International Opportunities – August Round Up

Welcome to Creative Scotland’s round up of international opportunities and information, put together by Kate Deans, Creative Scotland’s International Officer.

In this blog, we cover:

Remember that our Creative Scotland Opportunities site is the main resource for events, workshops, funding calls and more, and you can filter by ‘International’ there.

Spotlight

Momentum international delegate programme kicks off with visit from curators from Tanzania, France, Bahrain, Australia, Canada and the USA

With the Edinburgh Art Festival launching on Thursday 28 July, Momentum’s Visual Arts delegation also arrived in town, mingling with the EAF programme and with a full programme of meetings, encounters and visits.

On Friday 29 July, professionals from the wider visual arts sector in Scotland heard insights of the curators’ contexts in Dar-es-Salaam, Bordeaux, Bahrain, Sydney, Toronto, and New York. We heard about exciting projects which ranged from challenging the idea of isolated national folk music with concerts presenting music alongside those of neighbouring countries; drawing attention to the difficult liminality of borders between countries; reclaiming and re-presenting audiovisual heritage from its colonial structures of preservation; and varying journeys and responses to the COVID pandemic, to name a few.

The rest of the Momentum visit programme for this year includes a Literature delegation, and country-specific delegations from Mexico, Colombia, South Korea, Lebanon, France and Germany. For more information you can view a recording of the briefing session held by Festivals Edinburgh, British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland on Tuesday 28 June.

If you’re interested in taking part in Momentum activity this year, get in touch with Festivals Edinburgh to register your interest.

Events

Funds and other opportunities

A second year of funding for cross-border collaboration and exchange between Germany and the four nations of the UK

The Cultural Bridge partnership, promoting cross-border collaboration and exchange between Germany and the UK, has announced a new 2023 - 2024 programme of funding for organisations. Scottish organisations are invited to find out more about the programme on the website, register interest, and attend an information and matchmaking session on 6 or 8 September.

Residency Programme for Choreographers 2023 – 2024

K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg provides three eight-month residencies per season to choreographers, who are currently at the beginning of their career and have produced some choreographic work of their own. Deadline 11 August.

Apply for Youth Theatre Arts Scotland’s BUZZ Artists Lab in Bremen

Lead partners of Creative Europe project BUZZ Network, YTAS have opened applications for their second BUZZ Lab for youth theatre artists, focusing on form and aesthetics of co-creative work with young people. Deadline 19 August.

Funding for translation of Scottish work into other languages

Publishing Scotland has opened the new round of translation funding for 2022. The purpose of the fund is to support publishers based outside the United Kingdom with the payment of translation fees to translate Scottish writers.

Priority is given to the translation of contemporary literature, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, writing for children, and graphic novels. Assessment criteria include the merit of the work to be translated, financial need of the publisher, track record of publisher and translator, and the proposed marketing plan.

Round one of 2022/23 is open for applications until Monday 22 August 2022.

Prague UNESCO City of Literature Residency for Writers and Translators

The project Prague City of Literature offers residency stays for foreign writers and translators. There are six residencies available for 2023, each lasting two months. Deadline 31August 2022.

Three grants available to support best European practice in audience engagement with the Art Explora European Award

The Arts Explora – Académie des beaux-arts European Award is a leading award championing new dialogues between arts and audiences. Open to all non-profit European cultural organisations, the European Award encourages new forms of audience engagement and participation in arts and culture, supporting innovative projects, across all art forms, that can be shared, replicated and scaled across Europe. Deadline 31 August.

Are you an emerging choreographer?

You can now apply to become a Twenty23 artist with the opportunity to have your work presented at the Spring Forward festival next year in Dublin (Ireland), and also by many of of Aerowaves partners around Europe. Scottish choreographer Robbie Synge was previously selected as an Aerowaves selected artist. Deadline 7 September.

Open Call for Enclave Land Art Residency in Spain

Open call for the fourth edition of the Enclave Land Art Residency, which will run 7 - 20 November 2022. The organisers will select seven projects from different artistic disciplines that will be developed and produced in the natural environment during the two weeks of the Art Residency, sharing experiences, ideas and a common goal. Deadline 15 September 2022.

Create, tour and promote new music with Beyond Borders

Beyond Borders is a co-commissioning and touring programme run in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. Beyond Borders supports the creation, touring and promotion of innovative and high-quality new music across all genres and encourages engagement with audiences across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Deadline 19 September.

Connect with China through British Council’s 2022 grants

Since 2006 the British Council has run a well-established UK-China Connections through Culture (CtC) programme, which enables over 400 cultural professionals in China and the UK to see one another's work, exchange skills and co-develop projects. CtC offers Professional Development Grants with a value of £2,500 to enable artists or members of arts organisations to work with their counterparts in China or the UK, and Alumni Grants for CtC alumni to further facilitate collaboration and partnerships.

Applications open 27 October 2022, with a deadline of 27 November 2022.

