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Description
Festivals and cultural institutions from the contemporary art and audiovisual sector are currently facing many Covid-19 crisis-related challenges which they often have to deal with on their own. The challenges include issues such as changing landscape of sponsor relations and decreasing funding opportunities, a necessity to transfer cultural events online and a need to learn new technical skills and navigate in the online environment on the fly, a necessity to be extra creative and stay relevant and close to audiences, managing teams in uncertain times and keeping them motivated even in the era of Zoom meetings and many others.
Sharing know-how, ideas and inspiration with like-minded institutions and cooperating across the cultural spectrum (film festivals, modern dance, new circus, musical events etc.) can be very enriching. The main aim of the project is therefore to create a platform for cultural organisations and to provide the members of the platform with a specific set of information and training relevant to the current cultural environment. Thanks to sharing of know-how and building of capacities through seminars, training workshops and working meetings, the platform members will be able to better navigate the dynamically changing cultural field in the current conditions of the Covid-19 crisis and in post-Covid times.
Project activities include: workshop focusing on the most pressing topics, one-to-one meetings with experts, fundraising conference, training workshop focused on presentation skills, and fundraising event - opportunity to present the organisations to potential donors. The project is organised in partnership with Bergen International Film Festival, which will act as a consultant, help with research and finding the topics and experts. BIFF will have a significant role as they themselves organise a Film Audience Development Conference to discuss the themes revolving around developing and retaining audiences and other topics related to the project.
Summary of project results
In the post-covid era, festivals and institutions of contemp. art have faced challenges related to the crisis, such as shrinking funding, transition to the online environment and the need for new technical skills. The aim of the project was to create a platform for sharing know-how and for collaboration between similar institutions to discuss the challenges. The duration of the project had to be extended twice due to changes in the schedule - organisation of the conference and the production of the e-book.
A workshop was organized within the framework of the Ji.hlava 2022 IDFF together with meetings with experts, in the spring of 2023 a conference on financing of culture was organized, a meeting with donors and a workshop on presentation skills. The project resulted in an e-book with information that is still available to the participants. All of the activities mentioned were important because the content addressed issues that many institutions share - how to manage a team in an online environment, audience habits in a post-covid era, how to pursue diverse funding, how to work with donors, sponsorship programs, etc. At the time of the proejct implementatoin, these themes resonated strongly with the cultural community and the participants appreciated the platform that gave them the space to share experiences and also to gain new know-how.
A platform of 15 institutions and other related organisations was created. A total of 131 of their members participated in the project and were trained in the areas of cultural entrepreneurship and artistic and technical skills. The participants of the activities were given a space to share know-how, discuss the state of culture and also valuable information that will help them in their entrepreneurship - in the areas of financing, sponsorship, management and audience studies.
The participants were from different cultural backgrounds and regions. During the programme they found out what problems and issues others were dealing with, they could learn from their experiences and in turn pass on their experiences. During the workshops they learned new skills in presenting, audience studies, management and also heard advice from experts in the field of sponsorship and funding. These activities represent important know-how for these organisations to draw on in the future.
Summary of bilateral results
The partnership with BIFF was very important for the project, because the partner had experience in the area of the project''s focus, which is the organisation of cultural events in the Covid-19 era, and also had a lot of experience in the transition to the online environment. BIFF and its representatives provided us with online and telephone consultations on the dramaturgy of the project - the selection of themes and focus. BIFF also collaborated on the production of an e-book for which they provided content. At the same time, the partner consulted DOC.DREAM on the dramaturgy of the project and the resulting programme was thus of great importance for the participants in terms of sharing experiences, but also informative. The participants have transferred this newly acquired knowledge to their organisations and can continue to draw on it after the end of the project.