PfC's Choice

Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture launched
The European Cultural Foundation, Hivos and the Open Society Institute have recently launched a new funding instrument for cultural cooperation in/with South East Europe. The Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture is open to cultural projects by applicants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Kosovo. The aim of the fund is to contribute to the Western Balkans' European integration, by bridging the gap from the current situation (in which there is almost no money for cultural cooperation) to the region's full participation in EU programmes. Special attention will be given to projects that explore intercultural dialogue and competence in regional cooperation. The fund is managed within the ECF's grants programme and follows its application procedures. The first deadline for applications to the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture is 1 July 2006.
For further information write to Lodewijk Reijs at lreijs@eurocult.org or visit www.eurocult.org.

 News from the region

Kosovo: Film-makers Debate Kosovo Culture Policy
Radio-Television Kosovo has broadcasted on March 27 a debate on the problems faced by film-makers in Kosovo, as part of BIRN-Balkan Investigative Reporting Network's "Life in Kosovo" Project. 20 artists and representatives of cultural institutions discussed why it is difficult to make a film and the importance of political connections when it comes to getting funding for cultural projects. Prominent Kosovar directors such as Ekrem Kryeziu and Fadil Hysaj took also part, speaking of how the mis-management of funds for culture since conflict in the area ended has hampered the development of cultural projects, and of film in particular. Participants to the debate included representatives of the Ministry of Culture, of the Film Actors Union, of independent production and distribution houses in Kosovo, as well as young actors, directors and art school students.
For more information write to Jeta Xharra at jeta@birn.eu.com.
Source: BIRN.

Macedonia: PAC Multimedia's workshop on "Strategic planning in culture"
Continuing the series of training seminars planned in the framework of its "Strengthening local cultural institutions in Macedonia" programme, the Performing Arts Center Multimedia (Skopje) organised on March 14-16 the workshop on "Strategic planning in culture". The seminar was conducted by local expert Mario Veljovic. The training programme, supported by the Macedonian Ministries of Culture and of Local Administration, is targeting city mayors, culture advisors, executive directors and employees in the cultural institutions and NGOs in Macedonia, aiming to introduce this audience to new and modern models of decision making, planning, organisation, management and fundraising.
For more information write to Elena Jovanova at info@multimedia.org.mk or visit www.multimedia.org.mk.

Moldova: Soros Foundation Moldova's call for cultural policy projects
The Soros Foundation Moldova has recently opened a call for projects in the field of cultural policy. The aim of the programme and of the competition currently underway is to support: the development of the cultural strategy of the Republic of Moldova related to the funding for culture, cultural decentralization, planning of an efficient structure of the cultural management and development of the cultural infrastructure itself, as well as other related issues. For 2006-2007 the mission of this programme of is to contribute to the establishment and development on the democratic basis of an efficient and flexible cultural policy, by making also use of the advantages of the market economy to support, promote and protect cultural values. Previously, Soros Moldova also provided matching support to the Policies for Culture action project undertaken between 2003-2005 by Alternativa Noua Association (Chisinau), aimed at proposing new funding mechanisms for cultural institutions and activities in the Republic of Moldova.
For more information contact Victoria Miron, Program director, at vmiron@soros.md, or visit www.soros.md.

Romania: Mechanism 1% becomes 2%
Starting with 2006, as a result of the change of the fiscal code, Romanian NGOs can benefit from 2% instead of 1% of the income tax of citizens who decide to direct this resource to non-profit organisations. The mechanism started to function in 2005 as 1%, and the first evaluations show that it was the source of approximately 1 million EUR of revenues for NGOs in Romania. There is no data available on the amounts redirected to cultural organisations, but current statistics show that the most likely to benefit from these funds in 2005 were big organisations working in the social and health fields, with a long track of experience at national level or in the local communities they serve. In this context, as far as the organisations in the cultural field are concerned, turning this potential source of funds into a real one will still depend on how each of these will design its campaign in order to persuade beneficiaries to donate to it 2% of their income tax. This mechanism is already functional in other Eastern European countries such as Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia.
For more information visit www.doilasuta.ro and www.onepercent.hu.

