RCF received 132 applications for travel grants on the general fund, focus Persian-speaking countries this October.

An eligibility check was made and the following 82 applicants were considered eligible, which means that their applications will be evaluated by our experts. 50 of these applications are priority (4 for South>South mobility and 46 for mobility to and from Persian-speaking countries).

The selection of grantees will be announced on 31st January 2019.

Non-eligible or non-prioritized applicants have been informed by email.

Lilmad

Moussei Assia

 مجدفضة

 وسيمقزق

 مجدفضة

Essam Esmail

Mohammad Amin

Ramy Donjevan

 صبريمصطفي  

Mahmoud Lotfy

إبراهيمجمعة

 اوسالزبيدي

Ahmed Ezzat Elatfy

Zuri Camille de Souza

Hisham Bustani

Sandra Fruebing

Vaggelis Kolotsios

Tala Khrais

Nuno Teixeira Maya

Rehab Eldalil

Veton Nurkollari

Muhammed Al Parlan

Sharon Gavrielov

Parvin Saljoughi

Or

Nicoletta Cataldo

Eleonora Diana

Daniele Catalli

Ramona Shah

Eduardo Metasitu

Shahin Peymani

Maryamsadat Katanforoush

Tanin Torabi

Milad Sanaei

Setareh Fatehi

Askari Nooshin

Tea Kolbe

Lilly Pöhlmann

Tora Hed

Kostantina Angeletou

Michael Gigintis

Nelly Abboud

Mehdi Mashhour

Shiva Makinian

Benyamin Esbati

Ghislaine Boumahdi

Mana Saiehibakhsh

Soolmaz Shoaie

Masoumeh Jalalieh

Emad Mohammadi

Mohammed Abbasi

Sevda Khatamian

Aranzazu Aramburu Navarro

Asaki Kan

Omela Ramasauskaite

Pentea Shayesteh

Afarz Entessari

Milad Rostamilornestani

Naghmeh Manami

Samira Hashemi

Nabi Nara

Viviane Perdereau Bonnier

Metasitu 

Sofiane Ben Youssef

Sara Llorca

Michael Maurissens

Aly Dessouki

Erik Samakh

Matthieu Boucherit

Louisa Babari

Camel Zekri

Jamil Benhamamouch

Brice Chatenoud

Anahita Hekmat

Maria Harfouche

Stanislaw Suchora

Neda Shahroki

Véronique Petit

Rania Meziani

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The Roberto Cimetta Fund re-opens the General Fund for Artistic and Cultural Mobility in the Euro-Arab-Middle East region on 1st October 2018. Artists and cultural operators living and working in Europe, the Arab world and the Middle East (including Turkey, the Balkans and Persian speaking countries) can apply. This call will focus on artists and cultural operators traveling to or from Persian speaking countries (Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan). 

The General Fund will be open to all requests for travel grants that respect the eligibility criteria of RCF.

Candidates can apply from 1st to 31st October 2018. 

The following general criteria of RCF apply to this fund. 

1) The aim of your trip must directly or indirectly show potential for a constructive and long-term impact on the arts sector in your home country. This means that, on your return, you share your capacity building experience abroad in a “networking” fashion with connecting artists and operators so as to maintain, renew and develop contemporary arts.  

2) Travel can take place as soon as the call opens but in this case, the applicant runs the risk of paying for travel without guarantee of the success of the application. 

3) Applicant’s profile and travel plan:

- Nationality: no nationality criteria

- Age: no age criteria

- Profession: performers, creators, artists, teachers, cultural organisers, administrators, entrepreneurs, project leaders.

- Financial means: applicants who are unable to find the financial resources themselves

- Geographic zone and directions of mobility: all directions of mobility are eligible within Europe, Arab world, Middle East region. Artists from the Arab world and the Middle East only can also apply for international destinations however only a limited amount of international grants can be attributed since these tickets are more costly and limit the total number of potential beneficiaries. 

4) Applications must be made by individual travelers, not by organisations.

Applicants must choose the cheapest form of transport and can only apply for one international return travel ticket and visa costs, reimbursed after travel (local transport is not reimbursed).

Only three members of a group can apply for a grant concerning the same project. Applicants can only receive three RCF grants in total.  

The results of the selection will be announced 1st January 2019 (Deadline for receiving applications file: 31/10/2018). 

If you want to apply, you will find the application form under the heading "Apply for a grant". 

 The next open call of the General Fund is scheduled for January 2019.

