Take the opportunity to meet with Cultural Actors in rural areas. Ask them questions, talk about their challenges, understand their experiences in working in non-urban areas and learn from other contexts. Sit back and listen, or help solve the issues we are facing in thinly populated areas.

AREA - Arts in Rural European Areas started as a working group within IETM. In October 2020, it became an independent network that continues to contribute to IETM.

AREA is a new network that supports arts in rural areas by creating exchanges of experiences, researching working methods, and collecting data and resources. It stimulates advocacy on a local, regional, national and European level. AREA includes all disciplines. Members are artists, creators, organisers, policymakers and scientists from all continents.

Moderators

Henk Keizer, AREA Network, Denmark

Jean Vinet, AREA Network, France

Speakers

Aleksandra Miladinović, SKC Markovac, Serbia

Tamás Oláh, Salašarsko pozorište, Serbia

A regular fixture since 2010, this session gives delegates an insight into what’s happening in the world of music theatre and sonic arts around Europe.

A space for members and non-member participants, who are presenting and producing sound and music theatre, to share information regarding resources, new works, venues and festivals, opportunities, and more.

An open discussion forum prompted by a series of short presentations, the session will also give you an opportunity to learn more about local artists’ practices and approaches to the creation of their work.

Please check the accessibility of the venue here.

Moderator

Josh Armstrong, Cryptic, United Kingdom

Speakers

Ana Vrbaški, Alice in Wonderland, Serbia

Marko Dinjaški, Alice in Wonderland, Serbia

Sanja Krsmanović Tasić, Hleb Teatar, Serbia

Jugoslav Hadžić, Hleb Teatar, Serbia

Join the conversation during this presentation and Q&A on how the programme and features of the Bitef Festival and the showcase of IETM Belgrade have been curated, and what the artistic vision and challenges were.

Speakers

Ivan Medenica, Bitef, Serbia

This session will have live captions in English.

We are excited to announce that we will be launching the IETM Environmental Working Group at IETM Belgrade. This group has been long overdue and will aim to push the green transition of the IETM community forward.

This working group will work towards creating a common green code of conduct for IETM and its network, and also reflect on how to make the arts the leading force in environmental processes in society. 

It will also be a space to share the best practices and practical solutions on how to make the performing arts sector more green at all levels. 

Join us for this first session in Belgrade!

Learn more about IETM working groups here.

Moderators

Barna Petryani, Pro Progressione, Hungary

Tímea Kókai-Nagy, Pro Progressione, Hungary

Gry Worre Hallberg, Sisters Hope, Denmark

01:00 - 02:00 AEDT | 00:00 - 01:00 JST/KST | 23:00 - 00:00 SGT | 18:00 - 19:00 EET | 17:00 - 18:00 CEST | 16:00 - 17:00 BST | 11:00 - 12:00 EST | 08:00 - 09:00 PST

Join the live stream via Howlround

Dance as a modern art form emerged at the turn of the twentieth century, against the backdrop of consolidating industrial capitalism.

Just as the body and movement of masses were becoming subjected to the dictate of backbreaking machines, modern dance constituted itself around the choreographic exploration of body and movement, liberated from that machinic coercion.The history of modern dance can thus be read as a dialectical opposite of the transformation of commodified labour. Over the last hundred years, that opposition between the coercive and the liberated has crumbled and transformed by the growing flexibilisation and precarisation of labour relations.

The labouring body is increasingly enjoined to be free and enterprising, while the dancing body is increasingly demanded to show itself labouring to justify its privilege to free artistic exploration.

Our opening keynote will retrace the entwined historical trajectories of dance and labour and speculate on what dance portends for the understanding of the contemporary, algorithmically-commanded, on-demand forms of labour.

Speakers

Tomislav Medak, BADco., Croatia

Ása Richardsdóttir, IETM, Belgium

Ivan Medenica, Bitef Festival, Serbia
 

This session will be captioned and broadcasted online.

Recent research in the sector has shown that there is a shocking lack of awareness about what it means to work in the arts for professionals with disabilities. 

This discussion will tackle the notions of working conditions, labour and also the idea of working with disability - including the recognition of its unique artistic quality.

Moderator
Filip Pawlak, Artist and Cultural worker - IETM Global Connector 2021-22, Poland

Speakers
Jovana Rakić, Artist and choreographer, Serbia

Mindy Drapsa, Riksteatern, Sweden

Rachel Marks, Relaxed Performance & Disability Access Consultant, Canada

This session will have live captions in English.

What are the tools and solutions for creating better working conditions for those in the performing arts sector? What are the current trends in cultural workers’ movements and initiatives around Europe?

This session will start with an analysis of the “project-based” cultural economy and the pressures and transformations it has brought to the field of artistic production. It will also explore different strategies, alliances and articulate the struggles for better working conditions, with a special focus on feminist, self-organised and political movements in the cultural field that have potential for change.

We will also discuss the position of freelancers and independent artists in a post covid context. 
 

