i-Portunus

i-Portunus is a project, selected and funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. It supports short-term mobility of artists and culture professionals.

News

i-Portunus was a short-term pilot project, selected and funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, to trial a mobility scheme in 41 countries directly targeting individual artists and culture professionals (A&CP) active in the Performing or Visual Arts. i-Portunus was managed by a Consortium headed by Goethe-Institut with Institut français, Izolyatsia and Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts.

Between April and September 2019, i-Portunus issued 3 Calls for Applications and received over 2.500 applications from more than 3.000 individuals requesting over 6.000.000 euros of support, hence proving the need for artistic mobility. A team of eight independent experts evaluated the applications. 337 individual A&CP were supported for demand-led opportunities for an amount of 620.933 euros. As a result of the mobility 97% of the selected A&CP acquired new skills/knowledge, 94% developed new audiences/outlets, 94% developed new co-productions/creations, and 49% received a job offer. This is a most impressive impact considering the limited financial support provided by the EU, e.g. only 1.500 to 3,400 euros per individual.

The i-Portunus mobility scheme for artists and culture professionals (A&CP) is at the end of its first piloting phase. During this time, we have tested various aspects of the mobility scheme, both in line with the conclusions of this project’s Analytical Report as well as variations and new ideas, developed in response to needs that became apparent during the pilot. We strongly recommend that the reader refers to this Analytical Report, which contains highly relevant and important information presented with a great wealth of detail, and which also addresses financial and political aspects of the mobility scheme for A&CP, as well as policy recommendations.

The Policy Recommendations are based on the Analytical Report but are supplemented with key findings from the pilot experimentation, as well as consultations with a broad range of stakeholders including a workshop organised in Brussels on 15 and 16 October 2019.

Update on Brexit

The UK participates in i-Portunus as long as it participates in the Creative Europe Programme.

i-Portunus Stories

We exceeded our expectations regarding collaborations with people who are not from the art world. We have gathered a lot of different kinds of materials (video, photo, objects) which we will use for further activities of the project “Y?”. Even though our mobility supported by i-Portunus finished in England, the project “Y?” continues with activities in America, and later again in Europe. We expect to make more contacts, activities, project presentations and interventions in the public space. We will also present our project in Hekler, New York. After New York comes the final phase of the project – production of an exhibition and of an art/documentary film. We were also able to widen our professional networks and got to know new spaces for future collaboration.

Neza Knez, Danilo Milovanovi, Tone Poljanec and Luka Erdani

The fact that the festival has its own audience and we weren’t asked to spend time promoting it and also the fact that we were financially supported by i-Portunus allowed us to really concentrate on the work and use beneficially the time of the residency.

Chrysanthi Avloniti

15 wonderful days in which we projected my moving paintings on skeletons of abandoned factories, on cement forests on large concrete cables. 15 days when I became more convinced of the possibility of turning dark places into illuminated places, abandoned factories in attractive spaces. I started thinking about the possibility of creating the first Lighting Flowers exhibition in Yerevan: I activated relationships with the local contemporary art circuit and with other institutional actors. The reason why I want to do it is because I believe that Yerevan is the right place to start, the right place to plant permanent Lighting Flowers and show that art can intervene in certain urban areas and leave an important mark.

Franz Cerami

Some key data from the third i-Portunus call