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Folktales are works of literature par excellence which are transmitted orally and therefore polished through this transmission. They make up a significant part of the oral histories of societies and nations and thus comes the importance of preserving folktales to transmit them through generations.

The folktales project for this year is organised by Assabil Association and funded by Taawon and Kamal Al-Azar Tunis.

This project aims at preserving oral history, especially folktales, and diffusing them through organising storytelling performances by storytellers from Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine.

Here you could find more info on the event.

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Thanks to the Tamteen Fund, Beit Hawadet has renovated a workspace. On September 7, 2018, the team inaugurated this space with a first storytelling workshop. This short video shows the work of beautifying the space to accommodate the workshops. Congratulations to the team! 

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Aerowaves are on the hunt again for the next Twenty talented emerging choreographers based in geographical Europe.

Apply now to become a Twenty19 artist with a chance of having your work programmed at Spring Forward Festival next year in Val de Marne (Paris’ region) and by our partners. Around 100 performance opportunities are guaranteed by the partners and supported by Aerowaves each year.

Deadline is on Friday 14 September, hurry up!

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The new ArtsLink International Fellowships initiative focuses more resources on key individuals from the eligible countries as well as fosters international exchange. The Fellowships are no longer framed by arts disciplinary practice but rather by the creative process, intention, and an active commitment to community engagement and dialogue. The expanded Fellowship program offers up to three years of support through the initial residency, a follow up project in the US, and subsequently a project in the Fellow’s home country.

 We are pleased to invite artists, arts managers and curators from all arts disciplinary backgrounds from 37 eligible countries to apply for the ArtsLink International Fellowships. An opportunity to apply for further support will be open to the Fellows upon the successful completion of the initial Residency.

The five-week Residencies will take place in Fall 2019. CEC ArtsLink places Fellows at established US non-profit arts organizations and covers associated living, working, travel, and health insurance costs. Applicants do not need to have contacts with organizations in the US to apply for this program, but proficiency in English is required.

Application Deadline: October 15, 2018
Application and Guidelines

Eligible countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mongolia, Moldova, Montenegro, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

 For more information about ArtsLink Fellowships visit CEC ArtsLink website. 

Image: a site-specific installation in Novi Sad, Serbia by the ArtsLink alum the artist collaborative SuttonBeresCuller from Seattle, WA, 2015. 

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Deadline: September, 4th, 2018 

This call is open :

- For artists from all over the world

- All disciplines accepted : visual arts, writings, music, performing arts etc.

- Age : 18 years old 

- For residency in Paris between 2 and 12 months

Founded in 1965, Cité internationale des arts welcomes every year more than 1,200 artists from 90 countries in 326 studios in the heart of Paris. Artists from all disciplines but also curators are hosted for residencies that can last from 2 to 12 months.

The ambitious project of the Cité internationale des arts is to gather in one place artists from all around the world and to give them the best condition to encourage encounters, artistic crossovers and creativity. It is a place open to dialogue between cultures, where artists meet their audiences and professionals. 

Click here to apply 

If you have any questions please contact : 

commissions@citedesartsparis.fr 

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Deadline for applications : September, 17th 2018

Location: Zoukak Studio, Karantina, Beirut

Dates: 

The workshop will be divided into two sub-cycles:

First sub-cycle: 

October 2018 Tuesdays: 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th.

Second sub-cycle:

January 2019 Tuesdays: 15th, 22nd, 29th.

February 2019 Tuesdays: 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th.

Who can apply?

Practitioners working with children and youths: educators, therapists, psychologists, social workers, activity leaders and artists experienced in psychosocial artistic mediation techniques.  

The selection criteria is based on:

- The motivation and ability to commit to the required time needed;

- Previous or/and current field work with children and youth

Click here to know more about the call

“Zoukak Workshops” is a program launched by Zoukak Theatre Company and Cultural Association, consisting in series of drama therapy workshops with children and youths and training sessions with theatre practitioners in psychosocial intervention techniques. The workshops will take place once per year, in cycles of three months each, and will be offered free-of-charge.

Zoukak is launching its fifth cycle of the program by offering a training for theatre practitioners in psychosocial intervention techniques. The training will be led by Zoukak’s team of professional facilitators who have an experience of over ten years in leading drama therapy and psychosocial interventions with marginalized communities across Lebanon and abroad.

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The Camargo Core Program is the historical and flagship program of the Foundation. Each year an international call is launched through which 18 felloxs (9 artists and 9 scholars/thinkers) are selected. 

