www.creativeeuropeuk.eu@CEDUK_Culture#creativeeurope

CREATIVE EUROPE IN THE UK2014 - 2015Support for the UK’s cultural, creative and heritage sectors

Front cover image: Acrophobia by Liv & Tobi, performance at BE FESTIVAL 2015. This Birmingham-based festival is part of a Cooperation Project called International Young Makers in Action. Photo © Alex Brenner

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 4

COLLABORATING ACROSS EUROPE Cooperation Projects 8

Small Cooperation Projects: Results 10

Small Cooperation Projects: Case Studies 12

Large Cooperation Projects: Results 14

Large Cooperation Projects: Case Studies 16

European Platforms 18

European Networks 20

TRANSLATING EUROPEAN LITERATURE Literary Translation: Results and Case Studies 24

REWARDING CULTURAL EXCELLENCEEuropean Cultural Prizes 28

CREATIVE EUROPE DESK UK What we do and how we help 30

Get in touch 31

During its first two years (2014 to 2015), Creative Europe has supported 230 UK cultural and creative organisations and audiovisual companies as well as the cinema distribution of 84 UK films in other European countries with grants totalling €40 million.

Creative Europe offers support to European projects with the potential to travel, reach new audiences and encourage skill-sharing and development. The programme is strengthened by the coming together of the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors and the addition of a new guarantee facility. Its new priorities, such as audience development and digital innovation, have taken the programme into a new era, encouraging projects to reach out to diverse audiences, deepen their digital engagement and try out new approaches and innovative business models.

Creative Europe’s Culture sub-programme supports the cultural and creative sectors by funding collaborative projects and initiatives across all art forms. Three of the four funding opportunities encourage organisations from different European countries to work together on a joint transnational project around a shared aim. The themes of these projects range from disability arts, to how culture can help to combat climate change, to sharing audience development knowledge between museums and dance companies.

The Culture sub-programme also offers support for publishers to translate European fiction in order to promote the transnational circulation of high quality literary works and improve access to them so that they can reach new audiences.

Creative Europe’s MEDIA sub-programme supports film, television, new media and video games. It offers funding, training and networking opportunities for producers, video game developers, distributors, sales agents, audiovisual training providers, organisers of festivals, markets and networks, film education specialists and cinema exhibitors.

From 2016, Creative Europe’s cross-sector strand will offer a €121 million Cultural and Creative Sector Guarantee Fund, which is expected to improve access to finance for cultural and creative SMEs and unlock €600 million in affordable loans from the private sector.

This publication offers a glimpse into how the UK’s creative and cultural sectors have participated in Creative Europe’s opportunities and spotlights some of the many successful projects led by or involving UK-based organisations and companies. Thanks to our team members and the support from our partners, Creative Europe Desk has been able to promote Creative Europe in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland better than even before. We are delighted that each

INTRODUCTION

Creative Europe launched in 2014 with a budget of €1.46 billion to support the cultural, creative and audiovisual sectors across Europe until 2020. With a 9% budget increase, this European Union programme builds on the legacy of the previous Culture and MEDIA programmes, which ran from 2007 to 2013.

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nation has benefitted from funding from Creative Europe’s Culture sub-programme and all but one of the successful UK-led applications were advised by Creative Europe Desk UK.

Over the coming years, we aim to encourage a more diverse range of applicant organisations from across the UK to embrace Creative Europe’s international opportunities and to collaborate with European partners to develop projects. At the same time, we will continue to work closely with UK organisations who have been involved in Creative Europe or the previous Culture programme, and we are grateful that they support us by sharing their expertise with UK peers and by providing insight into what can be achieved when working together at a European level.

