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With new lockdowns in place across Europe, we are happy to report that everyone at the European Cultural Foundation is adjusting well to working under the new measures. We are mostly working from our home offices while the physical office is open only on a very limited basis and according to strict hygiene requirements. These are difficult times and we try to make a contribution to get through them with all the resilience, creativity and means we have at our disposal.
The brutal murder of history teacher Samuel Paty in Paris last month, and similar terrorist attacks, have shaken not only France but much of Europe. This attack is also a reminder that Covid19 may temporarily have put all other problems in the shadows, but they have not disappeared and may erupt with a new vengeance. We will need to rely on a culture of solidarity in Europe beyond the immediate health crisis.
We are working towards that Culture of Solidarity.
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A Cultural Deal for Europe
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Does Europe need a culture deal? While the EU was almost absent at the beginning of the Corona crisis, it has regained its sense of purpose with a historic € 750 billion recovery programme partly based on new EU bonds. For some, this is a great European moment. The proof will be in its implementation. There is a lot of focus on a Green deal in there but hardly any substance on culture and creative industries.
On 18 November ECF will co-host the second event with Culture Action Europe and Europa Nostra advocating for a Culture Deal based on a 7% share of the total EU recovery plan. European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and the European Parliament Culture Chair Sabine Verheyen will participate along with representatives from the cultural sector and European policymakers. Find more details about the event here.
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We launched our new website
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We are proud to announce the launch of our newly designed website. We wanted to transform our website to be more user-friendly, easier to navigate and a way to give you better access to what we do as ECF, and the three thematic working domains that define our programmes and describe our ambitions to inspire people and communities.
Visit our new website here.
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IDFA: 'Life in Europe' and The New Gospel
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As in 2019, we partner with the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) to bring you a series of recent documentaries capturing ‘Life in Europe’. This year’s festival takes place from 18 November to 6 December.
Each of the documentaries selected for the pathway focuses on an issue of the economy, education, healthcare, income, the refugee crisis or the rise of the extreme right. One of the films selected for this pathway is The New Gospel by Milo Rau, founder of the International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM), one of our Democracy Needs Imagination grantees. The New Gospel premiered at the Venice International Film Festival 2020 and will be released in Germany in December.
Read a full interview on The New Gospel here.
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We are supporters of Europe Talks, an international online matching and debating platform in which citizens can meet and talk to other people on specific topics of European relevance. Europe Talks launched their sign up phase that allows you to connect with thousands of other Europeans, and meet someone from across the continent for a one-on-one conversation.
The one-on-one conversations and the digital event "Europe Talks" is taking place on 13 December 2020. Sign up and read more about the online event here.
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We developed The European Pavilion in collaboration with partners from across Europe to encourage a critical and creative debate on the future of Europe and stimulate alternative imaginaries beyond the national.
The European Pavilion launches the European Pavilion Podcast series - with the first two-part episode out now, and adding a new episode every two weeks. Read more on The European Pavilion and listen to the podcast here.
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The book launch of "Forces of Art - Perspectives from a Changing World" on 26 November at 3 pm (CET) is co-hosted with Hivos, Prince Claus Fund and Valiz publishers. This thought-provoking and wide-ranging book will challenge assumptions and stimulate new ideas about how crucial art and culture are. You can watch the book launch via Facebook and on the Forces of Art website.
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Community Conversation: How are young people influencing democracy?
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During this Community Conversation, Marta Cillero of European Alternatives and Pia Šlogar of Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) will discuss influencing democratic processes in Europe among young people with guest speaker Magid Magid. Whether it be citizen assemblies, guardians of the future, fighting for intergenerational rights or self-governing in city-states, we ask what are young people doing out there for their futures.
The conversation will be hosted in zoom on 20 November at 14:00-15:30 CET.
To access the zoom link, we ask you to register by filling out this form.
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Meet the people and organisations of the second-round of Culture of Solidarity Fund that range from sending postcards from home throughout Europe to a supermarket museum reinforce the notion of Europe as a shared public space. Meet them here.
We have co-designed and joined a partner consortium for the new Vaha programme. Vaha, Oasis in Turkish, is an answer to the threats that independent cultural spaces and public debate centres face in the increasingly illiberal democracies of Europe. In September, 50 initiatives and art spaces from 16 locations in Turkey, Eastern- and South-Eastern Europe have been selected to connect, exchange and create a European solidarity network of cultural safe spaces.
Tandem - the programme we run together with MitOst launched the second round of their open call. Find more details on how to apply here.
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