The open call for the Carmgo Core Program is currently launched for residencies in Autumn 2019 and Spring 2020.  Applications must be submitted no later than Tuesday, October 17th, 2018 by 6:00 pm EST (e.g New York City) / 12:00 midnight CET (e.g Paris). 

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Organized by CEC ArtsLink and No Longer EmptyIn collaboration with The Shelley & Donald Rubin FoundationModerated by Kendal Henry, Director, Percent for Art Program at NYC Department of Cultural Affairs 

The 8th Floor17 West 17th Street, New York City

Wednesday, July 25th, 2018, 6 – 8 pm

Reception to follow

RSVP

Dialogues on Transnational Curatorial Practice presents conversations between CEC ArtsLink’s international Arts Leadership Fellows and No Longer Empty Curatorial Lab (NLE Lab) on socially-engaged artistic and curatorial practices: 

Data Chigholashvili, Georgia and Mary Kay Judy, USA

Maria Ivanov, Moldova and Eva Mayhabal Davis, USA

Eva Khachatryan, Armenia and Jordan Greenberg, USA

Lera Lerner, Russia and Niama Safia Sandy, USA

Lilia Voronkova, Russia and Sarah Fritchey, USA

Arts Leadership Fellows will each present a single project in discussion with a NLE Lab Curator.

The Fellows are practicing artists, curators and researchers who address pressing social issues in their countries with a focus on socially-engaged art projects, social science and the urban environment, collaborative, site- and community-responsive methodologies. NLE Lab Curators participated in the No Longer Empty Curatorial Lab program, a socially conscious platform for experimentation in curating, and a professional development program for emerging curators interested in direct experience curating in an expanded field. 

The Arts Leadership Fellows are in New York as part of a visit organized by CEC ArtsLink with the support of the Trust for Mutual Understanding. This event is hosted by The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation at The 8th Floor.  

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Since 2006, the Culture Resource has supported the travel of more than 200 artists and cultural actors throughout the Arab region through Mawa3eed program, and the travel of more than 30 artists and cultural actors to destinations outside the region through Tajwaal program since 2016.

Culture Resource is developing the mobility fund by merging Mawa3eed and Tajwaal in one program that will be launched soon and which supports the travel of artists and cultural actors from the Arab region to destinations within the region and internationally.

For more information please visit their website by clicking here

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OIF and its partners are launching a call for applications to participate in the 2nd International Conference of Francophone Youth (CJF) to be held in Geneva at the Palais des Nations from 17 to 19 September. This call for applications is open to all nationals of OIF member states between the ages of 18 and 34.

The Second International Conference of Francophone Youth (CJF) will focus on the theme of economic and financial inclusion of young people, in relation to the upcoming Francophone Summit "Living together in solidarity, sharing humanistic values ​​and respect of diversity: a source of peace and prosperity for the French-speaking world "(Yerevan, 11-12 October 2018).

For further information please address: jeunesse@francophonie.org

Female candidacies are deeply encouraged.

The deadline for submitting applications is Monday, July 23, 2018.

Website

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Call for Papers

TOWARDS AN ARAB DRAMATURGY

SYMPOSIUM

Sept. 27^th & 28^th, 2018

Submission open from July 16th, 2018 to July 23th, 2018

Contemporary theatre and performance in the Arabic world is a diverse and contested set of practices that are unfolding in a fast-changing political and culturally complex region.  In this situation, the performing arts are under pressure to independently produce new work, uphold traditions— and simultaneously to speak about contemporary lives, nationalism, class, race, religion, gender and new forms of theatre. In this symposium, we ask how theatre can continue to grow, develop artistically and continue to be a voice in the future of the Arabic world.  How can the theatre in the region thrive? 

With a focus in this symposium on Arabic dramaturgies, we hope to begin to answer these questions.  As a term that bridges the ideas and practice of contemporary performance, dramaturgy draws our attention to the process of artistic production.  It explores the notion that process is performance and invites us to look at the question of how artists connect ideas and forms in their work.  Dramaturgy also considers questions about the state of the arts.  It enables us to take stock and propose new ideas and creative forms for the future.  It invites conversations between makers and theorists and artists and audiences. In addition, we examine if perhaps there is a new, specific Arabic dramaturgy emerging from all of it.

This symposium will feature research papers, artist talks and roundtable events.  We invite contributions on topics including:

·         What are Arabic dramaturgies? 