Christoph Jankowski, Head of Culture, Creative Europe Desk UK – England

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230UK organisations supported overall

MEDIA€28.5m

AUDIENCES€1.1m

DISTRIBUTION€4.2m

PRODUCERS€8.4m

TRAINING & NETWORKS

€2.3m

84 UK FILMS RELEASED IN EUROPE

€12.5m

CULTURE€11.3m

COOPERATIONPROJECTS

€9.9m

EUROPEANPLATFORMS

€1.3m

LITERARY TRANSLATION

€165,000

€40mof funding received

by the UK

95cultural, creative

and heritage organisations supported

COLLABORATING ACROSS EUROPE

Emerging Space laboratory in La Venaria Reale (Italy), partners meeting with artists as part of a European Platform called IN SITU Platform © Maxime Demartin

91 UK organisations received grants totalling €11.2 million from Creative Europe to work on collaborative, transnational projects

COOPERATION PROJECTS

Most of the funding is allocated through Cooperation Projects, the Culture sub-programme’s largest funding opportunity that encourages organisations across Europe to work on transnational collaborative projects.

In 2014, 39 UK organisations received €5.4 million as partners and/or leads on the projects. This increased to 45 UK organisations in 2015 and they shared €4.4 million, the highest amount awarded to a country participating in Creative Europe.

The success rate for UK-led Cooperation Project applications was 24%, well above the European average of 15%, and 47% of all supported Cooperation Projects involved UK organisations as partners or leads.

There is a diverse spread in terms of the scale of supported organisations and their creative forms, which range from dance, performing arts and literature, to visual arts, heritage, museums, music and film. Around 20% of supported organisations are higher education institutes, such as the Royal College of Art and the University of Ulster.

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€5.4mreceived by 39

UK organisations in 2014

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Lars Ulrik Mortensen directs the students of the 2015 Orchestral Course of the EUBO Mobile Baroque Academy, which is a Cooperation Project led by the UK-based European Union Baroque Orchestra

Calling Tree, part of Imagine 2020 (2.0), a Cooperation Project involving two UK partners: LIFT and Artsadmin. Photo © Tony Fanning

€4.4mreceived by 45

UK organisations in 2015

Maritime Archaeology Trust Common Cultural Connections England South East Lead 191,873

Curated Place Moving Classics Network for New Music England North Lead 199,000

British Council Take Over England London Lead 200,000

Tate Writing Exhibitions/Exhibiting Literature: An Imaginary European Museum England North Lead 200,000

Mind the Gap Crossing the Line England North Partner 200,000

Sounds Right ELiT Literaturehouse Europe England London Partner 200,000

Goldsmiths’ College FORMER WEST, Culminating Phase: Edits, Annotations, Proposals England London Partner 200,000

198 Contemporary Arts and Learning In/visible cities - International Festival of Urban Multimedia England London Partner 199,958

BE Festival International Young Makers in Action England Midlands Partner 200,000

Plymouth College of Art Made@EU England South West Partner 200,000

Abandon Normal Devices Masters & Servers: Networked Culture in the Post-Digital Age England North Partner 199,990

University of Kent Playing Identities, Performing Heritage England South East Partner 200,000

Central School of Speech and Drama Playing Identities, Performing Heritage England London Partner

Dundee and Angus College SYMBOLS - Culture of Death & Cultural Life Scotland Partner 198,086

The Arts Catalyst Trust me, I’m an artist England London Partner 197,727

Pacificstream Virtual Sets: Creating and promoting virtual sets for the performing arts England North Partner 199,441

SeaChange Arts JR Circus England South East Partner 195,216

BENEFICIARY ORGANISATION

PROJECT NAME UK NATION

LOCATION(IN ENGLAND)

LEAD/PARTNER

TOTAL AMOUNTAWARDED TO

PROJECT €

2014

SMALL COOPERATION PROJECTS: RESULTS

Small Cooperation Projects involve a minimum of three partners from three of the countries participating in Creative Europe and partnerships can apply for up to €200,000 for projects that last up to four years.