Serbia & Montenegro: Book launch "Culture & Marketing: Connecting People" (Belgrade) On March 16, the University of Arts in Belgrade hosted the presentation of the book "Culture & Marketing: Connecting People", by Margaretta Tasi. The event was organised in the framework of the MA Programme in Cultural Management and Cultural Policy in the Balkans, the author of the book being among the first graduates of this MA programme. The book looks into the way various strategies from the field of marketing and PR might be used in the promotion of art and culture and how marketing functions at the level of cultural and art foundations. The presentation of this publication was part of the SPRING LAB Project, which investigates the relationship between culture and broader economic conditions and mechanisms in Belgrade.
For more details on the book write to Margaretta Tasi at sezsita@rdslink.ro. More information about the next actions within the Spring Lab Project is available at http://come.to/pcb.org.

 Projects and Initiatives

Backyard Residencies: New Program of Artists' Residences in South East Europe
Application deadline: 1 May 2006
"Backyard Residencies" is a project aimed at re-connecting artists and local art scenes in the countries of South East Europe having as primary objective to activate interest in artistic research and in building new models of cooperation in the region that may be beneficial for understanding and learning more about each other. Twelve selected artists will be offered six-week to eight-week residencies at the three partner organisations of this project - Vector Association in Iasi (Romania), Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Centre in Istanbul (Turkey) and New Media Center_kuda.org in Novi Sad/Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro). The residencies will be available from June 2006 to June 2007 for selected applicants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Turkey. The application must be sent directly to the institution of choice.
For more information write to Branislav Dimitrijevic, Program Coordinator, at branko@bgdmail.com or visit www.kuda.org to download the application form.

The Black/North SEAS project
The SEAS project of Intercult (Stockholm) moves its focus for 2006-2008 to the Black and North Seas' coasts and harbours, continuing to build on its interdisciplinary artistic approach, which connects European urban issues with creative artistic production. The platform's activities will address issues highly relevant for the Bulgarian, Romanian and Ukrainian cities at the Black Sea, with sometimes weakly developed cultural scenes. Among these: artistic mobility, productions and touring; trainings on capacity building and audience development. Cityscape is one of the project's components in the form of international seminars on arts and urban re-invention that will be organised in the host harbour cities and bring together all relevant actors of the scene - artists, architects, city planners, urban designers and politicians. Having each time a focus on the host city, it will address specific aspects of local cultural development, focusing on the local questions of private versus public space, creative re-invention of discussed spaces. Following the launch of Black/North SEAS, artistic director Chris Torch and associate producer Adam Jeanes have traveled in March to Romania and Bulgaria to explore potential partnerships, meet artists and journalists and negotiate future collaborations in this framework. A first follow up to these research travels will be a regional SEAS gathering planned to take place in Constanta (Romania) in September 2006.
For more details write to Chris Torch at chris.torch@intercult.se or visit the Intercult website.

Peripherie 3000 – Strategic Platform for Networked Centers
"Zagreb - Cultural Capital of Europe 3000" (ZCK 3000) was launched in 2003 as a collaborative platform between various independent initiatives proposing, among other, an alternative to the logic of official representation transparent in the Croatian authorities proposal at the moment for the European Cultural Capitals of Culture. In 2005-2006, with Essen and the Ruhr Region currently bidding to be named European Capital of Culture for 2010, ZCK 3000 has been the partner of the Hartware MedienKunstVerein (Dortmund) and "relations" to develop "Peripherie 3000" - an interdisciplinary project of collaboration with various partners in the field of performance, media art and politics, music and urban planning in the Ruhr Region. "Peripherie 3000" plays with the understanding of the (cultural) capital as "center" and opposes self-confidently to this term the notion of "periphery": Periphery as place of borders and fringes, allowing a precise view on changing social and cultural conditions. "Peripherie 3000" - inspired by the "intensive collaborative platforms" developed in the context of the "ZCK 3000" - presents itself as a strategic platform for networked centers. In the framework of "Peripherie 3000" four joint projects were developed by groups from different disciplines from North Rhine-Westphalia and Zagreb. From April 21–23, they will be presented to the public in Germany in the form of artistic-urban interventions and a colloquium.
For more details visit the relations website.

 Upcoming Events

April 19-23: Reminder & update: IETM at Culture Forum Istanbul (Istanbul, Turkey)
IETM at Culture Forum Istanbul is a combined event of Culture Forum Istanbul (initiated by Europist - European Cultural Association) and IETM annual spring plenary meeting. The one-day Forum on April 19 will address various cultural issues in Turkey and Europe, such as cultural history and developments in Turkey, the development of its cultural sector, the image of Turkey in Europe and recent cultural dynamics and developments in the cultural field in Europe. The Forum will be followed on April 20-23 by the IETM meeting following its usual format, proposing working groups focusing on themes such as: update on alternative in art education; European cultural capitals as a catalyst for creative cities; tradition-contemporary; margins of the city; the adventure of the Turkish artists in Europe; city and creativity, etc. The meeting will also host a Balkan Express network info cell presenting BE as a possible platform of collaboration with Turkish artists with the participation of the network partner organisations - Bunker (Ljubljana), IETM (Brussels) and ECUMEST (Bucharest).
For more details write to office@ietm.org or cultureforum@europist.net, or visit www.ietm.org.