·         Are there specific local and regional approaches to performance and if so what are these?

·         What are the recent trends and issues in contemporary theatre in the Arab world?

·         What are examples that represent a new Arab dramaturgy?

·         Politics and practice: how does theatre in the region work?

·         Questions of gender, sexuality, secularity, class, city, Arabic diversity, ‘others’.

·         Theatre as a source of community, audiences, sub-cultures.

·         Zones of resistance and solidarity, what does theatre do?

·         Tensions and conflicts; ‘occupied territories’ and theatre.

·         Innovation and experimentation. 

·         Theatres of the real.

·         Old forms of theatre and new: plays, performance, new media dramaturgy, dance, poetry, music, ritual. 

The organization committee will select papers that will be presented in 15-20 minute sessions during the Symposium next to artist talks and panels. In addition to this, the sessions and papers will be compiled in a publication/book that will be generated from the discussions at the convening. 

For more information and submission, please mail to: mestc@gc.cuny.edu

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Presentation of the FRC/ Valletta 2018 Fund 

The Roberto Cimetta Fund and the Valletta 2018 Foundation, in charge of the Valletta project European Capital of Culture 2018, have been collaborating since 2015 to improve and increase artistic mobility in the Euro-Arab-Middle East region. 

The FRC/ Valletta 2018 fund supports mobility, communication, collaboration and exchange between all these cultures and contribute more widely to community participation in the arts in the region. 

The Roberto Cimetta Fund and Valletta 2018 consider that freedom of movement is a right and that artists must be supported in the internationalization of their practice and in the development of their arts. Valletta, as the European Capital of Culture 2018, is a crossroad of trajectories and encounters in the center of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Open call for applications 

Applications must be sent between June 1st, 2018 and June 30th, 2018. They can be written in Arabic, English or French. The results will be announced in September 2018. 

Before applying, each candidate have to read the eligibility criteria specific to the Roberto Cimetta Fund as well as the criteria required by Valletta 2018. 

Click here for more information about the eligibility criteria 

Click here to access the application forms 

Contact and information : info@cimettafund.org 

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Created in 2009, the Maghreb des films has screened around 800 films and has designed an equivalent film fund.The Film Meetings of the Maghreb is an annual event with the purpose to promote cinematographies related to the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania), to organize debates and round tables around projected films.

The Rencontres are open to all cinematographic proposals in their diversity as well as to heritage films and film archives.

If you wish to participate in the 2018 Meetings, you can submit your film until June 29, 2018.

For detailed information and application please click here

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The conference, entitled Culture: Invented or Inherited?, will be organised by the University of Malta in collaboration with UNeECC and will be held between the 7 and 9 of November 2018 at the University of Malta Valletta campus. This calls aims at established academics, early career scholars, research students and whoever is interested in the topic of Culture. Presenters will have the opportunity to publish their papers on the UNeECC Annual Volume (ISSN 2069 – 8704  http://uneecc.org/conference/proceedings/). 

The call for papers and other important information may be downloaded here.

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Ettijahat launched the fifth edition of the Laboratory of Arts programme. The program will return to its usual course after a special edition in 2017 under the fifth anniversary of Ettijahat. It will cover the usual artistic and literary categories: Animation, Theatre, Dance and Performing Arts, Creative Writing, Visual Arts (including Plastic Arts, Installation, Visual and Graphic Design Projects), and Music.

In this edition the grant value has been raised, reaching 10.000 $ for the categories of theatre and cinema, and 6000 $ for the rest of categories.

The Laboratory of Arts is a program for supporting Syrian artists. It is aimed at Syrian artists and cultural entities, providing them with the support they need to carry out their creative practices and be responsive to the new places they work in. The program enhances forms of artistic expression to provide opportunities for independent creators to present their artistic works.

The deadline for submitting applications is 30th June 2018.

The application form and the FAQ’s are available by clicking here.

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The Cultural Resource is receiving applications for a training workshop for cultural leaders in the Arab region. The workshop will take place from 2 till 9 September 2018 in Beirut.

The Imkan program aims to enable young cultural managers, leaders and workers in the Arab region to play a central role in supporting the cultural sector. Towards this end, it works to develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to become more effective in promoting independent cultural activity in the region. The programme also opens opportunities for networking and dialogue. It targets, in particular, cultural actors with practical experience in cultural work in view of the advanced level of the workshop. 

Deadline: Friday, 1 June 2018, at 5:00 p.m.

