2010 European-Off Meeting in European Culture Capital, Istanbul

Derya Yuksek
European Performing Artists, will have their Third Big Gathering in Istanbul in year 2010, following Italy (2007) and Austria (2004).

The meeting, which will be organized in 2010 European Capital of Culture, Istanbul to reflect the vast cultural mosaic of the city, will bring together more than 300 art and culture representatives from around 30 countries of Europe. This third big gathering of European artists, which will be held in April 2010, will host International Conference on “Communicational Intelligence” and “Integral Move Performing Arts and Dance Festival”. There will also be seminars, panels and artistic workshops organized in parallel to the Meeting. The conference and panel program is organised with the contributions of European-Off Network and IETM.

In scope of the event, hundreds of artists, cultural institutions and operators will visit Istanbul to participate in the conference program, and through joint projects, the European performing art groups will meet new audiences with their performances, which will be staged during the Integral Move Festival.

The event, which is organized with the contributions of public bodies, private institutions and European Culture Programmes, is supported by Turkish Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Directorate of Istanbul. The team of administrators and cultural operators as well as the representatives from participating countries have been working on the organization studies for the meeting since 2007 and are now finalizing the preparatory studies, the themes for joint works and opening as well as the concepts of the conference program.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

A Third Space conference was first held in scope of the European Off Network Meeting organized in Italy, Brescia during May 2007 with the participation of EON members from 30 countries across Europe, in which the ways of establishing a common platform and a common language among artists were discussed. Third Space Conference II was held in Vienna in September 2008 with representatives from 20 countries.

With similar themes and objectives, “Communicational Intelligence” will be the concept of the Conference Program for 2010. The conference program, which focuses on building a common artistic language, increasing opportunities for joint works and mobility, and to create a wider communication network throughout Europe for new stages and audiences, under the theme of “Communication across Cultures” have been developed with the idea that arts act as a direct communication medium in Intercultural Dialogue.

JOINT WORKS

The joint stage performance to be prepared in a period of 9 months by five countries of Europe, which came together in search for the “new”, will bring together 12 professional artists from Italy, Slovenia, Turkey, Austria and Bulgaria, under the theme of “Empathy”.

The artistic works created in scope of joint works program will be staged during the Integral Move Festival to be held in year 2010 in Istanbul, which will be organized simultaneously with 2010 European-Off Meeting.

2010 INTEGRAL MOVE FESTIVAL

Integral Move International Performing Arts and Dance Festival, organized in the scope of 2010 European Off Meeting in Istanbul, welcomes Theatre, Dance and Experimental Performing Art groups from Europe and Turkey, as well as from neighboring countries. The Festival, with the theme of "Empathy", brings the European independent art scene to Istanbul, to meet a big audience with their powerful and remarkable performances.

The Festival program covers Physical Theatre Makers, Independent Performers, Dance groups and Body circus shows, in addition to workshops to be given by professional artists.

The opening and closing performances will be the joint works produced during 2009, which are solely created for this festival. Closing performance will be a joint work between 12 artists from 4 countries.

Organization

Organization hosts artists from various European countries by means of international networks. EON is established during IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts) meetings with the objective of developing special projects, and creating a discussion and communication platform. IETM, which is the world’s largest network of performing artists established by cultural operators and theatre makers, supports the international conference on Communicational Intelligence with speakers, scheme table model and moderators.

Organization activities for 2010 European Off Meeting in Turkey are carried out by Simya Sanat, an independent art company and EON representative from Istanbul, Turkey.

This Network Meeting and Festival will act as an important opportunity to expand cooperation culture and mobility between artists, as well as transnational circulation of artistic works, and for promoting intercultural dialogue. Organisers believe this Network meeting is a unique opportunity for attracting attention of public for a sustainable artistic experience. Arts can be an effective tool to advance understanding and dialogue by creating new forms of communication. It also acts as an important chance to share the cultural and artistic heritage of Istanbul with Europe to develop communication across cultures.