CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: FOUR GRANTS OF 1,500 EURO EACH

PILOT PROJECT FOR STAFF EXCHANGE BETWEEN ASIAN AND EUROPEAN AUTONOMOUS CULTURAL CENTRES

Why a pilot project for staff exchange between Asian and European autonomous cultural centres?

 To have a better professional understanding on other autonomous cultural centers from Asia in Europe and vice versa

 To help for the development of future common projects, by giving chances to understand better the partner-centre’s management, artistic director, cultural environment etc

 To add knowledge on the development of functioning in autonomous cultural centers from Europe and Asia through skills development

 To enhance and give strength to art practices which involve civil societies and create new types of relations with people

Moreover, the International Meeting between Autonomous Cultural Centres, held in Shanghai on 25-27 September 2004, under the initiative of BizArt (www.biz-art.com) and Artfactories (www.artfactories.net) highlighted also the need for more training opportunities among centres as a way to spread the vision and raison d’etre of autonomous cultural centres. The staff exchange pilot project was presented by ASEF during this event and will hopefully give impetus to further exchange after its completion and evaluation.

What are the conditions of the staff exchange pilot project?

 As it is a pilot project, staff exchange pilot project is only opened to Asian and European centres present at the Shanghai meeting (ASEM member countries)

 Staff exchange shall be between centers from Europe and Asia and cannot be within Asia or within Europe

 Staff exchange shall concern people who have good professional experience in their centre of origin

 The staff exchange shall be completed before 31 January 2006

 The sending and host centers shall agree on the project on which the staff will have to work on. This project can potentially have an Asian-European dimension.

 The length of stay shall be at least of one month: the “exchange†staff shall not lose his/her salary from his/her sending centre. The host centre shall try to find free accommodation for the “exchanged†staff during his/her centre and shall try to help his/her stay by tentatively providing advice for visa, accommodation, daily living cost etc

 The centers which propose a staff exchange shall not propose it in a “mirror†format: for instance, a Japanese centre can propose to send one of its staff to a French centre but in reverse the French centre cannot propose to send a French staff to this Japanese centre. However, the French centre can propose to send a staff to a Singaporean centre. This would allow to maximize the number of centers involved in this first staff exchange pilot project.

 Once selected by ASEF, the “exchanged staff†will get from ASEF a grant of 1, 500 Euro, which he/she can use for the purpose of the exchange (either air ticket/per diem/accommodation etc)

What are the requirements and calendar to send my application?
 The applications shall be sent by attached documents (word or rtf format) to Marie Le Sourd by 31 January 2005. No applications will be accepted after this date.

 The application forms shall enclose:
1.A one page letter of the applicant specifying the reasons of his/her interest in the exchange;
2. A CV of the applicant (no more than 2 pages, including complete contact details) highlighting the experiences in the fields of autonomous cultural centres (be them in the fields of programming, marketing, international relations, specific programme like reaching out communities etc);
3. A common letter of the sending and host centers specifying: the dates and length of the exchange, the contents of the project the staff will be working on and the expected follow-ups in terms of learning experiences for the host and the sending centres; the practical conditions of the exchange (including accommodation, visa and other logistic details for the staff)

 By 20 February latest, the selected applicants will be informed and a formal agreement will be sent by ASEF for the grant of 1,500 Euro.
All non accepted applicants will be notified as well.

 All confirmed staff exchange will be mentioned in ASEF website and newsletters, including the names of the partners and financial supporters.

 After completion of the exchange, ASEF shall receive within a month a report specifying the quantitative and qualitative outputs from the exchanged staff, the sending and host organizations.
ASEF hopes that this experience will be successful so that additional partners could be found to expand this staff exchange programme among all autonomous cultural centres from Europe and Asia.

This event is under the Art Factories - Asia Antenna (www.artfactories.net)