June 8-10: Promoting Cultural Education in Europe. A Contribution to Participation, Innovation and Quality (Graz, Austria)
The event on this topic represents one of the European Specialist Conference taking place in the framework of the 2006 Austrian EU Presidency. With the emphasis on 'participation', 'innovation' and 'quality', the possible contribution of cultural education both in the school and the out-of-school spheres to issues such as life-long learning, social inclusion, cultural identities, civic education/ European citizenship, key competencies, etc. – relevant also at a European level – will be discussed during the conference in order to clarify the importance of cultural education in and for European society. The conference’s participants, including approximatively 15 representatives of Eastern European countries, and the target audience are experts, decision-makers and multiplicators from the field of cultural education, culture provision and arts education at ministerial, institutional and network level.
For more details write to Barbara Neundlinger at barbara.neundlinger@kulturkontakt.or.at or visit www.conference-cultural-education.at.

July 12-16: Young Cultural Policy Researchers Forum 2006 (Vienna, Austria)
The European Cultural Foundation is the initiator of a Young Cultural Policy Researchers Forum, to be held as part of the 4th International Conference on Cultural Policy Research in Vienna. The Forum will give young researchers a platform from which to present and discuss research papers and research methodologies. One of the Forum's aims is to contribute to the creation of a cultural policy research infrastructure. The debates will be moderated by Croatian researcher Nina Obuljen, the first winner of the Cultural Policy Research Award (2004).
For details contact Eva Bauer, EDUCULT, at eva.bauer@educult.at. More information will be shortly available at www.iccpr.2006.com.

 Opportunities

MA in Cultural Management and Cultural Policy in the Balkans at the University of Arts in Belgrade
Application deadlines: 1 May & 1 June 2006
The programme is organised by the University of Arts in Belgrade (UAB), in partnership with the Lyon II University and the Institute of Political Studies in Grenoble. It enjoys the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of UNESCO and the Central European Initiative. The programme aims to train the future managers of cultural organisations and cultural project leaders by providing necessary theoretical and practical tools for the development and implementation of cultural policies and cultural projects. It is open to graduates with university degree and to professionals with proved experience in the field of culture from the Balkan region as well as other European countries with an interest in the region. First application deadline for applicants seeking an early answer is May 1. French-speaking applicants from the region are advised to ask at the French Embassy in their country for scholarship opportunities.
For more details write to the MA coordinator at coordinator@arts.bg.ac.yu, or visit www.arts.bg.ac.yu or www.ecumest.ro to download brochures and application forms.

CEU Senior and Junior Visiting Research Fellowships on Cultural Policy in Transition Societies (Budapest, Hungary)
Application deadline: 15 May 2006
This new programme of the Central European University is designed to increase exchange between scholars of the region and CEU, and to promote original research, which can be of practical benefit to a particular country or region. Within the announced topic the candidates may propose research in one of the following specific areas: Re-defining the public interest in culture; Designing adequate cultural policies and instruments in transition contexts; Cultural policy priorities in transitional societies: institutional autonomy and des-etatisation; The cultural policy implications of new technologies and the creative commons movement; Policies to promote alternative culture in fragile and emerging democracies; International cultural cooperation in the perspective of EU integration and globalization; Research proposal on topics that are not listed, but fall under the general topic would also be considered. The Visiting Research Fellowship Program is applicable to citizens of countries in Central and Eastern Europe (except EU member states), the former Soviet Union and Mongolia holding a Ph. D. or equivalent, who are affiliated with a teaching or research institution within these countries.
For more details and the application procedure visit the CEU Special Project Office webpage.

CEE Trust Call for Proposals for Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia
Application deadlines: 7 & 28 April 2006
The Trust for Civil Society in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE Trust) has recently opened a new call for proposals in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. Projects in the cultural field are eligible if covering, in particular, policy analysis, cross-sectoral cooperation, active campaign and advocacy in these focus countries. Non-profit organisations, expert groups and institutions can apply with proposals working on: Enhancing the accountability, transparency, and effectiveness of public institutions; Strengthening civic support for democracy, promoting democracy of citizens and engaging other stakeholders; Supporting civil society as a voice for marginalized and vulnerable populations; Creating a better enabling environment for civil society. CEE Trust's goal is to promote the development of civil societies in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
For more details on the current call visit www.ceetrust.org.