Moderator
Marijana Cvetković, STATION Centre For Contemporary Dance, Serbia

Speakers
Danae Theodoridou, Performance Maker and Researcher, Belgium

Jaka Primorac, IRMO- Institute For Development and International Relations, Croatia

Rodrigo Arenas, Artist and researcher - IETM Global Connector 2021-22, Guatemala

Sepehr Sharifzadeh, NH Theater Agency, Iran

This session will have live captions in English.

In this workshop, Ana Dubljević invites us to view (feminist) dramaturgy - not only how it produces a meaning on stage, but also as the common practice of thinking and feeling within the process of creation, organisation, production and dissemination of a performance.

If in our relationship with the audience, we leave the authority of a central viewing point, can the feminist dramaturgical thinking help us to also leave it in the working process, both intentionally and simultaneously? How can we lead processes based on the practices of pleasure and care? How can we lead processes not with efficiency, but through co-existing in disagreement and with those that provide space for uncertainties despite the fear, because they see space as freedom? Can those different processes produce different shows, and if so how? 

Participants are invited to reflect and share examples of their own artistic and cultural practices and map the problems and possibilities of this type of approach.

This session will be based texts from the book by Ana Dubljević - “The Feminist Pornscapes. On Feminist Dramaturgical Thinking in Dance and Performance Practice”

This workshop has a limited capacity of 20 participants. Registrations are first come, first served.

The exact same session will be held on Friday 30 September and Saturday 1 October.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Facilitator

Ana Dubljević, Choreographer / Dramaturge, Serbia

If you are looking for a wide range of perspectives on major topics prevalent in the performing arts sector, then this session is for you. It will take you through a series of pressing issues that have been the centre of discussion within the IETM Global Connectors group. This is an opportunity to enjoy working with a stimulating group of colleagues from different continents who have similar experiences and interests. 

This will be a participatory session hosted by the IETM Global Connectors.

This session will have live captions in English.

How do we charge for our work, and why are there no policies for the evaluation of artistic work in many countries? Using examples from different local contexts, this session will explore specific cases that artists have gathered through institutional or independent initiatives, in order to secure predictable and suitable financial working conditions in the arts.
 

Moderator

Danilo Prnjat, Artist, Serbia

Speakers

Jelena Mijović, Dramaturg and screenwriter, Serbia

Jasna Žmak, SPID - Croatian Screenwriters and Playwrights Guild, Croatia

Cancelled - Amath Sarr, Jotay Culturel - IETM Global Connector 2021-22, Senegal

This session will have live captions in English.

This workshop will address the relationship between the disabled body, contemporary dance and negative space in the performing arts.

Is the disabled body usually seen as a negative space or figure of the performing act, and what is the artistic potential of its position?

How do our performance practices position the disabled body in order to become a figure? How can inclusive practices shift the perception of what creates the artistic form and the negative space in the performing arts?

Participants will create performance materials themselves through the exploration of their body and pushing the boundaries of their imagined, assumed or experienced ‘completeness’.

Facilitator
Marko Pejović, Grupa Hajde Da…, Serbia
 

Attendance by pre-registration only. Maximum number of participants: 20

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

How do we treat archiving in the performing arts? How does this process influence the way we interpret the artwork? How does it impact the sector’s working and hiring practices and its capacity? Will it alter the professional skill sets in the sector? How can a process of digitisation be conducted within organisations with limited capacity?

Moreover, will it impact the artistic work itself and its creation process, particularly in dance? 

The session explores the connection between the issue of archiving, digitisation, history and work, in post covid times. 

Moderator

Rok Vevar, Nomad Dance Academy, Slovenia

Speakers

Ricardo Viviani, Bureau Ritter, Germany

Igor Koruga, Choreographer, Dancer, Pedagogue, Dramaturge and dance Advocate, Serbia

This session will have live captions in English.

This session offers a general overview of Creative Europe’s objectives and priorities, the requirements to apply and how to increase your chances of success.

• The first part will begin with an overall introduction to the programme, its priorities, the application process, useful tips, common pitfalls and case examples. 
   
• The second hour will be a hands-on opportunity to develop your own project idea and to answer the question: “Is this a Creative Europe project?” 

The session is meant for organisations and professionals who have a project in the making and are considering applying for a Creative Europe grant. Those interested in just hearing general information can attend the first part only.

Moderators

Albert Meijer, Creative Europe Desk, the Netherlands

Anastasija Konkina, Creative Europe Desk, Latvia

Dimitrije Tadić, Creative Europe Desk, Serbia

Konstantinos Trakosas, Creative Europe Desk, Greece

Zuzana Duchová, Creative Europe Desk, Slovakia

Speakers

Dubravka Vujinovic, PLAVO Theatre, Serbia

Barna Petrányi, Pro Progressione, Hungary

Tamara Bračič Vidmar, Bunker, Slovenia

19:00 - 20:00 AEDT | 18:00 - 19:00 JST/KST | 17:00 - 18:00 SGT | 11:00 - 12:00 EET | 10:00 - 11:00 CEST | 09:00 - 10:00 BST | 05:00 - 06:00 EST | 02:00 - 03:00 PST

JOIN THE LIVE STREAM VIA HOWLROUND

“Today a true artist is only the artist who can say, ‘for everything else, please address my manager’.