For further inquiries, please email the Imkan team at: imkan@mawred.org

to know more click here 

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The French Ministry of Culture has launched francophone collective seminars which will take place over ten days around the following thematics: cultural policies and their administration; Cultural economy; digital arts and new stakes in digital creation; physical and digital preservation of the collections of libraries; cultural institutions for the purpose of territorial development.

The themes and dates :

- Culture and art in the public space: from 9 to 18 October 2018

- Cooperate and creation in the Francophone world: from October 9 to 18, 2018

- Exhibition Design and Organisation: November 12 to 21, 2018

To know more about the programme or to fill out the form(s) please click here

Deadline: 12 June 2018

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In partnership with the French Institute, Lab'ess launches the Call for applications for the 2018 edition of SafirLab.

Designed as an 'acceleration' program for social innovation, SafirLab enables young people between 20 and 30 years of age to participate,  and benefit from the expertise of eminent civil society actors, both in Paris and their country of origin, in order to share successful local experiences and imagine innovative steps for the advancement of their entrepreneurial projects.

Deadline for application: 3 June 2018

For further information please click here

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This year the VFM is scheduled to take place in Rabat, Morocco from 21 to 24 November 2018. The call for application for participation has been extended. Selected artists will perform before the industry professionals from all over the world.

Deadline: 30 April 2018

For more details and for the artists’ application, please visit VFM website

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Introductory speech by Ferdinand Richard, Chairman of the Roberto Cimetta Fund during the Final Conference of the Southmed CV programme "The impact of Culture in the Southern Mediterranean Region" Amman, 1-4/12/2017.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In order to consider Culture as the vector of development in the Southern Mediterranean region, I would like to recall five evidences:

1 - In our shared space, we are today facing an on-going attempt to re-nationalise Culture and Arts. Culture and Arts are now considered an ultimate tool for national sovereignties, a branding device for smart cities, a communication tool for mass-tourism. A growing consequence of this is the festivalisation of Culture, the reduction of critical narratives and experimentations, self-censorship… All in all, independent producers are more often considered as unsustainable sub-contractors surviving thanks to the accumulation of rapidly forgotten "projects". Our salvation depends on nothing else than re-inventing our "trajectories" in a shared political space, beyond the dictatorship of nationalisms.

2 - We take good note that the growing political divide nowadays has its roots in the falsification of History, in any region of the world, here as well. Although it is never 100% achieved, Art as a witness for truth has an immense responsibility.

3 - We ought to project ourselves in the future, refusing the dictatorship of immediacy, and look for long term multi-level solutions. The MENA region knows full well that sometimes quick solutions turn into long term problems.

4 - We acknowledge that the notion of common good is wide, transversal, holistic and flexible. It is an on-going construction process. There is no dogma on what common goods are or should be. As indicated in their name, common goods belong to everybody and to no one person in particular.

5 - We move in multiple and administratively overlapping spaces, which in many ways no longer respond to the classic neo-colonial approach of the so-called Euro-Mediterranean space. The Arab cultural world is far larger than the Mediterranean Sea, and it cannot be considered isolated from the entire Middle East. What is happening today in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Kurdistan, etc... is evidence of this.

Therefore, an attempt to express some medium and long term tendencies in economy, in politics and in the humanistic sphere is necessary:

a) Economy:

a1) Agile, flexible, transversal, multi-functional light-weight content industries will replace vertically-organised heavy-weight ones.

According to many specialists, content industries (multi-media, internet, communication, leisure, culture and online education) may become the first economic asset in the world in the next 50 years, following the decline of fossil fuels. Some petrol states have already begun to launch initiatives in this perspective. Global investment funds are already spending huge sums; for example, Providence Equity Fund published on their website, a plan to invest 50 billions dollars in global media, education and culture (they are already the owners of Warner). These global players are already attempting to rule our game.

However, this also means that funds dedicated to Culture will increase and thus, paradoxically, agile, hyper-active networks of lighter content industries, running on peer-to-peer relationship models, will be able to strengthen their new markets since these will not be considered interesting enough financially by what I call "the monstrous military-industrial empires". These lighter content industries will still keep their leadership on R&D, on innovation, on creativity, but they have to quickly organise their independence from the big heavyweight industries. In this regard, skilled negotiators in the Cultural sector will be highly necessary.

