Arts and Culture Program History

From its inception, the strategic policy of the Arts and Culture Network Program of the Open Society Institute, was proactive, inspirational, and a catalyst for Soros foundation cultural activities, multifaceted in approach and inclusive of all groups of people and disciplines of artistic expression.

The cultural activities of the Arts and Culture Program and Soros foundation achieved important results by:

creating new cultural models and alternative cultural space and infrastructures;
supporting alternative and independent cultural initiatives that encouraged intellectual and artistic people to stay and work in their countries as the driving force of development and change;
using culture as a tool to fight nationalism and bridge ethnic differences;
encouraging debate within societies on controversial issues since art does not only create a cultural space but a political forum as well;
cooperation enhanced via the Cultural Link program and other network activities which broke the isolation and helped to open opportunities across borders;
providing information to the artistic communities in order to open them up and connect them to the international art world;
raising the professional standards in the art world.

The task of the Arts and Culture Network Program was to assist transformation of cultural structures, and contribute to structural change increasing the autonomy of the field of art. The Program promoted and enforced cultural policies, which enabled pluralism, diversity, independence, and freedom of the arts and artists. The primary Arts and Culture Network Program principles were the following:

identification and support of crucial areas of the transition process in order to affect structural changes in the field of arts and culture in the policy domain;
supporting an autonomous and innovative art sector;
promotion of dialogue and networking between Eastern European countries.

Past Program Components

Bridge of Understanding

The main goals of the Bridge of Understanding Program were:

bridging different cultures from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Mongolia with cultures of other countries in the OSI network;
stimulating networking, communication and regional cooperation between Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Mongolia in the sphere of arts and culture;
assistance in achieving a better understanding between the various cultures and religions of the ACNP target region;
promoting tolerance.

Looking Inside

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 Caucuses and Mongolia. The idea of the program was that both parts should benefit: the art manager (intern) by acquiring new skills and gaining new experience and the host institution by the involvement of new high quality professionals in its activity, and possibilities of creating new links, and perhaps developing new projects on the long run.

The main goals of Looking Inside were:

to increase the mobility of cultural and arts practitioners who want to implement innovative models of operation in their organization or institution by exploring cultural practices elsewhere;
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 arts and culture in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia.

Mobility Fund for the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia

The aims of the Mobility Fund were:

reinforcement of cultural dialogue and cooperation with and within the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia;
strengthening the transfer of knowledge and competence to this region for the sake of artistic and cultural development;
promoting the mobility of cultural and arts practitioners from the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia, who wanted to implement innovative models of operation in their organization or institution by exploring cultural practices elsewhere;
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 contributed to significant, long-term, sustainable changes in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia.

Cultural Policy

The Cultural Policy program 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 contributed to developing cultural policy and resource centers as well as to the implementation of new entrepreneurial models within cultural institutions.

Capacity Building

The Capacity Building program was aimed at:

capitalizing on the previous activities of the Arts and Culture Network Program by transmitting a substantial part of its role to capable institutions, organizations, and resource centers in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia in order 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 the empowerment of local actors;
strengthening the capacity of several regional institutions (by providing a substantial institutional grant) in the following fields: art management training center, policy research center, and art for social change centers in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia. These institutions were selected in the course of international competitions.

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.

Cultural Link

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

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 Cultural Link. At the beginning of 2000, Cultural Link changed its mission following the introduction of a new program strategy which marked the launch of the Arts and Culture Network Program.

European Film Academy

After a successful pilot venture in the 1995, the Open Society Institute 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 grant making program. In 1999, the Film Training Program was merged with the Soros Documentary Fund.

Soros Documentary Fund

The Soros Documentary Fund (1996-2001) supported the production of documentaries on social justice and human rights issues from around the world. The program closed in the summer of 2001 and was spun off to the Sundance Institute in Los Angeles, California.

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 the support of the performing arts, and encouraged 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 of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

ArtsLink

ArtsLink was an international exchange program 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.

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.

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.