<\/p>\n
El pasado mes de Abril, el IETM<\/a> organiz\u00f3 el encuentro primaveral en Estocolmo, cuyo t\u00edtulo era Whose story is it?<\/em><\/a>. Era la primera vez que acud\u00eda a un encuentro internacional de este tipo. Fui con las expectativas altas y realmente fue mucho mejor de lo que esperaba.<\/p>\n Adem\u00e1s de las visitas a centros de creaci\u00f3n y la programaci\u00f3n art\u00edstica, la organizaci\u00f3n present\u00f3 un programa de actividades (talleres, sesiones de presentaci\u00f3n de proyectos, conferencias, grupos de trabajo) muy interesante. Como speaker<\/em> particip\u00e9 en un working group<\/em>, The independent story: living and working as an independent in the field of cultural management.<\/em><\/strong> Quer\u00eda compartir el documento que se ha publicado, con las conclusiones finales.<\/p>\n IETM PLENARY MEETING STOCKHOLM<\/strong><\/span> An impressive number of members (62) met at Nora Latin on The topic of why to work independently, and the benefits and El pasado mes de Abril, el IETM organiz\u00f3 el encuentro primaveral en Estocolmo, cuyo t\u00edtulo era Whose story is it?. Era la primera vez que acud\u00eda a un encuentro internacional de este tipo. Fui con las expectativas altas y realmente … Continue reading
\nReport<\/strong>
\nWG3<\/a>: The Independent Story: Living and Working
\nas an Independent in the Field of Cultural
\nManagement<\/em>
\nFriday, 18 April, 2011 in Norra Latin, Stockholm
\nReport by Brina Stinehelfer
\n\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..
\nModerators<\/strong>: Brina Stinehelfer and Francesca Romana Ciardi
\nSpeakers<\/strong>: Kris Nelson (Canada), Pelin Basaran (Turkey),
\nStephen Slater (UK), and international independent team Paola
\nRicart (Spain) & Sara O’Donnel (UK).<\/p>\n
\nFriday afternoon for this working group for independents working
\nin the field of cultural management. The attendees were very
\ndiverse geographically, as well as well as in their ways of
\nmanaging, their stories as to how they came to be where they
\nare, and how they create\/define their work as independents.
\nHowever, they had one thing in common- all were very engaged
\nand passionate about sharing their experiences, and hungry for
\nhearing the experiences and advice of others.
\nThe workshop moderators, Brina Stinehelfer and Francesca
\nRomana Ciardi from Berlin began with a mini brainstorm session
\nin which members were asked to write down something they
\nwanted to share, and something they wanted to know more
\nabout from their colleges. The second question had many more
\nresponses than the first.
\nThere were short introductions by speakers Kris Nelson
\n(Canada), Pelin Basaran (Turkey), Stephen Slater (UK), and
\ninternational independent team Paola Ricart (Spain) & Sara
\nO’Donnel (UK) to get the ball rolling. Then the working group
\nwent off, with excited conversation and simultaneous note taking
\nfrom the moderator which was projected on a screen, as an
\nongoing sampling of the conversation that all could follow.
\nMany people were interested in standards of pay and work for
\nindependents which were in place, and it was determined that
\nnearly every country does indeed have a national set standard of
\npay, which managers and producers should receive. However,
\nthe governmental organizations which assure that these
\nstandards are met or provides the funding to do so, are rare or nonexistent.<\/p>\n
\nfreedoms of working outside a supported structure was also
\ndiscussed at length. It was determined that not every
\nindependent is actually independent by choice, but that working
\nthis way does provide a noticeable level of freedom in choosing
\nprojects and ways of working. However along with this freedom
\ncomes great challenges and responsibility.
\nThe main challenge, of course, is financial. Many members were
\nhungry for tips and experiences- answers to the question of how
\none can support oneself through working independently. Some
\nshared their techniques of creating legal entities for themselves
\nas independents, to be eligible for the same funding and tax
\nbreaks allowed to larger cultural institutions. Several spoke of
\nhaving side jobs as a way to provide supplemental income. The
\nproblem, however, seemed universal- the artists we work for can
\nnot afford to pay us enough to survive, the organizations with
\nwhich we work with (such as venues and festivals) are not
\nstructured to pay our wages, and there is not enough
\ngovernmental funding opportunities for sustaining independent
\nmanagers. Funding to pay us is usually available on a project to
\nproject basis, if at all. So how do we survive in between?
\nThe question of responsibility of being an independent, has, of
\ncourse, to do with artistic integrity. Independents often have
\nmore freedom to choose which projects and artists they support
\nthan national funding organizations which have stricter guidelines
\nabout what they can and cannot support. So the question is, how
\nwe can balance being true to our artistic interests and earning
\nenough money to survive? Several encouraged thinking as an
\nentrepreneur- setting up long term relationships with other
\nentities which have the ability to support, and finding the localcultural need\/interest and filling it. But it is a delicate balance to maintain.
\nThe issue of a different kind of balance also came up again and
\nagain: the balance between the personal and professional.
\nMany admitted that there is no separation between their personal
\nand professional space\/money\/time at all. Many work from
\nhome, and draw from the same account to pay for administrative
\ncosts for a project they are managing, and to buy food for their
\nown cooking at home. How can independents, who have no 9-5
\nworking hours and use the living room as office and
\nheadquarters, find a healthy separation between work and
\npersonal? The recommendation from one independent:
\n\u201cSometimes you just have to say \u201cNo\u201d and turn off that
\ncomputer\u201d.
\nThis working group, as many often do, seemed far too short for
\nthe large and diverse topics which it brought up. The question of
\nif\/how independents can support each other more came up
\nseveral times, and hung in the air waiting for an initiative to grab
\nit. It is clear that the number of independents which make up the
\nIETM family is constantly rapidly growing, and new initiatives
\nshould be taken to fulfill these interests and needs. I look
\nforward to seeing what may develop by the continued coming
\ntogether of interested and passionate independents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"