Co-production:
Partners of the « Paradise Lost ? » Festival (Schouwburg Arnhem, Stadsschouwburg Groningen, Stadsschouwburg Haarlem, Rotterdamse Schouwburg and Stadsschouwburg Utrecht), Felix Meritis Foundation (Amsterdam, The Netherlands),
With the support of the Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University and the Theater Instituut Nederland, and of Theorem (association supported by the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union).
As part of the « Paradise Lost ? » festival (a presentation of theatre performances from Central and Eastern Europe in the Netherlands on 8-18 February 2002), the Felix Meritis Foundation organised a seminar of about 35 participants, cultural journalists and theatre & dance critics from various Eastern and Western European countries (The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Russia, Belgium, Germany, Romania) on 16-18 February 2002.
The conference was moderated by Neil Wallace, director of Haarlem City Theatre and Concert Hall, and by three foreign curators - Arkady Ostrovsky (Russia), Andrea Tompa (Hungary) and Nicolay Iordanov (Bulgaria) - to give a broad perspective on the changes in the theatre landscape of Central and Eastern Europe in the post-communist era:
- What are the big changes and what are the latest trends in contemporary theatre in Central and Eastern Europe?
- Can we compare the developments in theatre in the East with previous developments in the theatre in the West?
«The idea for a critics conference originated at a Theorem General Assembly. The lack of up-to-date information about the developments in Central and Eastern Europe, especially amongst Western European journalists and critics, was felt to need special attention.
Meeting, exchanging, co-producing with artists in Central and Eastern Europe are one thing; creating an audience is another, and cannot dispense with the help of a well informed and curious journalistic practice.»
Steve Austen
Participants:
- Max Arian (journalist & theatre critic, The Netherlands)
- Ineke Austen (director Max Wagener Stichting, The Netherlands)
- Steve Austen ( former director Felix Meritis, The Netherlands)
- Pieter Bots (theatre critic, The Netherlands)
- Linda Bouws (director Felix Meritis, The Netherlands)
- H.van der Braak (external relations municipality Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
- Judit Csaki (theatre critic & theatre magazine editor, Hungary)
- Dessislava Damianova (Netherlands BBC World Service correspondent, Bulgaria/The Netherlands)
- Angela Dekker (journalist, The Netherlands)
- David Drozd (theatre critic, Czech Republic)
- Thom van der Goot (director Groningen City Theatre & Oosterpoort, The Netherlands)
- Loes Gompes (journalist & theatre critic, The Netherlands)
- Marcin Herich (theatre critic & cultural magazine editor, Poland)
- Zoltán Imre ( heatre studies lecturer, Hungary)
- Nikolay Iordanov (theatre critic & theatre magazines editor, Bulgaria)
- Erwin Jans (dramaturg RoTheater, The Netherlands)
- Chiel Kattenbelt (lecturer theatre studies, The Netherlands)
- Levan Khetaguri (theatre critic & editor theatre publications, Georgia)
- Mieke Kolk (theatre studies lecturer, The Netherlands)
- Dasha Krizhanskaya (theatre critic & theatre magazine editor, Russia/The Netherlands)
- Peter Liefhebber (theatre critic, The Netherlands)
- Audronis Liuga (theatre critic & theatre magazine editor, Lithuania)
- Joanneke Lootsma (director Felix Meritis & Amsterdam Maastricht Summer University, The Netherlands)
- Constant Meijers (journalist & theatre magazine editor, The Netherlands)
- Bosko Milin (theatre critic & theatre magazine editor, Serbia)
- Arkady Ostrovsky (theatre critic, Russia/England)
- Geert Sels (theatre critic, Belgium)
- PieterJan Smit (producer & film director, The Netherlands)
- Marina Timasheva (theatre critic, Russia)
- Henrike Thomsen (theatre critic, Germany)
- Karin Veraart (theatre critic, The Netherlands)
- Nathalie Vimeux (Theorem network, France)
- SebastianVlad Popa (theatre critic, Romania)
- Neil Wallace (director Haarlem City Theatre and Concerthall, The Netherlands)
- Ellen Walraven (dramaturg Barre Land, The Netherlands)
- Leonie de Wit (external relations municipality Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
- Jan Zoet (director Rotterdam City Theatre, The Netherlands)
Training seminars on cultural policies across Europe, Warsaw (Poland), May, October, November 2002
The objective of these meetings - organised by the French Institute in Warsaw and supported by Theorem - is to launch a process of training and thinking on cultural policies in the field of performing arts in Poland, for Polish politicians, civil servants and professionals working in the cultural sector.
Lectures from West-European and Polish professionals enable exchanges of information and know-how. 100 to 120 participants are gathered per session.
24 & 25 May 2002 – « Decentralisation and de-concentration »
Co-production French Institute in Warsaw, Theorem (association supported by the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union), with the support of the City of Warsaw and the Theatre Academy of Warsaw.
In partnership with Theorem, The French Institute in Warsaw organised the fourth edition of its seminar on cultural management from 24-25 May 2002. The aim was to deal with questions connected to the relations and articulations between State policy and that of grass-roots organisations. These themes were developed from the French experience of cultural structures, local bodies and State services. The contributions of Polish participants provided enriching comparisions for collective reflection.
Themes:
- State relations/ territorial bodies
- role and evolution of the practices of the Ministry of Culture concerning the territorialisation and the development of local initiatives
- position of the territorial bodies in the development of international projects
- interference between politics and cultural projects
Plenty of time was reserved for discussion, debates and questions.
Interventions :
Jean-Luc Bredel, Regional Director of the Regional Direction for Cultural Affairs in Strasbourg
Bernard Fleury, Deputy-Director of the Théâtre de la Manufacture in Nancy (Passages festival).
