MURIEL ANN MACLEOD, the Artistic Director of Theatre Hebrides and Projects Development Co-ordinator for the Highlands and Islands Theatre Network, reflects on the IETM session in Glasgow last November.

IETM or Informal European Theatre Meetings are industry events aimed at contemporary performance artists and related practitioners. The main focus is to create a stimulating environment for the artists to meet, network and engage in critical dialogue.

The theme for Glasgow’s IETM plenary meeting in November was ‘Voices’, an umbrella concept that encompassed everything from communication, argument, noise, identity and many other ways to express ourselves as individuals, groups and nations.

IETM Plenary Meeting in Glasgow, 2010. © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

Over the four days the Scottish organisers in partnership with Creative Scotland presented an impressive programme of over 50 performances in various theatres and unusual venues throughout Glasgow.

The work ranged from Fish and Game’s Alma Mater, Ankur Productions’ Roadkill to Glasgay’s The Maids and Janice Parker’s Private Dancer.

Some of our Northern companies and artists were there too – Matthew Zajac’s The Tailor of Inverness, Dudendance with Spacemen 2 and Plan B’s A Wee Home from Home – strutting their stuff with great responses from the Scottish and International folk.

What always really impresses me about these IETM meetings is the intensity and keenness with which the artists engage with each other. It was the same in Utrecht in 2006. This opportunity is about talking about what you do; yes, we all want to make contacts and useful international connections, but when artists get together they really have got something to say about what they make and why.

It’s amazing how you find the challenges for theatre makers are similar in other countries. I spent some time discussing with a Norwegian theatre maker the possibilities of live simultaneous translation to English through headphones and whether it can truly work effectively. [Muriel Ann’s Theatre Hebrides company did the same thing with their Gaelic show Roghainn nan Daoine last year – Ed.]

There was a real sense of passion pervading the event, the plenary lectures and discussions were inspirational and provocative, and there was a great moment when Todd Lester asked us to consider teaching power brokers something new rather than telling them what they already know.

IETM Plenary Meeting in Glasgow, 2010. © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

He talked of fear relating to growing cultural diversity in Europe, and with that the growth of intolerance, and argued that now drastic tactics of survival were needed to deal with intolerance. Todd Lester founded freeDimensional, which hosts activists and culture workers-in-distress in the surplus (vacant) apartments of artist residencies, over 400 of which have taken place in 70 countries in the last 5 years.

Linked to this is the Creative Resistance Fund where small distress grants are given to people in danger due to their use of creativity to fight injustice.

By recognising that culture is the last engine that gives a reflection of our world,  there was a real call to arms here, for theatre makers to persevere and set examples for wider society. There are many solutions needed; artists are a sensitive demographic getting ready to react and we should be ready to set examples for free expression, justice and equality without necessarily being funded to do so.

These ideas were closely followed by a remarkable speaker, Mike Daisy, whose style as an extemporaneous monologist was jaw dropping. Mike talked of how art informs on our sense of the world, it creates catharsis, that we should take possession of our own story in the way that our current society calls for.

Art is a way of saying the truth which frees us, and provides the guard when winds blow and things change. That it is the job of the artist to discover the passions of our society. Theatre artists from time to time need this kind of provocation, to take some time out to reflect at a personal level on why we make performance work.

I caught up with another few interesting sessions, such as the wearemore campaign, which is a Europe-wide arts advocacy campaign set up by Culture Action Europe. “It will use the upcoming EU political and financial negotiations for the period 2014-2020 as a timely opportunity to develop and sharpen the arguments used when advocating for arts and culture. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to contribute to a strengthened recognition of the role of arts and culture in the development of our European societies”.

What was really interesting about this campaign was the idea of urging civil society and decision makers to re-think the place of culture in our societies. Culture Action Europe representative Daphne Tepper (Policy Analyst) accentuated the importance of critical mass, groups across countries and cities could work together emphasising the cultural mass of artists in each area. That they could work for everyone, taking the altruistic approach instead of lots of groups shouting on their own.

IETM Plenary Meeting in Glasgow, 2010. © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

Critical analysis was crucial but alongside that we need to have very clear goals in terms of what we need to achieve; for instance, artists need to be aware of how they are viewed – do we speak about our sector in a way that is accessible to politicians and those outside the artistic community? What do the media say about artists? Do our audiences give us a mandate? Can we say we work for them? Do the audiences support us?

Cultural Action Europe are keen to take a lead on lobbying through their website. They plan to highlight advocacy events on local, regional and National levels across Europe. They will provide an advocacy toolkit to reinforce and support local campaigns and reply to the demand of collective solidarity.

IETM Talks and Listens gave a real sense of the network wanting to support artists as we approach reductions in funding across Europe over the next few years. At this event a group of around 200 artists sat down in groups to discuss how IETM should proceed to support and advocate for its members with the aim of confirming the strength, importance and relevance of the arts to ensure a future where the contemporary performing arts are understood, valued and supported by a much wider spread of society.

There was a strong sense of the need to define and disseminate information on good artistic practice and the need to refine and redefine our arguments for a better future positioning of performing arts in our societies. Practical ideas were put forward, and we also learned a great deal about the outlook and approaches of artists in other countries. It was fascinating to see this kind of exchange of ideas. You could see artists were concerned about how advocacy might best operate, but they listened to each other and considered the differing viewpoints.

Inspired further, they continued their conversations as they moved on to attend the array of other activities on offer, including info cell events on a range of subjects from the London 2012 Culture Olympiad, The Fence Writers Group (an International Playwrighting Network), What Voice for Women in Theatre?, or took Artistic City Trips which took delegates to meet practitioners in their workplaces or inspired environments, or just see more Scottish performances.

If I enthuse too much it’s because if you live and work on an Island in the north west of Scotland as I do, it is really empowering to feel you can be part of a European theatre artist network that can link makers, share examples of good practice and give us all encouragement to make performance wherever we are in Europe.

IETM is a membership organisation based in Brussels, representing over 1000 arts practitioners from 45 countries. It is one of Europe’s most significant networks.

In 2010/11 they are open to individual artists membership. If you are interested in networking in Europe then this is one I would recommend, but be clear about your motives; being part of a network is about both giving and getting: generosity with your information and inspirational stories as well as being inspired by others. Ultimately is about building understanding and creative confidence!

Muriel Ann Macleod is the Artistic Director of Theatre Hebrides and Projects Development Co-ordinator for the Highlands and Islands Theatre Network

© Muriel Ann Macleod, 2011

Links

• IETM

• Wearemore

• HITN