On the Move’s mobility funders started to meet online in June 2020 to think in a collective way on the future of mobility funding schemes and international cultural mobility in general.
This group aims to think more deeply about key issues related to cultural mobility, with many of those issues taking on a more profound relevance in light of the Covid-19 pandemic (green mobility, virtual or physical mobility, values-based mobility, etc.). It also aims to connect with other initiatives, meetings and experiments which can enrich the conversations of the working group.
The working group follows on from a series of meetings initiated by On the Move and involving some of the group’s current members:
- In 2013, a Platform Meeting of Asian and European Cultural Mobility Funders, organised in partnership with the Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague in 2013 and the support of the Asia-Europe Foundation.
- In 2014, ‘Access and Reciprocity: A Brainstorming Meeting with Cultural Mobility Stakeholders’ in partnership with RES ARTIS, the ASEF, AsiaLink, and IETM meeting in Melbourne.
- In 2015, a mobility funders’ meeting in New York, organised in partnership with the Martin Segal Theatre Centre and Theatre without Borders.
- In 2021, the mobility funders group met three times:
- In February 2021 to discuss the topic of green and sustainable mobility, as proposed by OTM member the European Cultural Foundation. Invited organisation: Kultura Nova Foundation.
- In June 2021, with a focus on the MENA region (Middle East / North Africa) thanks to the coordination of OTM member the Roberto Cimetta Fund. Invited organisations: Culture Resource | El Mawred, Cultural Relations Platform, Drosos Foundation and Trans-Saharan Artistic Mobility Fund.
- In December 2021, a final session made space for discussion around different forms of adaptation/reflection related to mobility funding such as: training / capacity building (Roberto Cimetta Fund), reflection on and research into a new mobility fund for the Northern Dimension region with EUNIC (NDPC), and experimentation around the idea of fair collaboration (Flanders Arts Institute).
- In 2022, the group met three times, in April, May and November. The sessions were mostly the occasion to share information on how initiatives and mobility schemes had been adapted, particularly since the Covid pandemic and other political/economic changes (such as Brexit). In May 2022 the group met in Helsinki and had an opportunity to feedback and exchange in response to the data analysis and findings of On the Move’s first Cultural Mobility YearBook, which had a focus on digital mobility. Special guests and inputs were provided in later working sessions organised with Kultura Nova Foundation and Visegrad International Fund. The last of these was also the occasion to learn more from the new RIMA initiative, which aims to facilitate access to funding and opportunities for artists and culture professionals from the Global South.
Other resources
- i-Portunus Operational Study: An analytical report / operational study of mobility schemes for artists and culture professionals in Creative Europe Countries. The study was subcontracted to On the Move as part of the year 1 pilot for the i-Portunus mobility funding scheme coordinated by a consortium led by the Goethe Institut with Institut français, Izolyatsia and Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts.
- Annex 5 of the Operational Study gives a comparison of mobility funding schemes.
- Cultural Mobility Yearbook 2022: A reference framework for data related to cultural mobility, updated annually. The 2022 edition was focused on digital mobility.
Photo taken during the latest General Assembly and working group meeting in Helsinki, 24 May 2022 at Nordic Culture Point.