Green Streets of Europe

Green Streets of Europe is a transformative residency project addressing environmental challenges within the performing arts sector.

In 2023- 2025, four European festivals for performing arts in public spaces will collaborate with artists to explore and co-develop more sustainable formats for international touring and festival programming. The festivals are Imaginarius, located in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal, KoresponDance, located in Žďár nad Sázavou, Czech Republic, Špancirfest, located in Varaždin, Croatia and PASSAGE Festival, located in Helsingør, Denmark.

Each partner is situated “off-center” from the larger cities in their countries, have local anchoring as a key element in their festival DNA, and all focus on public space performances.

WHY

International exchange (touring) of artistic formats is crucial for creating accessibility to vibrant artistic experiences, not just in the metropoles of Europe, but also in the more rural areas.

However, conventional touring practices contribute to environmental burdens.

Green Streets of Europe seeks to reevaluate these practices, shifting the focus from the artistic product to the artistic process for both the festivals, the artists and the local communities and audiences, that anchors us.

HOW

The key driver in the project will be artistic residencies that will emphasize local relevance, opening artistic processes, longer relations, and deeper connections between festivals, local communities, and artists. The residencies will also promote trans-sectorial collaboration with sustainability-related local sectors.

Shifting the focus from the artistic product to the artistic process is a central theme in Green Streets of Europe. This shift not only challenges conventional structures of production and presentation of performances, and a shift in the relationships between artists, audience and festivals but also necessitates a change in communication strategies.

Green Streets of Europe asks both festival partners and artists to equally embrace the role of communicators, fostering transparency and (local) engagement throughout the project, as we collectively explore and test future formats of sustainable touring and festivals in the performing arts sector.

The residencies are designed in a home-out-home model, and each artist/company will be connected to two festivals.

First residency (10 days) with the primary festival
Second residency (10 days) with secondary festival
Third residency and public presentation with the primary festival

Each residency includes a public session as part of the residency, to open up to and include local communities and explore the artistic processes as part of the artistic experience for the audiences and communities. The final residency will be a public presentation of the artistic work as part of the festival programme.

COLLECTIVE DATES & EVENTS

2024
14 January DEADLINE FOR OPEN CALL
15 January – 7 February Selection Process
February Onboarding selected artists
16 – 19 April Kick-Off Meeting at Imaginarius, Portugal
3 – 5 December Midterm Meeting at KoresponDance, Czech Republic

2025
27 – 31 August Final Conference at Špancirfest, Croatia

PARTNERS

APPLICATIONS

› APPLICATION FORM Green Streets of Europe Open Call

+ INFO

› program@imaginarius.pt