The EU-funded Perform Europe programme, the Creative Europe action promoting sustainable touring in the performing arts sector, has awarded €2.1 million in grants to 42 partnership projects.
The projects offered tours of 63 performing art works by 196 partners from Creative Europe programme countries, including Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine.
“The selected projects demonstrate the power of performing arts to drive social change, promote diversity and inclusivity, ensure access to all audiences, and address pressing global issues,” says a press release by Creative Europe.
In addition, 13% of the total fund will be allocated to projects supporting the Ukrainian performing arts sector.
The selected projects include, for example, one project uniting Armenia, Ukraine, and Georgia. This project will receive a €60,000 grant to showcase the participatory performance ‘Greenhouse’ in Georgia, Armenia, and Ukraine, as these countries’ historical contexts resonate deeply with each other.
“‘Greenhouse’ tackles the issue of displacement as a result of military conflicts, and invites the audience to construct a temporary protective structure on stage,” says the project explainer. “Shared experience of migration due to the Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian-Georgian and Russian-Ukrainian wars open pathways for local audience engagement, and connect to the broader issues of climate migration and climate change.”
Another project will support “Alaska – the pursuit of happiness & the abusive world”, one of the last performances to take place in Mariupol, Ukraine. It was written four months before the Russian invasion. This work gives voice to the city’s youth after their theatre was completely demolished. The performance will tour in Poland, Hungary, and Bosnia where it will meet local young actors as well as Ukrainians who live in these countries.
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