STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Street Artists in Europe
professional training schemes financed by the State and local authorities, but they do not lead to
any qualification. Professional training in street arts appears to be developing in Italy. Although
it is neither financed nor recognised by the State, it is emerging as a result of the support of local
as well as national authorities. There are also a number of private organisations that run these
types of training: F.N.A.S., Centre in Certaldo, Ambaradan in Torre Boldone, Kiklos, Theatre
en Vol, Teatro Nucleo, Teatro Due Mondi, Int.nl School ‘Circo a Vapore’, to mention only a
few referred to in the survey. Another example is Chapitô in Portugal, which is one of the few
private organisations to run occasional training schemes. In Croatia the following companies
and associations were mentioned: Autonomous Cultural Centre Attack, Daska Theatre’s
Daskalište and Small Performers’ Scene. Local educational and cultural centres, such as the
Maksimir Cultural Centre in Zagreb, may also arrange traineeships. In Hungary, mention was
also made of smaller, free training schemes (‘free training like get together’), which take place
in the parks of Budapest. In Spain (Barcelona and Valladolid), the Netherlands (Terschellings)
and Romania (Sibiu), however, discussions have been underway for three years on organising
street arts training schemes for professionals or university students 171 .
In general, in the absence of specific street arts training, street artists turn to circus training,
which is more highly developed and can respond to specific aspects of their needs, or to theatre
training, which receives far greater recognition from the State and can lead to a national
diploma.
France 172 stands out as a pioneer in the political recognition of street arts. In fact, the longawaited
first national college of street arts opened in Marseille in 2004: Formation Avancée et
itinérante des arts de la rue (Fai ar). It is based on the principle of peripatetic training and works
in partnership with arts organisations, educational establishments and promotion and production
centres in France and in Europe. This training is aimed at young artists who have already done
some artistic training elsewhere or at professional artists who want to improve their knowledge
and exchange their know-how. The course takes 18 months, is free and sets no age limit.
There is also a French training scheme geared purely to street arts, aimed this time at future
project designers and managers: Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, ‘master projets Culturels
dans l’espace public’. Other training schemes choose to include street arts in their more general
approach to live performance. France also has a number of organisations that aim to raise
awareness of and/or provide training in street arts, targeted in particular at professionals in the
field of culture (mediators, managers, technicians) or local staff. They include in particular
Atelier 231 (Sotteville-lès-Rouen), Avant Scène (Cognac), le Fourneau (Brest), la Paperie, le
Centre national de la fonction publique territoriale (Paris and regional delegations), the Ecole
supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre (Lyon), the Fédération Nationale des Collectivités
territoriales pour la Culture, etc. Finally, Le Temps des arts de la rue has set up a ‘training and
skills’ group, which is conducting a survey of training schemes available in this field.
Quite logically, the political recognition of street arts goes hand in hand with a policy of support
for training, even if the introduction of professional training in street arts is still at a very early
stage. In Ireland, the Arts Council is endeavouring to improve the recognition of street arts by a
policy of support for professional training, in order to develop a sector that remains weak:
‘Training is seen as a propriety for the Arts Council to grow a new generation of street arts
171 See Le temps des arts de la rue (2005-2007): programme en faveur des arts de la rue lancé en 2005 par le
ministère de la Culture et de la Communication(DMDTS), op. cit.
172 Ibid.
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PE 375.307