Here are the supported organisations in the UK and the projects they were involved in. More details, stories, links, images and contact information can be found on our website: www.creativeeuropeuk.eu/funded-projects

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Siobhan Davies Dance Dancing Museums England London Partner 200,000

Crafts Council NETWORKED ENCOUNTERS England London Partner 200,000

LUX ON & FOR PRODUCTON: A European Project ON and FOR Artists’ Moving Image England London Partner 71,832

Upstart Theatre PHONE HOME England London Partner 167,165

The Place Pivot Dance England London Lead 199,899

Actiondog REJuvenate European Design England London Lead 167,440

Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras Skills, Practice and Recruitment of European musicians for tomorrow. Audience Development in classical music England London Partner 199,206

English National Opera The Pirates of Penzance England London Lead 200,000

Candoco Dance Company Un-Label - New Grounds for inclusive Performing Arts England London Partner 200,000

London Symphony Orchestra Unlocking the Maze: Raising the Voice of European Communities England London Lead 200,000

University of Wolverhampton POP DRAMA: Circulating of European Playwriting through people’s choice England Midlands Partner 199,680

Birmingham City University Rostrum+ England Midlands Partner 200,000

University of Wolverhampton Theatres for All England Midlands Partner 199,920

Peshkar Productions < 25 // Alternative Routes to Ripen through Theatre England North Partner 199,747

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) A Moeda England North Partner 60,000

Pacificstream ARTCYCLING COOP: Sustainable and inclusive decorative arts England North Partner 138,126

Pacificstream Citizen Artist Incubator England North Partner 199,084

East Street Arts EX(S)PORTS England North Partner 137,400

SeaChange Arts Contact Zones England South East Partner 197,894

ArtReach Night of Festivals - a celebration of European freedom England South East Lead 184,411

Southampton Solent University Trans-National Creative Exchange England South East Lead 199,803

Fabrica Understanding Territoriality: Identity, Place and Possession England South East Lead 200,000

The Nerve Centre Future Artist-Maker Labs Northern Ireland Lead 200,000

National Galleries of Scotland Ich bin hier. Europäische Gesichter Scotland Partner 200,000

YDance: Scottish Youth Dance Let’s Dance! Community-Dance-Theatre project Scotland Partner 195,745

The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland MusXchange - EFNYO’s programme fostering transnational mobility, strengthening of skills and audience building for pre-professional musicians in Europe (2015-17) Scotland Partner 173,758

BENEFICIARY ORGANISATION

PROJECT NAME UK NATION

LOCATION(IN ENGLAND)

LEAD/PARTNER

TOTAL AMOUNTAWARDED TO

PROJECT €

2015

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ArtReach – Night of Festivals – a celebration of European (FREEDOM)

Night of Festivals takes places in locations across Europe as part of a Small Cooperation Project entitled FREEDOM, which was awarded a Creative Europe grant of €184,000 in 2015. It brings together a partnership involving ArtReach (UK), Haus Drei (Germany) and The Fabric Association (Bulgaria). The project offers a platform for new, emerging or established artists, whose work explores themes of freedom and democracy.

“In October 2015 the first presentation from the FREEDOM project brought together European partners and artists from the UK, Germany, Bulgaria and Romania to bring new dimensions to a special version of Night of Festivals in Leicester. The European elements of the festival included a sensational night-time lit carnival, a series of outdoor visual arts installations and an urban art freedom wall project. This exceptional work added an exciting, stimulating and colourful ingredient to a Night of Festivals SPECIAL EDITION event that was the cultural centrepiece for the Rugby World Cup programme in Leicester. The event was enjoyed by audiences of circa 60,000. In 2016 the project is delivered in Gabrovo (Bulgaria) and in Hamburg, before a final presentation on the South Bank in London (by Tower Bridge) in August.” David Hill, Director, ArtReach

SMALL COOPERATION PROJECTS: CASE STUDIES

ArtReach, Night-Time Lit Carnival as part of FREEDOM, featuring Stelzen-Art, Oakleaf Creativity and Mandinga Arts

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Mind the Gap – Crossing the Line

Bradford-based Mind the Gap is the UK’s largest learning disability theatre company and they are working with partners in France and Sweden on a project focused on learning-disabled artists. Together they aim to enhance the mobility of these artists around Europe; set up a programme of exchange and learning opportunities; share knowledge of business models; and develop audiences for their work.

