One month ago, Arts Hub reported that a network of European producers, In Situ, had secured European Union funding from the Culture 2000 programme, to develop outdoor and street arts projects. But In Situ wasn’t the only one. A similar network, this time of European festivals, also received three-year funding to the tune of €900,000 in support of street arts from the same funding pool. Frank Wilson, Artistic Director the Stockton International Riverside Festival, explains what is different about Eunetstar, the European Network of Street Arts.
Eunetstar, which is an organisation of festivals rather than festival producers, includes seven full partners and two associate partners. The full partners are the Stockton International Riverside Festival, International Street Theatre Festival (Ghent, Belgium), the Galway Arts Festival (Ireland), Coupe de Chauffe (Cognac, France), Namur En Mai (Namur, Belgium), Theatre Festival Malta (Poznan, Poland), and the site-specific arts festival on the island of Tershelling in Holland, the Oerol Festival.
The two associate partners, (‘associate’ in the sense that they were unable to commit the full financial contribution required by the EU), are the International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, Romania and the Lent Festival in the Slovenian city of Ljubljana.
Before applying for the Culture 2000 Fund the festivals were already networking in an informal way, Wilson explains, as all of the organisers are old colleagues.
‘We share the same concerns about the sector, we want to achieve the same things. [So we thought] why don’t we formalise this, set up a network, and apply for funding?’
There was some dialogue between the In Situ and Eunetstar partners at a later stage in the process, Wilson notes, as the producers and festivals involved in both networks considered submitting one application. Eventually two separate applications were decided upon, but Wilson points out, there is a certain degree of overlap in both networks’ aims and objectives and he doesn’t rule out the possibility of a collaboration in the future.
The second main distinction between In Situ and Eunetstar is the way in which the European funds will be spent. Rather than invite arts companies and organisations to submit creative ideas, Eunetstar intends to take a more hands-on approach.
‘We decided, after a lot of debate actually,’ Wilson admits, ‘that the more dynamic model [for Eunetstar] was to say, “Well actually, the relationship between the producer and the company needs to be stronger.” And the producer should actually play a role in identifying scenes and briefs which are relevant to the individual festival.’
To address this need, Eunetstar developed a system whereby each commission is mentored by two of the directors from the partnering festivals. For example, British outdoor theatre company Walk the Plank are the first organisation to be commissioned by Eunetstar. Their project, Supernova will be performed as part of the Stockton International Riverside Festival this weekend and the directors of the Galway Festival and Ghent’s International Street Theatre Festival are acting as mentors. The idea is to polish projects to a standard whereby they can then be toured to the European festivals that provided mentors.
‘I think it is fair to say that French companies have enjoyed great success in exporting their street arts to other countries,’ Wilson observes. ‘But it hasn’t been easy for, say, British companies to get into Europe. One of our aims [therefore] is the diffusion of work,’ he explains.
Wilson hopes that the combination of the mentor scheme with the overall support offered by the European network will help to address some of the common concerns in the street arts sector.
‘We’ve done a lot of commissioning over the years in Stockton and one repeated pitfall that British companies fall into is that they only get one chance to make a large-scale piece, and if it isn’t entirely successful or doesn’t tour, that’s the end of it,’ he remarks.
Other companies, Wilson notes, might hit on a successful formula but fall into the trap of creating pieces that end up mirroring each other.
The feeling between the European festival partners in this case was that by combining the experiences of their respective audiences with their own critical judgment of what does and doesn’t work, this would in turn be beneficial to producers and companies alike.
‘We want there to be a kind of intelligent dialogue between producers and companies,’ Wilson says. ‘We hope to provide a network that will help people overcome these difficulties,’ he adds.
Wilson also hopes that the network will work to address or directly influence the lack of critical debate surrounding the performance street arts in the UK. With the exception of only one or two art critics, Wilson says, referring to a well-known critic on a major London-based broadsheet, critical analysis of street arts is pretty thin on the ground.
It’s a situation certainly not reflected by Britain’s neighbours across the channel. The French, for example, have been taking street and circus arts seriously for the past 20 years, and the sectors receive considerable government support.
Critical debate, especially from the media, is crucial to ensure the street arts sector in Britain doesn’t become ‘Disney-fied’, Wilson believes, and relegated to a perception (or indeed, practice) that street arts is just about donning a silly costume and wandering around on stilts.
‘We want to address all those issues…[such as] why is there no serious critical debate? And I think some of the companies in the UK would benefit from more serious critical debate.’
The Stockton International Riverside Festival takes place from July 31-August 3, visit www.sirf.co.uk
Related Articles
30.06.03 European producers’ network secures commissioning funds
17.07.03 CLICK HERE to read about the first In Situ commission
23.04.03 CLICK HERE to read about Walk the Plank, the first company commissioned by Eunetstar
Want to know more? Arts Hub is tracking the development of streets arts and circus arts, so to find out more visit the Circus and Street Arts ‘Hot Topic’ to access an archives of news and features.