Contrary to the heavyweight industries, these smaller, multi-lateral, instant, horizontal networks of lightweight industries will facilitate inter-cultural dialogue.

a2) The nature of mass-consumption (of which mass-tourism is the most visible aspect in the Med area) and its requirement to constantly be at its maximum efficiency, drives it to separate individuals into different categories up to a point which becomes hard to stand for human beings. The generation gap is a direct consequence of marketing consumption, city planning is directly linked to gentrification, women still have a lot of difficulties to have their human rights respected, etc... Mass-consumption is not only a threat to the environment, it is also a direct threat to intercultural dialogue. More than ever culture, as a platform for dialogue is an utmost priority.

Soberness as a personal form of behaviour as well.

a3)  The notion of ethical capitalism, which is by the way directly placed at the intersection of religions and secularism, remains marginal when confronted to profit maximisation. In the current context of global negotiations on economy, ethical capitalism still remains an intellectual speculation, and the absence of ethics in economy has a direct effect on the religious question, including in the most violent theatres of conflict. Censorship is not only political, it is also produced by some forms of economy. Who today is the guardian of ethics, of freedom of expression, of freedom of creation? The legitimate desire of inter-cultural dialogue forces us to re-consider the restrictive control imposed by wild ultra-liberalism.        

b) politics:

b1) The influence of cultural (and cultual) zones is gradually replacing the national borders, for the best and for the worst.  Trapped in a very old-fashioned "block-against-block" strategy dating from former centuries, the traditional competition between nations is being replaced by the instrumentalization of cultural differences (very often disguised under the term "cultural diplomacy"), by a so-called "shock of civilisations" which is more and more successful, although it is nothing else than a new make-up on the face of nationalism. In MENA region, after the apparent decline of colonial powers, some new regional or religious heavyweights try to occupy the empty chair, become more aggressive, more radical, gain more influence, although the constant and never-ending pressure of the US, Russia and the EU is still there, under new forms. Do these regional powers consider intercultural dialogue as an essential tool for peace? Do they even consider peace as their number one objective? Or do they prefer their expansion?

No culture, no dialogue... No dialogue, no peace... No peace, no business... War is the business... 

b2) Asia shows a growing interest for Africa and the MENA region. The centre of the world has shifted, from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, and now from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Interestingly enough, we Arabs, Europeans, Middle-easterners, do not know that we are collectively seen from China as a single coherent cultural entity, with a common heritage, a common, original religious frame, and somehow common genetics. Is this reciprocal? Do we show interest in the other regions of the world? If yes, what are we collectively interested in? Social models? Market development? The exotic? Spiritualism? Can we collectively address the rest of the world? Isn't the rest of the world expecting us?

b3) hybridation/integration/assimilation

Beyond the fascinating and on-going research of "Cultural Base", a joint programme led by the Universities of Barcelona and Glasgow, the remaining and long-lasting question is: Who is integrating who? Who is assimilating who? What level of hybridisation is compatible with Cultural Diversity?

c) the human factor:

c1) Whatever happens, the Europe of the younger generations, including the ones of immigrant origin, will be based on and will affect the Europe/MENA region relationship. What we can witness today is not the withdrawal of the European dream, but the somehow painful, often anticipated beginnings of a positive transformation, which requires that every single individual living in Europe redefines his/her position towards the rest of the world. This also includes the re-balancing of another north/south-periphery/centre unfair deal, the one internally affecting Europe, between its north and its south, which, by a domino effect, is also weakening the relationship between Europe and the MENA region.  The future partners of the younger generations in MENA region are everywhere in Europe, not only in the capital cities.

c2) Whether virtual or physical mobility, the peer-to-peer, transversal, universal approach does not comply with the notion of a one-way, no return ticket.

The "golden triangles" of Art and Culture (for example London/Amsterdam/Paris) are the geographical bases of the empire. They concentrate all the tools of the cultural power. They behave towards the creative youth of the peripheries as magnets. The brain drain effect is their worst consequence. It deprives local communities of the return on the expensive investment that has been made in the education and capacity building of their youth. It prevents the creative youth from participating in the development/reconstruction of its own community, and, on a not-so-long term, it fuels an unfair imbalanced situation, which incidentally nourishes europhobia inside, and xenophobia outside.

Everywhere in the world this "golden triangles" syndrome is growing. It is also the fruit of modern global planning politics.