“Mind the Gap has already enjoyed enormous benefits from working with our partners Moomstearten (Sweden) and L’Oiseau Mouche (France) - the skills residencies have provided a rare opportunity for learning-disabled artists to work internationally, learn from each other, and exchange skills and ideas. We are all learning through the strengths we share and different challenges we face. We are growing our network to include additional associate partners and extending the network to new parts of Europe. The opportunity to work together to deliver the Crossing the Line Festival in Roubaix, France in January 2017 is really exciting, meaning that our work will reach new and wider audiences from all over the world.” Julia Skelton, Executive Director, Mind the Gapwww.crossingtheline.eu

The Place – Pivot Dance

Dance organisations in the UK, Italy and the Netherlands are working together on Pivot Dance. The project aims to develop a programme for choreographers, producers and audiences which stimulates and enables conversation about the creation of new dance work. The project focuses on developing the artistic voice and entrepreneurial instincts of early career artists and exploring how they can work with producers and audiences from the very start of the creative process.

“Collaboration is vital in our work. Working with partners and artists from other cultural contexts is the fuel in our engine. A decade of projects funded through the European Union has played an integral part in our understanding of how we support artists and bring their work to audiences.” Eddie Nixon, Director, The Place

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Crossing the Line - Choreography Workshop, Sweden

Pilot Theatre PLATFORM shift+ England North Lead 2,000,000Emergency Exit Arts PLATFORM shift+ England London Partner

International Youth Foundation / Towards 2020: Skilling Musicians European Union Youth Orchestra & Engaging Audiences England London Lead 1,916,000John Good Towards 2020: Skilling Musicians & Engaging Audiences England Midlands Partner

London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) Be SpectACTive! England London Partner 1,750,000

York Citizens Theatre Trust Be SpectACTive! England North Partner

University of Ulster Ceramics and its dimensions Northern Ireland Partner

British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) Ceramics and its dimensions England North Partner 1,934,309Staffordshire University Ceramics and its dimensions England North Partner

Stoke-on-Trent City Council Ceramics and its dimensions England North Partner

Tate Collab Arts Partnership Programme: Art in social and community contexts England London Partner

Live Art Development Agency Collab Arts Partnership Programme: Art in social and community contexts England London Partner 1,425,030

Heart of Glass Collab Arts Partnership Programme: Art in social and community contexts England North Partner

Arts Council of Northern Ireland CORNERS - turning Europe inside out Northern Ireland Partner 1,283,002

Isis Arts CORNERS - turning Europe inside out England North Partner

Tate Corpus - European network for performance practice England London Partner 612,299

The York Early Music Foundation eeemerging, Emerging European Ensembles Project England North Partner 1,971,375

GV Art European Digital Art and Science Network England London Partner 1,097,250

Royal Opera House European Opera Digital Project England London Partner 1,855,688Welsh National Opera European Opera Digital Project Wales Partner

Clear Village Charitable Trust Human Cities_Challenging the city scale England London Partner 1,880,000

University of Cambridge Sharing a World of Inclusion, Creativity and Heritage England South East Partner 2,000,000

Polka Childrens Theatre Small Size, Performing Arts for Early Years England London Partner 1,995,000

Nobrow Limited Transbook, Children’s Literature on the Move England London Partner 1,806,572

BENEFICIARY ORGANISATION

PROJECT NAME UK NATION

LOCATION(IN ENGLAND)

LEAD/PARTNER

TOTAL AMOUNTAWARDED TO

PROJECT €

2014

LARGE COOPERATION PROJECTS: RESULTS

Large Cooperation Projects involve a minimum of six partners from six participating countries and partnerships can apply for up to €2,000,000 for projects that last up to four years.

