After a first moment full of ardour and big promises in Nantes, this second meeting of General states of artistic itineraries promises to get to the heart of the matter! This is the object of this «time of research» organized by the International Centre for Travelling Theatres (ISIC), on a full day of work, and hosted by the festival of solidarity, Popmindin Rennes, on May 14, 2024. It focuses on one of the Spring of rurality launched by the Ministry of Culture last January: roaming and the rural world.
Participants will have a unique opportunity to exchange their practices and ideas to renew them together: let’s bet that the day will even be too short to overcome their subjects. What instructions to host a mobile project in a rural area? How to coordinate all the useful information to all the parties involved on a digital platform? Do artistic itineraries have lasting effects on territories and which ones?
Pépita Car, artist, coordinator of the CITI and the Estates General of the Artistic Itinérances, presents this day and its challenges.
Why include in the Estates General of artistic roaming «research time», like this day of May 14, 2024?
It is obvious that we, the various actors of what could almost be called the travelling artist profession, are accustomed to sharing our thoughts, our work and our actions, since we all have the same goal: go to the public and to the territories where cultural offerings are often lacking or scarce.
To give you an idea of the diversity of our approaches, just mention some of the structures that belong to our organizing collective: a festival (the festival Villeneuve en Scène), two NDCs and a stage under agreement (Tréteaux de France, La Manufacture in Nancy, Le Séchoir in La Réunion), and also theUFISC, Union Fédérale d'Intervention des Structures Culturelles, an organization that brings together several associations, including the International Centre for Travelling Theatres (ISIC).
Our efforts are also united in order to mobilize or remobilize local authorities: to convince that artistic roaming is no more complicated to produce than a show in a theater, and that it is even an eminently desirable practice for rural territories, especially with the aim of strengthening the awareness of their cultural rights among the inhabitants.
What will be the program of May 14 in Rennes?
On the theme of rural roaming, the idea is to launch concrete research, inviting participants to invest in three workshops.
The first of these workshops will address the question of how to host a mobile project in a rural area, a document intended in particular for local authorities. Artcena produced a very comprehensive document (Hosting a mobile project in a territory), but how to enhance this existing tool? How to complement it with a tool specific to rural territories?
This first workshop is not unrelated to a more global objective of the Estates General: to pass more political recommendations, so that communities understand, for example, that when a traveling project is carried by a label, it is not the same economic reality as when it is carried by a simple company. It is therefore necessary to make known and value the specificities, so that they are optimized in each configuration.
The second workshop is also about an indispensable tool…
A mapping, to identify, identify and locate roaming acts on territories. A platform with multiple entries: companies, institutions, labeled places, communities and elected officials. And there also arises the question of valuing the existing to enrich the common (with the CITI we have referenced touring theatre companies on an interactive map… for its part the Association des Scènes nationales has just released a mobile device guide…) !
Territorial development is at the heart of the third workshop…
Artistic itineraries leave deep traces on the territories they cross. It should be noted that these events feed real cultural projects that increasingly carry rural territories.
This third workshop will focus on collaborations and inspiring practices between producers, artists and communities. With, for example, these questions: how do we finance roaming in a rural area? How can such projects develop there? What exactly do they have that is essential for rural areas? How can all the actors gathered around a project better cooperate? For what benefits, what benefits?
Here, we want to discuss typology, existing models, analyze practical cases: who works with whom? according to what modalities exactly? for what common or complementary skills? There will be a strong illustrative and educational aspect, to inspire and encourage all those who are attracted by roaming.
Ultimately, is the goal to structure this segment of the world of culture and to root it in a controlled economy?
It’s all about helping these artists to exist! Some like roaming precisely for the fullest possible freedom it can guarantee them. Others would like the doors of the institution to be less difficult to cross. With these Estates General, our wish is to create links, to spare issues, to encourage more hands between each other. Nobody has to rely on institutions. On the other hand, the latter can continue to promote the dynamism and vitality of roaming, a full-fledged modality of artistic creation.
Focus on the itineraries of tomorrow
After Nantes and Rennes, the Artistic Itinérances Estates General, will offer three other search times and a highlight.
In the autumn of 2024, with the Tréteaux de France, the CDN of Aubervilliers and the TPM of Montreuil, the question of the report to the institution will be tackled head on: « A theme entitled "institution and roaming, thwart centres, permeate territories"... »
Nancy, in March 2025, will talk about creation: “ What are the dramaturgical axes of a project related to roaming? Are they specific and in what way? For roaming, indeed, is not only a different economy and technique, but perhaps also a particular kind of creation. »
And then we will discover the artistic itineraries in Germany, Switzerland and Belgium (October 2024, September 2025): How do travelling artists live in Europe? What lessons can be drawn from what is being done elsewhere, in a totally different cultural environment? "
It will also talk about “soft mobility”: “ a really transversal and recurrent question of our States General, roaming as a response to ecological issues. There is now a strong ecological awareness among young artists and artistic projects that are built around soft mobility are more numerous. »
The highlight of all these exciting events: the three synthetic mornings planned as part of the Villeneuve en Scène festival in Villeneuve lez Avignon next July, new reunions where they will appreciate the progress made and still to be traveled!
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