Local development is the condition for a fair international relationship, the individual is the engine of this development, with his/her cultural and intellectual assets. Mobility is first of all an affair of local development, and cannot be reduced to a small cohort of smart people living in airports. It concerns first of all your ability to share the benefits of your trip with your community when you go back home.  I believe that the future of the world will be made of an organic network of multiple peripheries. Peripheries are the multiple sources of knowledge, since knowledge is not the priviledge of a few scientific centres wherever they may be, including in the Euro-MENA region.

As a conclusion, I would refer to article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

"All human beings are equal in dignity and in rights".

In my understanding, to be equal in dignity means that there cannot be any dominating Culture.

I thank you for your attention. Ferdinand Richard

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Valletta 2018 Foundation’s annual conference this year will look at the legacy of Valletta 2018 and other important projects, including other European Capitals of Culture, but not exclusively, and the legacy these may, or may not create. ‘Sharing the Legacy’ will take place in Valletta between the 24th and 26th October.

A call for submissions from a performative, artistic or academic perspective which focus on legacy is open till the 29th March. 

Full information may be found on the conference website

Deadline: 29 March 2018

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This Call for Papers and Artistic Projects intends to record the history and the potential of walking as an art practice. The procedure of walk has been developed as an art practice from the beginning of Modernism. Since the '60s however it has become an established form of art expression.

Deadline: 31st May 2018

For information on the call for papers click here

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Women’s and trans* human rights defenders face unanticipated opportunities or threats. Urgent Action Fund is making flexible grants available for activists without the lengthy approval processes employed by most foundations. Urgent Action Fund’s grantmaking model enables women’s and trans* human rights defenders to act quickly, take advantage of unexpected opportunities, mitigate threats, and/or prevent backsliding in their ongoing work to advance the human rights of all people. Rapid Response Grants are a lifeline to women’s human rights defenders worldwide.

To know more about UAF please click here

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The fifth Valletta 2018 Foundation annual conference encourages broad reflection on the central issues that define urban life by channeling its discussions through the basic question of “What makes a city better?”. This reflection aims to understand how cities can be shaped to better suit the needs and desires of the individuals and communities that it hosts, whether on a permanent or temporary basis. 

Deadline: 29 March 2018

For information on the conference click here

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Twenty-six cultural managers from Europe and the Arab region will be chosen to join the next round of Tandem Shaml. The one-year Tandem programme, in the spirit of ‘Doing-it-together’, gives cultural managers a space to experiment with multidisciplinary project ideas and inventive approaches to create change in our societies through culture.

Deadline for application: 29 March 2018

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For Egyptian artists: 

Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts (NAC) and MASS Alexandria invite artists from Egypt to apply for a two-month studio residency at NAC in Lithuania. The residency is complementing the activities of the project 4Cs: From Conflict to Conviviality through Creativity and Culture. Participating artist are expected to focus on issues of conflict, rootless communities, migration, displacement, and ways of making unfamiliar territories your own, conviviality, identity and related experiences. There are no limits on time or geographical area if the artist choses to work on specific historical events.

Deadline: 15 March 2018

For more details and for the artists’ application, please visit NAC website

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The Villa Seurat Foundation seeks to create bridges between worlds that rarely meet, to expand the scope of artistic creation by addressing vulnerable people who do not have access to art for economic, cultural or social reasons.

These projects will be « social sculptures » (Joseph Beuys), in which the gaze of the artist(s) and that of each person in the group will encounter and echo one another in the space of creation, sharing and transmission of this artistic dialogue.

This call for projects is directed to artists (one or several artists in the case of a collaboration or an artist collective), regardless of their nationality and place of residence.

Deadline: 24 March 2018

Find all details online

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Stimulating young people to work towards an open, inclusive society through arts and culture, The Prince Claus Fund announces a new Call for Proposals: the Next Generation 2018. The Fund will support one-year initiatives by and for young people that inspire them to contribute to their societies in ways that make them more inclusive and accepting of differences. The programme is designed to create safe spaces for young women and men where they can explore the possibilities of different stories or alternative narratives that allow them to imagine different ways of being. 

Deadline: 16 March 2018

To read about the Call for Proposals click here

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A project in partnership between the British Council and Ettijahat-Independent Culture and in collaboration with Mimeta, that seeks to increase the capacity of artists to contribute to the development of stronger, more cohesive communities through the design and delivery of high-quality community arts initiatives. The project will support artists to build their technical and artistic skills in community settings through providing a tailored training, local and international peer-to-peer networking opportunities and seed funding for the implementation of innovative community arts initiatives.

