EFA opens application process for two Ateliers for Young Festival Managers: BEIRUT 2013 and EDINBURGH 2014
Atelier BEIRUT: 5-12 October 2013 – Application Deadline: 31 March 2013
Atelier EDINBURGH: 3-10 April 2014 – Application Deadline: 30 June 2013
Do you belong to the next generation of artistic festival directors? Do you feel the need to broaden your programming skills and get inspired by colleagues and experienced forerunners?
The European Festivals Association (EFA), the Beiteddine Art Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival are delighted to launch the Open Call for Application for two Ateliers for Young Festival Managers: the sixth edition is the first in the Arab world and will take place from 5-12 October 2013 in Beirut, Lebanon, and the seventh edition will take place from 3-10 April 2014 in the ‘City of Festivals’ Edinburgh, UK.
Mission of the Atelier
The Atelier – initiated by the European Festivals Association (EFA) – is guided by the motto “The true role of a festival is to help artists to dare, to engage in new projects,” borrowed from Bernard Faivre d’Arcier, longstanding Director of the Avignon Festival and President of the Lyon Biennial (France).
It is an intense and rigorous 7-day training platform addressed at emerging artistic festival directors or those who have ambitions to become involved in programming or in programming related departments within a festival. It is all about formulating experiences and passing on knowledge to a next generation of festival makers: knowledge about programming a festival, thematically focusing on the very essence of arts festivals: the arts and the artist.
Format
45 young festival managers from all over the world will be selected to attend the Atelier. Under the coordination of Hugo De Greef (former EFA Secretary General, General Manager Bruges European Capital of Culture 2002, Founder and former Director Kaaitheater, Brussels), some ten presenters from all over the world – all renowned, trailblazing festival managers – will share their rich experiences with the participants. So far, 28 festival directors from all over the world have taken part in previous Ateliers. In lectures, one-to-one talks, group discussions as well as intense workshops on case studies, issues such as artistic vision, political and social responsibility, internationalisation, networking, renewal and sustainability are explored.
Application procedure and deadlines
All information on the Atelier, selection criteria and application procedure can be found in the Call for Application. The Application Form for BEIRUT 2013 has to be submitted until 31 March 2013. The Application Form for EDINBURGH 2014 has to be submitted until 30 June 2013.
Young festival managers from all over the world are invited to apply. Festivals, cultural organisations, networks, foundations, universities etc are invited to delegate a young festival manager to participate in the Atelier BEIRUT 2013 or EDINBURGH 2014, and to spread the Call for Application broadly to their members, partners, contacts and interested people.
Partners and cities
Beirut and the Beiteddine Art Festival
The capital city of Lebanon strikes with its cultural dynamism. An overwhelming number of cultural events, such as artistic workshops, theatre plays, concerts and exhibitions of all kinds are presented to the public on a regular basis. In Beirut, art can be found everywhere, as more than 5000 artists are active in the city.
The Beiteddine Art Festival has been founded during the Lebanese Civil War in 1985. The festival, which started locally, has managed to raise international interest and has become the most attended festival in the region. For 27 years now, it has attracted more than tens of thousands of spectators every year in its beautiful location, the palace’s courtyards. The Beiteddine Art Festival is regarded as a great space of encounters for all those who believe that culture and art have a fundamental role to play in the development of society.
Edinburgh and the Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is the largest city by area and the second largest by population in the country. The city was one of the historical major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of the unique character of the Medieval Old Town and the planned Georgian New Town. There are 12 major annual festivals in Edinburgh, the Festival City. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festivals is roughly equal to the settled population of the city.
Every August, the Edinburgh International Festival transforms one of the world’s most beautiful cities, presenting three exhilarating weeks of the finest creators and performers from the worlds of the arts – for everyone. The Edinburgh International Festival has been connecting audiences and artists for over sixty years. Founded in 1947, the Festival grew out of the rubble of the Second World War with the aim of providing ‘a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’. This belief in the power of the arts to nurture and transform lies at the heart of the Festival’s mission today.
All information
Kathrin Deventer – Secretary General EFA
Inge Ceustermans – Project Manager Atelier for Young Festival Managers
Atelier for Young Festival Managers
Initiated by the European Festivals Association
Kleine Gentstraat 46 – 9051 Gent – Belgium
T: +32 9 241 8080
F: +32 9 241 8089
atelier@efa-aef.eu
www.efa-aef.eu
www.atelierforyoungfestivalmanagers.eu
The call for application for the Atelier KAMPALA 2014 taking place in Uganda from 21-28 September 2014 will be launched in the second half of 2013.
