What to expect in the facilitated workshops
Two of the sessions will involve an interactive workshop element:
- Art, Policy and Influence (Thursday 23 October, 14.45-17.00)
- Balancing accessibility and equity with local cultural contexts: navigating the realities of working internationally for disabled and racialised artists (Friday 24 October, 10.00-13.00)
- From insights to action: using Perform Europe’s learning to design inclusive and green touring projects (Friday 24 October, 14.00-16.30)
There is no obligation to prepare for these workshops but if you would like to think about them in advance, we have provided an overview below of questions we will be considering as part of the workshop activities:
Art, Policy and Influence
We are going to try and consider policy recommendations that would support the aims identified in IETM’s publication The New International - Against All Odds (see pages 30 and 31):
- Rebalance powers
- Enhance and contextualise fairness
- Make climate justice a reality
- Make fairness ecological, and ecology fair
- Foster politics of trust
- Champion a system change
You don’t have to provide big or expensive solutions, just identify the problems/solutions within these themes and consider:
- What are the barriers?
- Who do you need to influence?
- What could be a solution?
Make sure you think about this in an international context, i.e. how do you foster a politics of trust in an international context. If you want to think about the UK-EU relationship, please do so.
You might also want to consider the question:
- What policy issues are most affecting you or your communities now when trying to work internationally as a performing arts organisation or artist?
The session will also ask you to consider:
- Which networks and campaigns represent your interests regarding international working?
- Where do you feel represented, and where are the gaps?
- Are there particular networks that could help advocate for some of your policy recommendations?
Balancing accessibility and equity with local cultural contexts: navigating the realities of working internationally for disabled and racialised artists
If you are an artist, here are some questions we will consider:
- What are the biggest perceived or known barriers to touring for you? Think about every aspect of the tour - travelling, accommodation, navigating a new space, the work itself, etc.
- What is your ideal touring scenario?
- What can you bring to make touring as accessible and safe as possible?
- What do venues and producers need to do to make touring as accessible and safe as possible?
- What things can you put in place now/soon to support your touring?
If you are a touring company:
- Who really holds the power when we tour - and what are we giving up in exchange for international opportunities?
- What are your reasons for international touring (or wanting to)?
- What impact does touring have on your team’s wellbeing or access needs and who has responsibility for making sure people have everything in place to do their best work?
- How much control do artists have over decision-making for international touring?
- Can you tour on your own terms and if not, who do you need buy-in from to help make sure the whole team has a good experience?
- What does a values-driven touring model look like for you and who can help you build it?
If you are a venue, festival or otherwise host visiting artists:
- What are the benefits of welcoming touring artists and companies?
- What are the greatest challenges in welcoming artists and companies?
- What does your welcome and hosting process look like?
- Do the artists and companies you invite reflect the demographics of your local community?
- How do you evaluate your relationships and engagements with touring artists and companies?
From insights to action: using Perform Europe’s learning to design inclusive and green touring projects
You can find out more about Perform Europe here and you see the project’s 7 Strategies of Change here.
The questions we will consider in the session are:
- What changes are Perform Europe projects making in how they create, tour, collaborate and connect with communities?
- Which examples inspire new ways of thinking about touring, inclusion and ecological sustainability?
- Which of the Perform Europe strategies connect most with your own practice or organisation?
- How could you adapt or test these strategies in your own context?
- What does a fair and green touring model mean in your reality?
- What can we learn from each other across different regions and practices?
- How can Perform Europe’s insights help you design future projects or collaborations?
- What further support, tools or knowledge-sharing formats would help you move from insight to action?