Application deadline: 22 April 2018

For more information click here

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This publication is the outcome of a one year of work, within the framework of the project MARSAD (Mediterranean Action and Research for Sustainability and Development). The project is initiated by Racines, in partnership with : “Notre Culture d'Abord“ association (Tunisia), “ElMadina for performing and digital arts“ (Egypt) and “Me’zaf“ (Lebanon).

It presents an inventory of the cultural situation in these 4 countries and about all artistic disciplines. 

To read the publication, click here

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L’Institut français lance les Résidences Sur Mesure permettant à des artistes confirmés d’effectuer et/ou d’approfondir une recherche afin de mener le projet significatif de leur choix, à l’étranger, dans les pays indiqués.

Elles sont destinées à des créateurs, français ou étrangers domiciliés en France depuis plus de 5 ans, souhaitant séjourner à l’étranger pour mener un projet personnel.

L’Institut français apporte un accompagnement personnalisé, adapté aux projets retenus. Les candidats sélectionnés seront amenés à organiser leur séjour avec le pôle Résidences.

Les disciplines concernées pour l’appel 2018 sont : Arts de la rue, nouveau cirque, marionnettes, danse et performance en arts de la scène, théâtre, musiques de création.

Montant des allocations attribuées : 

• pour 1 mois : de 3000 € à 4500 €
• pour 2 mois : de 6000 € à 8000 €
• pour 3 mois : de 9000 € à 11000 €

Deadline : 12 février 2018

Pour en savoir plus sur ce programme, cliquez ici

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Every year, the Cité internationale des arts welcomes more than 1,200 artists from 90 different countries in more than 300 studios in the center of Paris, in Marais and Montmartre districts.

Based on artistic projects of residents, artists and/or curators, the Cité internationale des arts implements a multidisciplinary cultural program in its various facilities: the Galerie (525 m2 of exhibition space), the Corridor, the Auditorium (128 seats) and through its studios by organizing open studio sessions. The Cité internationale des arts also supports projects outside its walls ("hors les murs") by its residents and participates in bringing them into contact with professionals.

Residents can also benefit from French lessons, work in collective workshops (engraving workshop, silkscreen printing) and use a ceramic stove. Partnerships with other Parisian and Ile-de-France institutions also enable residents to develop their practices outside the walls of the Cité internationale des arts.

PLANNING:

- Submission of applications: from January 10 to March 1, 2018

- Notification of results: from mid-April onwards

- Residences start: between July and late November 2018.

For further informations, click here

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The Valletta 2018 Foundation and Esplora Interactive Science Centre, are inviting artists to apply for an immersive Artist-in-Residence (AiR) experience. The Residency Programme aims to communicate science through and with the art form of storytelling and encourages productive interaction between international creatives, local creatives and local communities as well as, physical and virtual environments.

The residency will be held at Esplora Interactive Science Centre, Triq il-Marina, Kalkara, Malta between April 2018 and May 2018 and will run for 6 weeks.

The successful artist will create a site-specific storytelling performance for Esplora Interactive Science Centre and will work closer with the Esplora Lead Science Programme Developer, as well as the Esplora Director. Esplora offers a various range of indoor and outdoor spaces for performances with multiple viewpoints and extensive exposure to day and evening visitors.

Deadline : 31st January 2018

For further informations, click here

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March Meeting 2018 open call welcomes proposals from artists, writers, curators and art practitioners that resonate with this year’s theme : resistance.

Applicants are invited to propose a presentation in performance, lecture performance, talk or other form that reflects on or responds to the MM 2018 concept. 
Selected open call applicants will be invited to carry out their proposal during MM 2018, and are expected to attend all sessions of MM2018. A work sample relevant to the proposal is also required. A total of six applications will be selected. 

Deadline : 10 January 2018 

More details here

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Throughout 2018, Valletta will hold the title of European Capital of Culture; in this context, substantial capital projects have been developed to strengthen Malta’s cultural and creative sector. Digital Research in Humanities and the Arts Malta 2018 mirrors Fondazzjoni Kreattività’s purpose of catalysing innovative and cutting edge research and creative work in its theme of ‘Creative Legacies: Collaborative Practices for Digital Cultural Heritage.’

The conference programme will be structured within 5 distinct strands :

- Digital arts, design and performance ;

 - Digital humanities ;

 - Creative and cultural industries ;

 - Digital libraries and archives ; 

 - Digital cities and urban commons.

Deadline to submit your proposal : 31st January 2018

For further informations about the call, click here

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