History

The following is a list of Arts and Culture Program initiatives that are no longer active.

Bridge of Understanding

The main goals of the Bridge of Understanding Program were:

to bridge different cultures from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Mongolia with cultures of other countries in the network;
to stimulate networking, communication and regional cooperation between Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Mongolia in culture, arts and related fields; and
to help for a better understanding, knowledge and tolerance between the various cultures and religions of this region—all of which is more important than ever in the current international climate.

Capacity Building

The Capacity Building Program was aimed at:

capitalizing the previous activities of the Arts and Culture Program by transmitting a substantial part of its role to capable institutions, organizations, and resource centers in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Mongolia. This was intended to allow the selected organizations to undertake the role of a "knowledge-transmitter," advocate core issues in public debates, and assist in developing strategic thinking and activities. This delegation of the network strategy to grassroots organizations and local/regional institutions, which are already capable of fulfilling a key role in the region, was of crucial importance in regional capacity development in the cultural sphere and empowerment of local actors
strengthening the capacity of several regional institutions (by providing a substantial organizational grant) in the following fields: art management training center; policy research center; and art for social change centers in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Balkans. These institutions were selected in the course of international competitions.

Cultural Policy

The Cultural Policy project supported the development of legislation and fiscal policies for alternative funding of the arts, living heritage projects, nonprofit organizations, privatization of culture, cultural activities in rural areas and small cities, and making cultural institutions more flexible and self-sustainable. The project also assisted in the education of arts administrators and policymakers and aimed to develop cultural policy and resource centers as well as implement new entrepreneurial models within cultural institutions.

Looking Inside Program

The aim of the Looking Inside Program was to organize opportunities for art managers and cultural administrators in well-established and acknowledged cultural institutions of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Mongolia.

The main goals of Looking Inside were:

to increase mobility of cultural and arts practitioners who want to implement innovative models of operation in their organization or institution by exploring other cultural practices;
to contribute to the sharing and exchange of competencies, practices, skills and knowledge between arts managers and cultural administrators by organizing placements in well-recognized artistic institutions from the region; and
to invest in cultural professionals, who might contribute to significant long-term sustainable changes in culture and the arts in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Mongolia.

The idea was that both parts should profit from the program: the art manager (intern) by acquiring new competencies and gaining new experience, and the hosting cultural institution by involving high quality professionals in its activity, creating new links and exploring possibilities for developing new projects in the long-term run.

Mobility Fund for Central Asia, Caucasus, and Mongolia

The aims of the Mobility Fund were:

reinforcement of cultural dialogue and cooperation with and within Central Asia, Caucasus and Mongolia;
strengthening the transfer of knowledge and competence to this region for the sake of further cultural developments there;
promoting mobility of cultural and arts practitioners from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Mongolia who want to implement innovative models of operation in their organization or institution by exploring other cultural practices;
contributing, sharing, and exchanging competencies, practices, skills, and knowledge between cultural and arts practitioners from the targeted region and the rest of the Soros foundations' network;
investment in cultural professionals and artists, who might contribute to significant long-term sustainable changes in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Mongolia.

Soros Centers for Contemporary Art

Soros Centers for Contemporary Art were founded in 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. They contributed to the development of local arts communities by organizing exhibitions, documenting the work of local artists, awarding small grants to visual artists, and promoting educational programs. Soros Centers for Contemporary Art also worked with one another and with other arts organizations to promote contemporary art in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.

In 1999 and 2000, following the restructuring of the Soros foundations, all Soros Centers for Contemporary Arts started to become independent and ultimately transformed into non-governmental organizations under the membership of the new association ICAN (International Contemporary Art Network) based in Amsterdam. ICAN's mission is to be an open platform for cross-cultural exchange and collaboration in the field of contemporary art, involving artists, critics, curators and other art professionals and institutions form Central and Eastern Europe.

For more information see http://www.ican.artnet.org/ican/.

Open Society Cultural Link

The Open Society Cultural Link program promoted arts and culture events involving the participation of artists from two or more countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Mongolia. Its primary goal was to encourage and facilitate artistic collaboration and networking in the region.

In 1998, Cultural Link provided support for over 250 cross-cultural events, including exhibitions, festivals, performances, and competitions. In 1999, some 370 events in 26 countries were supported by Open Society Cultural Link. At the beginning of 2000 Cultural Link changed its mission following the introduction of a new program strategy.

For more information see: Cultural Link general information.

European Film Academy

After a successful pilot venture in the 1995, the Arts and Culture Program continued its partnership with the European Film Academy to support emerging filmmakers in Central and Eastern Europe, including directors, screenwriters, actors and producers by providing them with access to the academy's educational activities and contacts with the European film community. The 1996 programs included a symposium on independent filmmaking, a retreat for both young and experienced filmmakers, and a master class on the use of special effects in dramatic films.

Film Training Program

In collaboration with the European Film Academy and other institutions, the Film Training Program offered professional workshops and opportunities for East and West European emerging filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, directors of cinematography, and others. The Program also offered professional film and new media residencies through Nipkow, a German grantmaking program. In 1999, the Film Training Program was merged with the Soros Documentary Fund.

Soros Documentary Fund

The Soros Documentary Fund was established to support international documentary films and videos on contemporary human rights issues, freedom of expression, social justice, and civil liberties.

For more information see: http://www.soros.org/sdf/.

Performing Arts Program

The Performing Arts Program worked closely with participating Soros foundations to accelerate structural change and the development of the independent performing arts sector. The Program focused on creating a coherent strategy for support of the performing arts, and encourages the development of effective cultural policy and legislation. The Performing Arts Program supported a number of projects in the field of performing arts management training and artistic training in underdeveloped disciplines in 21 countries.

ArtsLink

ArtsLink was an international exchange program that was sponsored by several entities in the Soros foundations network in collaboration with the United States National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Ohio Arts Council, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. The five-week U.S. residencies gave arts managers and artists from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union the opportunity to collaborate with their American counterparts in all disciplines. Among the artists in residence in 1998 were Sanja Neskovic, a dancer and choreographer from Ljubljana, Slovenia, who worked at the Cunningham Dance Foundation/Merce Cunningham Studio in New York; and Iliyana Nedkova, a media arts manager from Sofia, Bulgaria, who worked at the Video Data Bank in Chicago, Illinois.

A second component of the program, funded primarily by the NEA, provided support for U.S. artists to work on collaborative projects with a partner artist or arts organization in the region. In 1998, ArtsLink supported 24 such projects.

For more information see: http://www.cecip.org/artslink/index.html.

Northeast Document Conservation Center

The Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Massachusetts, received OSI support to sponsor an exchange program for three weeks each year for paper, textile, and painting conservators at museums in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 1998, five artists from Estonia and Latvia participated in formal classroom sessions on conservation topics, hands-on work in the conservation laboratory, and field trips in the city of Boston.

Open Museum Initiative

As an outgrowth of the pilot TransArt museum education program started in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1997, the Open Museum Initiative was launched late in 1998 to focus on museum management, professional training, public outreach, and educational programs in museums in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.