Here are the supported organisations in the UK and the projects they were involved in. More details, stories, links, images and contact information can be found on our website: www.creativeeuropeuk.eu/funded-projects

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European Union Baroque Orchestra EUBO Mobile Baroque Academy: Pathways & Performances England London Lead

2,000,000St John’s Smith Square EUBO Mobile Baroque Academy: Pathways & Performances England London Partner

London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) Urban Heat England London Lead 980,864

Shetland Amenity Trust Follow the Vikings Scotland Lead 1,960,000

York Archaeological Trust Follow the Vikings England North Partner

University of the Arts London Creative Lenses England London Partner

Village Underground Creative Lenses England London Partner 1,964,950

Olivearte Creative Lenses England South East Partner

Artsadmin IMAGINE 2020 (2.0) - Art, ecology & possible futures England London Partner

2,000,000London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) IMAGINE 2020 (2.0) - Art, ecology & possible futures England London Partner

Elastic Eye LPM 2015 > 2018 - Live Performers Meeting England London Partner 740,000

Royal College of Art NE©XT Accelerator England London Partner

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland NE©XT Accelerator Scotland Partner 1,025,799

University of Winchester NE©XT Accelerator England South East Partner

Derby Quad Flâneur - New urban narratives England Midlands Partner 541,097

Next Level Projects Flâneur - New urban narratives England North Partner

University for the Creative Arts an Orchestra Network for Europe - ONE® is more England South East Partner 1,997,528

Cinebook EUROPE COMICS England South East Partner 1,075,223

Creative Foundation Power of Diversity England South East Partner 1,040,681

The Corn Exchange Trust Power of Diversity England South East Partner

Plymouth College of Art Euranim England South West Partner 297,700

Prime Cut Productions EU COLLECTIVE PLAYS! Northern Ireland Partner 1,886,770

BENEFICIARY ORGANISATION

PROJECT NAME UK NATION

LOCATION(IN ENGLAND)

LEAD/PARTNER

TOTAL AMOUNTAWARDED TO

PROJECT €

2015

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Shetland Amenity Trust – Follow the Vikings

“I am absolutely delighted that the Trust has been successful in securing this funding on behalf of our Viking colleagues. We and our partners have been working for a number of years to make transnational Viking heritage more accessible and understandable to a worldwide audience. We hope that the project will contribute to maintaining and developing Europe as the number one global heritage tourism destination.” Jimmy Moncrieff, General Manager, Shetland Amenity Trust

Led by the Shetland Amenity Trust, Follow the Vikings is a Cooperation Project bringing together 14 partner organisations, including York Archaeological Trust in the UK, and 11 associate partners from across Europe. This project promotes and celebrates Viking heritage throughout Europe and has a particular emphasis on skills development, sharing business models, reaching new audiences, and promoting Europe as a global tourism destination, including the creation of an international touring event. Follow the Vikings was awarded a grant of €1,960,000 from Creative Europe in 2015 and the project continues until 2018.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Isis Arts – Corners

“This European initiative has provided a brilliant opportunity for our artists to exchange ideas, collaborate across art forms and tell stories from the corners of Europe. These are stories which give voice to more marginalised groups in our society – children, homeless people, prisoners – but they are stories which connect us across cultures through multidisciplinary art.” Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, talks about the Corners projects presented at the Belfast International Festival in 2015

Corners is a Creative Europe-supported Cooperation Project that received a grant of €1,283,000 in 2014 to create a platform for artists and audiences, designed and driven by cultural organisations at the fringes of Europe, linking cities and artists in collaborative, international, multidisciplinary projects and through an online platform for artists and audiences called CORNERS Live. Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Isis Arts in Newcastle are the two UK-based partners.

LARGE COOPERATION PROJECTS: CASE STUDIES

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Follow the Vikings

Royal Opera House and Welsh National Opera – The Opera Platform

This Cooperation Project brings together a partnership between Opera Europa (representing 160 opera companies and festivals), the cultural broadcasting channel ARTE, and 15 opera companies from twelve European countries. The Opera Platform, which received €1,855,688 in 2014 and continues until 2018, involves two UK-based partners: Welsh National Opera, Cardiff and the Royal Opera House, London.

