European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists in Residence Programme

EFFEA extends an open invitation for festivals to work across borders and create a network of colleagues with shared goals. It recognises that the future lies in the synergy of diverse perspectives and collective efforts.

Objectives

• In addition to providing artists with opportunities to develop and showcase their work internationally, the objectives of the EFFEA Residency consist in:
  • To help artists develop their skills, establish new collaborations and lasting relationships, and achieve their professional goals.
  • To offer cooperation opportunities for festivals to work cross borders on the topic of emerging artists.
  • To establish a co-programming platform between festivals across Europe.
  • To offer audiences new and surprising encounters with the arts in their towns and cities.

What is the EFFEA Residency?

• The EFFEA Residency is an artist-in-residence programme aimed at fostering the international career of emerging artists. The goal is to establish lasting and meaningful connections between artists, festivals, and audiences.
• There are two categories of residencies:
  • EFFEA Discovery: Festivals (leading festival and one partner festival minimum) take an early career artist with exceptional talent and ready to breakthrough internationally under their wings.
  • The Discovery residency must include:
    • Presentation of work-in-progress (or production result) at the leading festival.
    • Workshop (live or online) by the artist, hosted by the leading festival and involving the partner festivals. It should expose the artist to a minimum of one programmer from each partner festival. Their presence (live or online) will foster opportunities for the exposure and eventual circulation of the artist’s work.
    • Professional advice on how artists present their work/dossier to producers; training/ mentoring/ coaching with other professionals (online or live); presenting options in other festivals; support to reach out to local communities and/or other features the artists describe in the needs assessment.
    • EFFEA film: high-quality 1 to 3 minutes’ film about the residency process and results.
  • EFFEA Springboard: Festivals (leading festival and two partner festivals minimum) take a mid-career artist established in their own country and ready to develop their career internationally under their wings.
  • The Springboard residency must include:
    • Artist’s presentation (finished work) at the leading festival and each partner festival.
    • Masterclass conducted by the artist in a minimum of three countries (at the leading festival and at least two other partner festivals) focused on the creation and production process, with invitations extended to and involvement encouraged from the local artistic communities. The masterclass can be open to a broader audience.
    • Artists and festivals participate in the EFFEA Intake and Outtake Seminars, online meetings at the beginning and end of the residencies’ implementation period, respectively, organised by EFFEA.
    • EFFEA film: high-quality 1 to 3 minutes’ film about the residency process and results.

Funding Information

• EFFEA Discovery
  • Approximately 40 grants of 8.000€ will be attributed to this category.
• EFFEA Springboard
  • Approximately 10 grants of 15.000€ will be attributed to this category.

Who will benefit from this Fund?

• Festivals
  • EFFEA Network: a peer-to-peer, highly personal programmers’ and promoters’ network; a platform for festivals to incentivise their work with emerging artists and contribute to the distribution and mobility of emerging artists through new co-productions, cooperation and transnational connections; network and collaboration between festivals; new programmes and new artists for festivals; financial support to promote the artists on a European level.
• Emerging Artists proposed by the festivals
  • Research; network (of programmers and local artists in different countries); residencies/ workshops/ masterclasses; European visibility; capacity building; presentation in different festivals in different countries.
• Audiences
  • Access to new talents and artists; access to new arts and repertoire; access to diverse and interdisciplinary works.

Geographic Focus

• Festivals and artists should have their official address in one of the following eligible countries:
  • EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.
  • Creative Europe countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, and Ukraine
  • Other included countries: Israel, Moldova, Palestine, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
  • Note: Israel, Moldova, Palestine, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK can only apply as partners and not as leading festivals. Artists from these countries can be proposed.

Eligibility Criteria

• The EFFEA Call#3 is open to all festivals and artists that fulfil the following criteria and conditions:
  • Festivals exist for at least one edition
  • Discovery Residency: the leading festival establishes a partnership with a minimum of 1 festival partner from a different country to take an artist(s) under their wings.
  • Springboard Residency: the leading festival establishes a partnership with a minimum of 2 partner festivals from different countries to take an artist(s) under their wings.
  • Additional partners must be registered in a country other than the leading festival:
    • Discovery Residency: The partner festival should be registered in a country other than that of the leading festival. Any additional partner festivals (if more than one) can be from any eligible country.
    • Springboard Residency: Each of the two partner festivals must be registered in countries other than that of the leading festival. Any extra partner festivals (if more than two) can be from any eligible country.
  • A festival can apply for one grant as a leading festival and is eligible to apply for multiple grants as a partner festival.
  • Artists can be individual artists, collectives, companies, ensembles, or groups of any age and nationality.

For more information, visit European Festivals Association.