International network
for contemporary
performing arts

Réseau international
pour les arts du spectacle
contemporains

Rete internazionale
per le arti performative
contemporanee

コンテンポラリー
パフォーミングアーツ
国際ネットワーク

Internationales Netzwerk
für zeitgenössische
darstellende Künste

Международная сеть современного 
исполнительского 
искусства

Red internacional
para las artes escénicas
contemporáneas

Internationaal netwerk
voor hedendaagse
podiumkunsten

თანამედროვე საშემსრულებლო
ხელოვნების
საერთაშორისო ქსელი

Rede internacional
para as artes performativas
contemporâneas

الشبكة الدولية
لفنون الأداء
المعاصرة

Alþjóðlegt
tengslanet
í sviðslistum

Xarxa internacional
d'arts escèniques
contemporànies

Rhwydwaith rhyngwladol
ar gyfer celfyddydau
perfformio cyfoes

Rrjeti ndërkombëtar
për artet skenike
kontemporane

Διεθνές δίκτυο
για σύγχρονες
παραστατικές τέχνες

Međunarodna mreža 
za savremene 
scenske umjetnosti

Mezinárodní síť 
pro současné 
divadelní umění

International netværk
for kontemporær
scenekunst

Internasionale netwerk
vir kontemporêre
uitvoerende kunste

თანამედროვე საშემსრულებლო
ხელოვნების
საერთაშორისო ქსელი

Nemzetközi hálózat
a kortárs
előadóművészetért

國際當代表演藝術網絡

líonra idirnáisiúnta
na taibhealaíona
comhaimseartha

Starptautiskais tīkls
laikmetīgai
skatuves mākslai

Netwerk internazzjonali
għall-arti performattivi
kontemporanji

Międzynarodowa sieć
na rzecz współczesnych sztuk
performatywnych

Internationellt nätverk
för samtida
scenkonst

Međunarodna mreža
savremenih izvođačkih
umetnosti

Международна мрежа
за съвременни
сценични изкуства

Rrjet ndërkombëtar
për arte skenike
bashkëkohore

Міжнародная сетка
сучасных
перфарматыўных мастацтваў

Međunarodna mreža
za suvremene
izvedbene umjetnosti

国际当代表演艺术网络

Rahvusvaheline
kaasaegsete etenduskunstide
võrgustik

현대 공연 예술을 위한 국제 네트워크

Tarptautinis tinklas
šiuolaikinis
scenos menai

Интернационална мрежа
за современа
изведувачка уметност

شبکۀ بین المللی
برای هنرهای نمایشی معاصر

Rețeaua internațională
pentru artele spectacolului
contemporan

Medzinárodná sieť
pre súčasné
scénické umenie

Çağdaş
gösteri sanatları için
uluslararası iletişim ağı

Belgrade
29.09 - 02.10.2022

WORK HARD, LIVE HARDER!

For the first time in over two years, IETM organised a large-scale, physical IETM Plenary Meeting; this time in collaboration with Bitef. Organised within the frame of the Bitef festival 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia, the IETM Belgrade Plenary Meeting was a vibrant 4-day event with over 350 participants, full of artistic works to explore, talks and participatory discussions, a pre-meeting excursion and plenty of training, pitching and networking opportunities.

Our IETM Belgrade meeting title - Work Hard, Live Harder! - was not chosen in a vacuum; coming out of the pandemic, hard statements and questions need to be addressed.    

What is the state of the labour market in today’s late capitalism? Where has neoliberal exploitation left us? What is happening with workers’ rights regulation and working conditions after the pandemic? How is labour transforming in the performing arts and theatre? How can the arts field embrace care, friendship, solidarity and find the feeling of stability in a dramatically changing world?

When faced with numerous conflicts, the transformation of international relations and cooperation regimes is inevitable. The notion of stability needs to be revisited. With this in mind, we wanted to position the topics of work and labour as cornerstones that influence the feeling of stability/instability, not in a patriarchal military sense, but within a feminist and ecological frame of interdependence.

The reasons to tackle these questions were rooted in ever-evolving forms of neoliberal exploitation that affect work in general, and specifically work within the performing arts and theatre. By placing these issues in the context of the host city and country (Belgrade, Serbia), we discussed with colleagues and guests the strategies, resistances, challenges and collective struggles of a transitional, post-socialist, post-war society, as well as the devastating consequences of misused market liberalisation, retraditionalisation and pauperisation, that we have been submitted to. We wanted to raise these questions from the perspective of a country where the majority of artists cannot fulfil their basic existential needs while working professionally and earning less than 500 euro per month. 

This debate was supported by Bitef, one of the most relevant theatre festivals in Europe, within the ground-breaking artistic program of strong political statements. We could not wish for a better place to share these concerns than an international, multicultural community of performing arts professionals gathered around IETM.

The IETM Belgrade Plenary Meeting was a members activity, but non-members were also welcome to take part. 

The IETM Belgrade Plenary Meeting 2022 happened as part of our Creative Europe project The New International in the Performing Arts (NIPA): Bridging local and global.

 

The photo in the banner is taken from the final episode of the Yugoslav TV series ‘Our Shows’ (May 1973), and shows a youth volunteer movement that was established during WWII, based on the principles of solidarity, comradery, and joint venture. Millions of young people participated in the voluntary workcamps and built motorways, railroads, factories, entire cities even. We believe that the story behind the picture represents the different aspects related to work and labour which we will tackle and explore at IETM Belgrade, such as disability in the arts, feminist leadership, safe working environments, how to tackle burn outs and much more.