The project aims to open up opera to new audiences and digitally showcase the diversity of European opera. At least one opera performance per month is live-streamed and available to watch for six months for free on their website, alongside shorter films of archival performances and interviews with major artists from across Europe. All digital content is subtitled in six languages.

“We are thrilled to have been working with Opera Europa and the 14 other opera houses across Europe who participate in The Opera Platform to develop this new important offering to audiences across the world. It is more important than ever that we give people access to experience opera, and to see for themselves the enormous diversity and creativity in the work that goes on in different houses. As major public broadcasters in many countries seem to have less and less appetite for capturing full-length performances, we are thrilled to have developed this new way to capture and showcase opera performances.

The funding from Creative Europe enables a brilliant platform for opera lovers – or those interested in the art form – to find interesting work, but almost more importantly it ensures that interesting work across the range gets captured in the first place.” Kasper Holten, Director of Opera, Royal Opera House

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Corners - Oh My HomeLost and Found at Belfast School of Art University of Ulster, 2015

Welsh National Opera, In Parenthesis, commissioned by the Nicholas John Trust with 14-18 NOW: Centenary Art Commissions. This WNO opera is screened on the Opera Platform from the Royal Opera House in July 2016. Photo: Bill Cooper

European Platforms is a new funding opportunity introduced with the arrival of the Creative Europe programme in 2014. The emphasis of European Platforms is on audiences and supporting emerging talent.

A platform consists of members (such as festivals, venues, libraries, theatres etc.) which together make a commitment to presenting the best of European-produced content and to provide visibility and mobility of new talent. So far, the themes of supported platforms have included poetry (E-merging Creativity), artistic creation in public spaces (IN SITU Platform), contemporary music (Liveurope) and architecture (Future Architecture).

11 UK organisations made the most of this new opportunity and they are involved in six of the eight supported platforms. Two of the eight European Platforms are UK-led:

• Aerowaves for emerging dance artists and young choreographers• Literary Europe Live for emerging European literary creators

EUROPEAN PLATFORMS

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2014 Aerowaves Aerowaves England London Lead 420,100

2014 The Place Aerowaves England London Partner

2014 Ledbury Poetry Festival E-merging Creativity England Midlands Partner 366,197

2014 Norfolk & Norwich Festival IN SITU Platform England South East Partner 500,000

2014 UZ Arts IN SITU Platform Scotland Partner

2014 Village Underground Liveurope England London Partner 500,000

2015 Literature Across Frontiers (Aberystwyth University) Literary Europe Live Wales Lead

2015 Scottish Poetry Library Literary Europe Live Scotland Partner

2015 Bangor University Literary Europe Live Wales Partner

2015 Hay Festival of Literature & Arts Literary Europe Live Wales Partner

2015 Artifice Books Future Architecture England London Partner 500,000

YEAR BENEFICIARY AWARDED ORGANISATION

PROJECT NAME UK NATION

LOCATION(IN ENGLAND)

LEAD/PARTNER

ANNUAL GRANT AWARDED TO

PROJECT €

455,426

25%of platforms led by UK

organisations

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CASE STUDIES:

Literary Europe Live

“We are delighted to be supported by Creative Europe in our work as a European Platform. The Literary Europe Live project will allow us to focus on developing audiences for European writing in all genres and particularly to support emerging writers, something we have been successfully doing with earlier projects. The members of our Platform – from prominent large festivals to smaller grassroots ones – will share their expertise in organising literary events and learn from each other about the ingredients of successful pan-European programming. Digital dissemination of literature is another topic we will be focusing on in order to reach young readers in particular. European writing is booming and we are here to help make it travel.” Alexandra Büchler, Director, Literature Across Frontiers, Aberystwyth University, Wales

Aerowaves

Aerowaves is a hub for dance discovery which is supported through Creative Europe’s European Platforms funding opportunity with an annual grant of €420,100 from 2014 until 2017. They identify the most promising new work by emerging dance artists and promote these works through cross-border performances. The Place in London is one of the 24 European members involved in this UK-led dance platform.

