Find out which artists and producers have been awarded grants to attend IETM Porto, a major European performing arts networking event
Our delegation of d/Deaf, disabled and BAME artists at IETM Brussels 2017
We have awarded 12 bursaries to BAME (black, Asian or minority ethnic), d/Deaf and disabled artists and producers to attend IETM Porto in April 2018. We are delighted that this dynamic group of practitioners will be joining us to foster and create new international connections.
IETM (Informal European Theatre Meeting) is a network of over five hundred performing arts organisations and individuals working in contemporary performance in Europe and all over the world. It commissions publications and research projects, and advocates for the value of performing arts. Its events are a great opportunity to meet international colleagues and to gain a broader understanding of the global opportunities and challenges for performing arts in the 21st century.
This is the fifth time the British Council has helped under-represented groups from the UK to attend IETM. We want a wider range of UK artists to benefit from all that the network has to offer, and we think that IETM is strengthened when it is truly representative of Europe’s artists.
"Too often BAME and disabled practitioners have fewer opportunities"
"We are delighted to offer this opportunity for artists to build new international connections" says Steven Brett, our Theatre and Dance Programme Manager who works with the EU and the Americas. "The UK performing arts sector should reflect our society, and too often BAME and disabled practitioners have fewer opportunities than others to access international networks."
Ben Evans, our Head of Arts and Disability for the EU adds: "There are very real barriers which prevent d/Deaf and disabled professionals from accessing international networks, and this means they are at a disadvantage in getting to know what works internationally and how best to build connections. These bursaries go a small way to help remove some of these barriers.”
We are an associate member of IETM and there will be friendly faces from the British Council on hand for the bursary recipients. We will provide support: making introductions, steering the group through events and helping everyone to make the most of the experience. We are also offering access support for bursary recipients, supported by our partners in this programme, Unlimited.
The next IETM will be at a different location in Europe in November 2018. We will run another open call to award bursaries, to support a UK delegation that reflects Britain in all its diversity.
The winners who will attend IETM Porto, April 2018 are:
Amahra Spence — a creative producer, performance artist and founder of MAIA. Through her work, she is interested in developing mechanisms that support a sustainable creative ecology. This includes artist-led interventions, building infrastructure, collectivity and resource sharing for equitable movement building.
Ashok Mistry — a multidisciplinary artist and producer whose work explores human relationships with technology. Identifying as dyslexic, he rewires performance concepts to create performative system and generative choreography.
Gareth Cutter — a London-based artist with a background in live art, music and writing. He makes work about bodies, sex, queerness and autobiography.
Harpreet Kaur — a researcher, arts manager, consultant and activist exploring the intersection between culture and development, with a socio-political eco-feminist lens.
Jackie Hagan — a queer, working-class, multi-award-winning writer and performer with a glittery false leg. Her work champions misfits and sticks up for the marginalised, failed and vilified.
Jane Gauntlett — a writer, director, producer, speaker and consultant working in interactive theatre, interactive audio, virtual reality, mixed reality and augmented reality.
Laura Dajao — a freelance integrated dance artist and Associated Director of Sardines Dance Collective. Laura works in inclusive practice, collaborating with artists to make accessible storytelling work.
Salome Wagaine — a London-based independent producer and co-Project Manager of Diverse Actions — a Live Art UK initiative for BAME practitioners and arts workers in the sector. She additionally writes on culture and has contributed to Exeunt magazine.
Sara Dos Santos — a Portuguese born, UK-based movement artist, choreographer and Artistic Director of Curve Creative Dance Company. Her thought provoking and emotionally charged work raises awareness of social and political issues and has been seen across the UK, Brazil and beyond.
Sebastian H-W — a live artist whose work explores identity, memory, technology, participation and the body, through cutting edge approaches to creating live performances, audience experiences, action-based interventions and immersive installations. He is a performer, founding member and project coordinator of CLUSTER BOMB [collective].
Sophie Woolley — a writer, performer and theatre-maker from London. Sophie tours captioned shows and her comedy plays have aired on BBC Radio.
Timothy Hodgson — a creative producer specialising in work exploring the built environment, non-traditional arts audiences and social and cultural engagement through multidisciplinary practice
Missed out this time? We will announce the opportunity to apply for new bursaries to attend the next big IETM meeting in autumn 2018. Check back on this website, subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us @UKTheatreDance on Twitter for future announcements.
Find out more:
> Read Unlimited's case study about IETM Brussels in November 2017
> Read Keith Saha's blog about IETM Amsterdam in April 2016
> See Afshan D'souza-Lodhi's blog about IETM Amsterdam
> View IETM’s report on how we can preserve the diversity of the arts
