Representatives from twelve European arts funding agencies attended a meeting jointly hosted by the Danish Arts Agency and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), on 28- 29 May 2009.
The meeting provided an opportunity for delegates to discuss a number of issues of common concern including the impact of the global financial crisis on member organisations and the arts; international cooperation and networking; and ecology, the arts and culture.
The countries represented were Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Finland, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales. IFACCA’s secretariat was represented by the Executive Director, Sarah Gardner and European liaison for IFACCA, Diane Dodd.
Guest speakers included Mary-Ann De Vlieg from IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts) who talked about artists mobility and networking in and beyond Europe; Ilona Kish from Culture Action Europe who talked about current challenges for artists working in Europe; Anna Athanasopoulou (DG Education and Culture, European Commission) who presented the European Commission’s current policies, programmes and ambitions for the arts and culture; Mads Olvlisen, chair of the Danish Arts Council who talked about advocating for the arts from a business perspective; Olaf Gerlach-Hansen from CUDIC and the Danish Cultural Institute who talked about the urgent need for a holistic and integrated approach to environmental measures and Finn Andersen from EUNIC who explained the current role of the network of foreign institutes in Europe.
A full report will be provided in the near future however conclusions reached during the meeting included the need to:
- identify actions to support the arts sector and reduce the costs of arts funding administration in times of economic hardship
- explore further comparison of grant assessment statistics;
- develop new strategies to raise public awareness of the central role of the arts in the community;
- identify good practice that supports trans-national work;
- share ideas and knowledge on strategies that arts organisations can implement to minimise their impact on the environment.
The European members agreed to explore the possibility of an informal gathering in Johannesburg on September 25 2009 following the World Summit that might explore case studies and models of good working practice between arts support agencies in Europe and Africa.
Furthermore, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts agreed to host the 4th European member’s meeting in May/June 2010 (dates to be confirmed).