“Creative Europe funding has galvanised our Platform. The number of artists applying to Aerowaves has increased by a fifth across Europe, and the professional guests at the annual festival have more than doubled, travelling from 42 countries. The live stream has gathered an online audience around the world, and we are nurturing a new generation of dance writers. All these activities drive new opportunities for younger artists, many of them completely unforeseen. More presenters want to join us from Novi Sad to Limerick, and we are hoping that we will be able to meet demand in our third year through enhanced funding.” John Ashford, Director, Aerowaves

Literature Across Frontiers Aberystwyth University, Wales

AerowavesHodworks, Conditions of Being a Mortal © Daniel Domolky

75%of platforms involve UK

organisations

Creative Europe Desk UK encourages UK organisations to join European cultural networks in order to meet peers and potential partners to collaborate with. Many cultural networks are supported by Creative Europe through the European Networks funding opportunity. These networks aim to support their members’ capacity to operate transnationally and adapt to change. Networks encourage linguistic and cultural diversity, strengthen competitiveness, and promote skill-sharing and good practice.

“As a member and more recently President of the Europe Jazz Network (EJN), I have found getting to know jazz promoters from across Europe invaluable in developing our own approach to jazz programming here at Sage Gateshead. The activities EJN are undertaking, supported through our Creative Europe funding, also help my understanding of potential developments far beyond jazz – such as in the fields of environmental sustainability and addressing gender issues. Visiting other European cities as part of our work is also fascinating, particularly those in Central Europe who are investing a great deal in culture and are attracting younger people as audiences and participants.” Ros Rigby, Performance Programme Director, Sage Gateshead, and President, Europe Jazz Network

EUROPEAN NETWORKS

23European networks supported

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IETM (international network for contemporary performing arts) meeting in Budapest in 2015. IETM has 66 members from the UK.© Balázs Turós

European networks often hold events in the UK such as Culture Action Europe’s conference, which took place in Gateshead in October 2014, and the European Network of Cultural Centres Conference, hosted by Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre in February 2016.

Take a look at our website for a list of creative and cultural networks, some of which are supported by Creative Europe: www.creativeeuropeuk.eu/european-networks

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TRANSLATING EUROPEAN LITERATURE

Creative Europe’s Literary Translation funding opportunity supports publishers and publishing houses to translate literary works from one European language into another. The fund aims to support cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe, promote the transnational circulation of high quality literary works, as well as to improve access to these literary works so that they can reach new audiences.

Four UK publishers were awarded a total of €165,000 from Creative Europe to translate 19 European titles into English and publish them in the UK.

Publisher UK Nation GrantQuercus Editions (MacLehose) England €94,108Peirene Press England €20,043Istros Books England €19,094Harvill Secker (Random House) England €31,334

CASE STUDIES:

Istros Books

“Creative Europe is exactly what it says it is - it is a fund dedicated to enabling culture to flourish and travel within our European space, and, for that reason, it is of the utmost importance. Istros has received translation funding over the past four years, and without it we would not have been able to bring these important books to an English-speaking audience. Our last project was for two novels from Bosnia and one from Romania. Two of the books are EU Prize for Literature winners and all of them offer English readers a unique insight into the culture and identity of the Balkans.”Susan Curtis-Kojakovic, Editor, Istros Books.

Istros’ founding strategy is to bring quality literature from South East Europe to English-speaking readers and the grant supported the translation of three novels from Bosnian and Romanian into English.

LITERARY TRANSLATION

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€165,000received by

UK publishers

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Peirene Press

“The funding we were given for our Chance Encounter series was absolutely invaluable. All aspects of our project benefitted from it, from translation costs to book production to running events. It also allowed us to secure advertising in places unavailable to us before. In a time when publishing translated fiction can be a risk, Creative Europe funding has allowed us to focus on the quality of the books, and helped us to reach a wider audience.” James Tookey, Peirene Press

The Creative Europe grant supported the translation of three novels from Finnish, French and Norwegian into English.