Fellowships for CEE young cultural managers in Germany
Application deadline: 15 May 2006
The Robert Bosch Foundation is offering fellowships for young cultural managers from Central and Eastern Europe to work for one year in a host German cultural institution. The applicants are expected to submit projects presenting the young cultural scene of their home country. The fellows also have the possibility to participate in five one-week qualification seminars. These seminars are aimed at helping them to improve their knowledge in project planning, teamwork, fundraising, PR and cultural marketing. The workshops are directly connected with the projects of the fellows, in order to provide them with the extensive practical experience that would thus contribute to the improvement of their own projects.
For more information write to darius.polok@moe-kulturmanager.de or visit
www.moe-kulturmanager.de to download the application form.

 Publications & Information Resources

Leap into the City. Chisinau, Sofia, Pristina, Sarajevo, Warsaw, Zagreb, Ljubljana
Cultural Positions, Political Conditions. Seven Scenes from Europe
March 2006. A book by "relations" (project initiated by the German Federal Cultural Foundation); edited by Katrin Klingan and Ines Kappert; English and German editions. In essays and reportages, in literary texts and artistic contributions, 52 authors take positions on current issues, pose new questions, and so portray a subjective picture of their cities, the cultural scenes, and the public realms. What is the major contemporary issue in the city? What do you regard as being especially relevant? Which vision and which criticism need to be brought to the attention of a broader public? What can art accomplish here? "Leap into the City" picks up these issues and themes - generally addressed in the three years of the "relations" project - and frames them.
For more details and extracts from the book visit the relations website.

Culture at the Heart of Transformation
March 2006. Independent study commissioned by Pro Helvetia and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The study investigated eleven cooperation projects conducted by Pro Helvetia's "Swiss Cultural Programme in South East Europe and Ukraine (SCP)" on behalf of the SDC, and implemented in seven so-called transition countries in the region. According to the study findings, cultural work strengthens diversity of opinion and promotes debate on socially relevant topics, besides helping to create alternative structures and networks and facilitating participation in political life. English expert Charles Landry (COMEDIA, London) compiled the experiences in conjunction with programme and cooperation project staff and summarized them in a report.
The study is available as brochure in German, French and English and can be ordered free of charge from sodev@deza.admin.ch, or from the SCP offices in your country. It can also be downloaded in English from the SDC website.

Guidebook to Creative Industries in Iasi, Romania
March 2006. British Council Romania, UK-South East Europe Forum; mapping coordinated by Florin Cantec & Alexandru Condurache; Romanian & English version. The guide is the result of the project "Creative Iasi", developed in the framework of the Creative Industries strand of the UK-South East Forum, which started in March 2005. The project aimed at promoting Iasi as a creative city, and the current mapping collects evidence on the number of creative industries and their profile, how many people they employ, how they are financed, etc. It also focuses on those examples of successful projects in the field that can be used to convince policy makers and artists alike to invest more resources to support the growth of the creative industries in the city.
For more details and to download the guidebook visit www.industriicreative.ro.

Future of Pristina
2006. Report of ESI - European Stability Initiative and IKS - Kosovar Stability Initiative. This publication takes a close look at Pristina's identity and cultural heritage protection in Kosovo, and represents the first report in the framework of the Pristina project (part of a wider New Economic Geography of the Balkans programme of ESI). The report refers to the long story of the city destruction during the communist years and the more recent years following the conflict, as well as to the work of institutions concerned with the protection of cultural heritage. The publication is also based on sites exploration, as the research team made efforts to locate the monuments in Pristina listed as protected in order to assess their current condition.
The findings and recommendations of the report are available on the ESI website.

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Online platform and daily newsletter on European topics; a project of the Federal Agency for Civic Education in cooperation with LabforCulture and Networking European Citizenship Education. Available in English, French, German. "euro|topics" offers a daily review of the European press, prepared by editors and correspondents who sift out the most important newspapers from 26 European states (EU and Switzerland) and deliver excerpts from opinion articles, reflections, essays and commentaries. Targeting the wide European public, this service aims to outline the most important contemporary debates concerning social and political issues, problems, protagonists and opinions. Its objectives are to intensify trans-European discussions as well as the development of new networks for medial, cultural and political exchanges.
Subscribe to the newsletter and learn more by visiting this resource platform at www.eurotopics.net.