Engine Room Europe | support for independent culture

Trans Europe Halles (TEH) is happy and proud to announce that its new network project Engine Room Europe has been awarded a €960.000 grant from the European Commission’s Culture Programme.

Engine Room Europe is a three-year project focused on independent cultural workers and their creative processes. The main objective of the project is to increase the capacity and sustainability of independent culture in Europe.

The project is lead by Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), in association with Trans Europe Halles (TEH), and the co-organising TEH members Lodz Art Center (Lodz, Poland), Mains D’Oeuvres (St Ouen, France), Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia), ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany), TNT (Bordeaux, France), REX (Belgrade, Serbia), NOASS (Riga, Latvia), Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden), La Friche Belle de Mai (Marseille, France) and Tabacka (Kosice, Slovakia).

The 12 co-organisers will initiate a programme of actions including artistic productions, festivals, conferences, research, staff exchanges and a volunteer programme. An open source online archive will hold the memory of the project and collect views, experiences and processes.

“Independent culture is the research and development engine of European civic life and this project, Engine Room Europe, will contribute to its sustainability and vibrancy into the future”,

- Sandy Fitzgerald, Process Leader Engine Room Europe.

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Engine Room Europe (May 2011- April 2014), with a total budget of €2,095,297, is one of 10 projects selected for funding by the European Commission’s Culture Programme 2007-2013 Strand 1.1 budget 2011. For a list of selected projects, please consult the EACEA website, http://eacea.ec.europa.eu.

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From 2008-2010 Trans Europe Halles led the Changing Room project, one of four selected EU-funded mobility pilot projects:

Changing Room - Mobility of Non-Artistic Cultural Professionals in Europe is a first-of-its-kind research study by the Sibelius Academy examining mobility issues of the “backstage staff” of European culture within the Trans Europe Halles project CHANGING ROOM.

This study is an in-depth investigation of the possibilities for, and barriers to, mobility within the European independent cultural sector. Its outcomes include key learning points and concrete recommendations on how to develop mobility practices for non-artistic staff members in the future.

The study is available as a free download from the TEH website and the CHANGING ROOM Knowledge Base.