In such contrasting, antagonistic, and variable attempts to remove money, labour, and labour relations from the stage of art representation, there are obvious consensual efforts to explain that art cannot be understood as business as usual, as labour or work – but rather as something completely different. At this point, money appears as creative shame. [...]

However, [...] what will we find if we try to get closer to economic reality of ‘workers’ active in the ever expanding ‘world of art’ in all its domains of (self-)critical negations, transformations, excesses, inclusions, and exclusions only to focus on the very moment when projects and collaborations come to life? How does art-as-ideology inhabit speech used on such occasions?”

Vesić, J. (2016, September 29). »Administration of Aesthetics« or: On Underground Currents of Negotiating Artistic Jobs; Between Love and Money, Money and Love. Retrieved from schloss-post.com.

Join us for our Saturday keynote speech, where we will reflect on the discourse around love and money in the arts.

Speakers

Jelena Vesić, Independent Curator, Writer, Editor and Lecturer, Serbia

This session will be captioned and broadcasted online.

What are the practical ways to deal with burnout? What tools do we need to do so on a daily basis?

According to a 2021 survey, over two thirds of artists have experienced a burnout at least once in their career. This shows us that it is crucial to be able to understand its causes from an individual perspective, and to recognise the signs early on.

This session will tackle strategies and techniques for burnout prevention and recovery with a certified professional, a graduate in psychology at the University of Belgrade with a masters degree in Counselling Psychology from McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Facilitator
Olivera Živanović, psychologist, Serbia
 

The Participatory and Immersive Creation group (PIC) aims to provide a space for IETM members to tackle the central issues we have in creating, presenting and producing this genre of work, through open discussions, experience sharing, and creative exchanges.

On this occasion, participants will engage in an interactive session that will carry the meeting’s main topic of “Work Hard, Live Harder!” through to their experiences and future perspectives. The session will be facilitated by Simón Adinia Hanukai, Artistic Director of Kaimera Productions, and Isadora Bigazzi of Effetto Larsen.

Moderators

Nicky Tsianti, Kaimera Productions, Belgium

Isadora Bigazzi, Effetto Larsen, Italy

Paolo Pezzana, On Srl Impresa Sociale, Italy

Patrizia Cappelletti, On Srl Impresa Sociale, Italy

How can a position of power influence our ability to make changes? Are we ready to give up the position of power in order to create something democratic, diverse, participative? What are the alternative models of management in culture, and how can feminist theories guide us into finding a new approach?
 

Moderator
Markiza de Sada, Independent curator and Drag Artist, Serbia

Speakers

Isa Köhler, nrw landesbuero tanz, Germany

Ksenija Đurović, Bitef, Serbia

Lisa Marie DiLiberto, Theatre Direct Canada, Canada
 

This session will have live captions in English.

In this workshop, Ana Dubljević invites us to view (feminist) dramaturgy - not only how it produces a meaning on stage, but also as the common practice of thinking and feeling within the process of creation, organisation, production and dissemination of a performance.

If in our relationship with the audience, we leave the authority of a central viewing point, can the feminist dramaturgical thinking help us to also leave it in the working process, both intentionally and simultaneously? How can we lead processes based on the practices of pleasure and care? How can we lead processes not with efficiency, but through co-existing in disagreement and with those that provide space for uncertainties despite the fear, because they see space as freedom? Can those different processes produce different shows, and if so how? 

Participants are invited to reflect and share examples of their own artistic and cultural practices and map the problems and possibilities of this type of approach.

This session will be based texts from the book by Ana Dubljević - “The Feminist Pornscapes. On Feminist Dramaturgical Thinking in Dance and Performance Practice”

This workshop has a limited capacity of 20 participants. Registrations are first come, first served.

The exact same session will be held on Friday 30 September and Saturday 1 October.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Facilitator

Ana Dubljević, Choreographer / Dramaturge, Serbia

How do we lack, experience or fail to create safe(r) spaces when working in the arts? What are the difficult conversations that need to be had, and how do we create an environment of trust in which we can have them? What does it mean to have a concrete appreciation for each other's aspirations, identities and integrity? What are the ideal expressions of safe(r) spaces, and how can we practically create one in our work environment?

This will be a participatory session which will draw from each other’s experience of safe or unsafe spaces while working in the arts.

Moderator
Sedina Fiati, Artist-Producer & Facilitator, Canada
 

Labour unions are losing ground in the arts. Less and less artists are becoming members of unions and are rather opting for  self-organising methods. Self organised methods come with their own challenges, and in some regions, being part of a union is not an option. How can we as artists and artistic workers reclaim our position and work on policies for improved labour conditions within our sector? This session will attempt to answer this question, as well as offer participants a comparison of union activities in different local contexts.

Moderator

Vida Knežević, Kontekst, Serbia

Speakers

Kasia Wolinska, Choreographer, Germany

Fabiola Fiocco, Arts workers Italia, Italy

This session will have live captions in English.