European Cultural Foundation creates Ukraine focus of Culture of Solidarity Fund

The Culture of Solidarity Fund has been relaunched as a pan-European effort at the beginning of the war in Ukraine to respond to local cultural emergency needs. After an initial phase of cultural emergency relief, the Fund is now open to individuals, collectives and organisations from all sectors and civil society at large that propose short-term or mid-term European cultural initiatives in the following three areas: counteracting disinformation, misinformation and propaganda filter bubbles; providing and nourishing safe cultural spaces for individuals feeling their homes and look for shelter; counteracting forces of fragmentation through artistic and cultural expressions.

Funding for authors to travel internationally

Open throughout the year, Scottish Books International’s Author International Travel Fund is available to Scottish writers who have been invited overseas to promote their work. Applicants can apply for a maximum of £1000 to support travel costs towards their trip. There are no deadlines, and applications are accepted each quarter as long as there is budget left, taking around four to five weeks to turnaround. Since re-opening the fund in February, Scottish Books International has supported 18 Scottish writers already, and you can check the Featured Authors on their website.

International Policy and Resources

Scotland: What makes Scotland distinct?

Creative Scotland and British Council Scotland published a new report on Wednesday 6 July on Scotland’s arts and cultural assets and attributes: ‘To See Ourselves’ and ‘As Others See Us’.

UKGov: Post-Brexit working groups

See our previous July update for a summary of the working groups and who is taking part in discussions. Updates were provided from Government on a range of areas, including the implementation of dual registration, ATA Carnets’ guidance and enforcement, visa processing times, and the possibility of designating Eurostar St. Pancras as a CITES Port. The Department for Transport also provided a teach-in on the EU Mobility Package and what this means for UK hauliers operating in the EU. Current pieces of work from DCMS, Home Office, HMRC and DfT include follow up on issues relating to ATA Carnets and border enforcement; visa/sponsorship delays and advice on the border; classification of transport operators as passenger or freight; and other clarifications around some of the above points.

International: What’s the deal with burnout in culture?

What is making cultural workers so tired? The European Network of Cultural Centres (ENCC) has a new article offering recommendations for leaders of cultural organisations as well as on the policy level.

International: PEARLE and FIM launch website for travelling with instruments

Do you need a CITES certificate to travel with a musical instrument? The quick answer is “yes, sometimes”. To be on the safe side, any travel with a musical instrument involving the crossing of borders should be carefully prepared. Visit PEARLE and FIM’s new website for more information.

International: Equity in Dance Production

European Dancehouse Network and The Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform organised a seminar on equity and dance production, and have released a video and report following on from that.

International: Resources from the Cultural Mobility Forum 2022

In May On the Move celebrated its first  Cultural Mobility Forum. If you couldn’t attend or missed a panel or a resource shared during the event, OTM have put together all the resources and materials used and mentioned during the Forum and also the Youtube recordings of the four panels on digital mobility and related issues such as: artistic collaborations, professional development, environmental sustainability, inclusion and accessibility.

International: EU Commissioner update

Mariya Gabriel’s August update featured a major announcement of Culture Moves Europe: a new mobility scheme for artists and cultural professionals, which has grown from the i-Portunus pilots. On 20 July the Commission signed an agreement with the Goethe Institut to deliver €21 million budget dedicated to this programme over the next 3 years. In other news, the European Cultural Heritage Summit in September will celebrate the 2022 winners of the Europa Nostra (European Heritage) Awards.

Scotland: Join in with Our Creative Voice

Creative Scotland, in collaboration with people and organisations from across the culture sector in Scotland, and with the support of Scottish Government, launches a new initiative aimed at promoting the value that art and creativity contributes to all our lives.

With a dedicated website at its centre, Our Creative Voice is a new platform for demonstrating the tangible benefits that art and creativity contribute to our lives.

Several case studies, such as North Lands Creative, show the way in which international working can weave into and enrich local activity, and be sure to share your own stories too!

Useful resources

And finally, here are some core sources of information on international working:

  • Creative Scotland’s EU Exit page
    Hosting an overview of key links, research and guidance relating to our post-Brexit landscape
  • On the Move
    On the Move has excellent overviews of international opportunities for mobility, as well as guides to various funding landscapes in different countries. Sign up to their newsletter to receive regular news and updates.
  • Arts Infopoint UK
    Creative Scotland partners in the Arts Infopoint UK pilot project, a joint initiative between the four nations’ arts councils, supported by Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Arts Infopoint UK seeks to provide clear and accurate practical information to international artists and creative practitioners coming to the UK. A full website is in development, but for now you can watch recordings from previous events on incoming and outgoing mobility.
  • Mobility Infopoint Network
    Arts Infopoint UK joins the network of Mobility Information Points, based in Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, UK and USA, and in development in Poland, Russia, Slovenia and Sweden. This network aims to tackle the administrative challenges artists and cultural professionals can face when working across borders.
  • Guide to touring across Europe for UK performing artists and companies
    This simple, practical guide supports and empowers UK-based individual artists and small companies working in theatre, dance and live art to continue to tour work across Europe. Commissioned by Arts Council England and produced by Artsadmin, 1927 and LIFT
  • EU: Culture Policy developments
    The office of Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, shares a monthly update on developments in her portfolio, including Culture. To view the latest one and sign up to future updates, visit the European Commission’s webpage.

Don’t forget that all events, workshops and funding opportunities can be found if you filter by ‘International’ on Creative Scotland’s Opportunities website.