Brussels, 15/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Artists and professionals in the culture sector must be able to travel to different countries to extend the range of their activities and their public, find fresh sources of inspiration and develop professionally, exchange experiences and learn from others. Cross-border mobility experiences should, therefore, be promoted since they are lifelong learning experiences for artists. Training received outside the artists' country of origin and all other forms of learning carried out abroad must, consequently, be included among the skills that derive from non-formal education and be recognised as further training which enrich the CV of the artists and culture sector professionals. This is the preliminary message from a comparative study conducted by the European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres (ENCATC), with the financial support of the European Commission, as part of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009. The initial findings of the study were discussed at a conference in Brussels on 9 December. The conference was attended by some 50 people from eight countries, and included policy makers, artists and educators researchers. Artistic mobility is one of the priorities of the European Agenda for Culture, which recognises the value of arts education to the development of individuals' creativity, said Anna Geukiens of DG Education and Culture at the Commission in her opening address. She also referred to the EU strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training, which emphasises the importance of transversal key skills, such as numeracy skills, the sense of initiative, entrepreneurship and cultural awareness. The study, which was carried out by various experts in 10 member states (Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom) revealed similar approaches and identical conclusions on artistic mobility: 1) cross-border mobility contributes to the lifelong learning of artists; 2) reliable sources of information are required for artists to help them go abroad and make it a successful experience; 3) existing professional contacts and networks are key elements in helping artists get tailor-made information on their destination; 4) there is a need to integrate mobility into initial education schemes; 5) the link between mobility, lifelong learning and mobility funding schemes should be made more clear; 6) there is a need for statistics and data to measure better the quality and quantity of the cross-border mobility of artists.
The study was part of the “Artists moving & learning” project (October 2008-October 2009), funded by the Commission as part of the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The project was led by the ENCATC and the European Network for Higher Education Institutes and Training Organisations for Cultural Management. The study will be complemented by additional information from some 500 interviews currently being carried out with artists (dancers, musicians, actors) and will be presented in summer 2010. (I.L./transl.rt)