day meeting allowed to discuss the situation of the cultural sector in Japan after the disaster in Fukushima, with specific attention to the artists-in-residence programs. Sharing of examples of actions taken in urgent situations, either caused by natural disasters or human-caused dysfunctions, are highly important all the more since Fukushima marks a necessity for a global change. Nothing can be the same after this catastrophe.
https://culture360.asef.org/event/amsterdam-japan-today-all-will-be-different-meeting/

Additional from On the Move:

>>> For policy inspiration:

Can public policy-makers embed environmental sustainability criteria in their funding policies? Yes, they can – and it’s not just an additional obstacle for artists willing to apply. Read about the Arts Council of England’s initiative:
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/arts-council-news/arts-council-england-embed-environmental-sustainab/

>>> For practice inspiration:

TINFO (Theatre Info Finland) News: Theatre and Ecology

"Numerous works are negotiations of the boundaries between nature and culture and the relationships between the human and the non-human". Everybody knows that in the Nordic countries people – including artists – have a special connection with nature. Get here a deeper insight into the approach of the contemporary Finnish theater sector:

http://on-the-move.org/news/article/14792/tinfo-news-theatre-and-ecology/

Greening Australian performances

Sustainability champions Malthouse Theatre, TippingPoint, ACAPTA and Circus OZ have formed a consortium called Greening our Performance, striving to reduce Australian industry's carbon footprint. The alliance is planning a series of sustainability workshops through the year (information through Sophie Travers, IETM Australia).

http://acapta.org.au/greening-our-performance

IMAGINE2020

IMAGINE2020 are eleven European performing arts venues and festivals who support artistic work that explores causes and effects of climate change. Their objectives are to increase awareness among the artistic community and the general public and to provoke change within the cultural sector and beyond.

http://www.imagine2020.eu/

Sideways Festival: slow paths through Belgium

Sideways is an itinerant festival for contemporary arts and cultural research. In times of acceleration and hypermobility, this nomadic initiative follows a web of slow paths. Artists and public explore different sidetracks in the Belgian landscape: footpaths, alleys, backroads and shortcuts.

http://www.sideways2012.be/

Additional dossier on culture and sustainable develoment (In French only), produced by the magazine Mouvement:

www.mouvement.net/pdf/tap/TAP_CDDbis.pdf

Prepared by Marie and Elena, On The Move (OTM): http://on-the-move.org/about/team/staff/