19novels

translated into English

REWARDING CULTURAL EXCELLENCE

Through Creative Europe, the European Commission also supports a variety of prizes and initiatives to increase the visibility of Europe’s cultural sectors and highlight excellence:

• European Capitals of Culture• European Heritage Days• EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards• European Heritage Label• EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Award• European Border Breakers Awards • EU Prize for Literature

UK organisations, projects and people have been commended with these awards. For example:

• Evie Wyld was the UK winner of the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) in 2014 for her novel All the Birds, Singing.• Saw Swee Hock Student Centre at the London School of Economics was one of the five finalists of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Award in 2015.• John Newman and Disclosure were awarded European Border Breakers Awards, in 2015 and 2014 respectively. This award celebrates the best pop, rock and dance acts in Europe to have achieved cross-border chart success.• Seven initiatives in the UK were awarded an EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award in 2014-2015: • Abbotsford: The Home of Sir Walter Scott, Melrose • Churches Conservation Trust, London • Heritage Skills Initiative, Newcastle upon Tyne • Middleport Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent • Shaping 24: Promoting Heritage in Norwich and Ghent, Norwich • Stonehenge, Wiltshire • Young Archaeologists’ Club, York

EUROPEAN CULTURAL PRIZES

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All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld (Vintage)

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Europa Nostra award winner in 2015Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, saved and restored by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust. Photo: © Twisted Mind Photography

With our Culture sub-programme specialists based at the British Council, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Welsh Government and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, we work with these partners to reach out to new audiences and provide expert advice to applicants. In 2014 and 2015, we have helped cultural, creative and heritage organisations in all four UK nations to obtain Creative Europe funding to support their ambitious international projects.

Our team has welcomed thousands of cultural professionals to over 60 free information seminars and workshops across the UK, from Dundee to Derry, Harlech to Poole. We are delighted that many organisations are subsequently inspired to apply for Creative Europe funding. A strong turnout at our Cooperation Projects application workshops and webinars resulted in UK organisations benefitting the most of all European countries from this funding opportunity in 2015.

Collaboration is a vital element of Creative Europe’s Culture sub-programme projects and it is also an essential part of our activities. Working with a range of partners and peers is a great way to meet new prospective applicants. We have worked in partnership with Working Internationally Regional Project (WIRP) to inform the heritage and museum sector about Creative Europe; with local councils such as Aberdeen City Council; and with the European Literature Network in London to inspire publishers and the literature sector to get involved in Creative Europe.

Encouraging networking is an important part of our role and we organised regular get-togethers of Creative Europe-supported organisations so that they can exchange advice, feedback and insight. Furthermore, we invited three European cultural networks – IETM, Culture Action Europe and Europe Jazz Network – and UK-based members of these networks – such as LIFT, Artsadmin and Fabrica – to London in 2015 to describe how networking at an international level can enhance their staff ’s skills and their programmes.

We attend and present at cultural conferences and festivals across the UK to raise awareness of international collaboration and Creative Europe, including the Audiences NI Conference, Publishing Scotland Conference, APAC Conference, Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Edinburgh Festivals, Museums Galleries Scotland Conference and Museums Association Conference.

Our online audiences have also gone from strength to strength with the launch of Creative Europe Desk UK’s website and a range of film content to inspire and assist UK applicants, from video application tutorials to case studies of Creative Europe-funded projects.

Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@CEDUK_Culture) to get the latest updates on our events and activities.

We look forward to working with many more of you in the years to come.

Creative Europe Desk UK

CREATIVE EUROPE DESK UK WHAT WE DO AND HOW WE HELP

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Beneficiaries get-together at No Boundaries conference in Manchester in 2015

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The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This report was published by Creative Europe Desk UK in May 2016.

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