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Balkan-Arab Exchange Platform – 8th – 9th May 2014
Enlightening hidden passes: the reality of cultural mobilities between Balkans, Europe and the Arab world
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The Roberto Cimetta Fund (RCF) provides its expertise to develop Euro-Arab relations that directly benefits local artists working at international level.
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With the support of the Croatian Ministry of Culture, the City of Zagreb, the Central European Initiative, the Anna Lindh Foundation and Kultura Nova Foundation, RCF will be organising an exchange platform entitled “Enlightening hidden passes: the reality of cultural mobilities between the Balkans, Europe and the Arab world”. The meeting will be held at POGON, Zagreb Centre for Independent Culture and Youth, on the 8th and 9th May 2014.
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The aim of the exchange platform is to explore the current situation of artistic and cultural mobility between the two regions (Balkans and Arab world). More specifically, the Zagreb Meeting will be the ideal continuation of the RCF Belgrade workshop[1] which was organised on 11/09/2013. This follow-up meeting in Zagreb, Croatia provides the opportunity to continue to make headway through networking and advocacy to formulate solutions for cultural cooperation. Our meetings aim to build the capacities of the artists and cultural managers we support so that they can structure and develop, on a longer term, cross-border cooperation, networks and art projects. Mobility should be seen as a return trip bringing back potential to the starting point of the journey; potential in terms of multilateral partnerships that require specific know-how.
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The programme will start on 8th in the afternoon and continue all day 9th May. This one-and-a-half day exchange platform is open and free of charge with a mandatory registration at the following link
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Participants from CEI[2] and Arab countries can request travel and accommodation support. These requests will be selected on the basis of the projects they aim to initiate. We are very grateful to the CEI, the Anna Lindh Foundation and Kultura Nova Foundation who are providing the funds to cover the travel and accommodation of approximately 30 participants.
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Because artists and cultural managers have a vital role to play in society-building (through critical processes, community activism, remembrance, diversity of cultural productions) we believe that their travel between the Balkans and the Arab world is essential and needs to be highlighted and supported. By bringing these actors together we want to advocate for recognition of the importance of these connexions and allow for real encounters to take place, which foster the trust and affiliations necessary for sustainable partnerships.
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Speakers from EU, Arab and CEI countries who have regional network-building experience will provide knowledge and skills and will insist on concrete result-making plenary sessions and speed or slow dating discussions. We hope this will serve to build real Balkan-Balkan, Euro-Balkan-Arab and Arab-Balkan networks and sustainable models of international cooperation through mutualisation of artistic practice focusing on promotion of minority cultures, intercultural dialogue, conflict resolution through culture and arts, local micro-funding and international fundraising.
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For more information please contact: Angelica Pratolini, trainee, Roberto Cimetta Fund info@cimettafund.org or Angie Cotte, Secretary General, RCF angie.cotte@cimettafund.org
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[1] Report of Belgrade meeting at the following link (http://www.cimettafund.org/
[2] Central European Initiative (CEI) members states are Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Poland, Rumania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
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