STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

NOTE 1
160
Street Artists in Europe
A new evaluation and guidelines were done at the European Meeting of Fringe Theatre Groups
in St. Pölten, Austria in June 2005. Dragan Klaic divided European theatre situation into four
groups as it is shown in the table. Even though he does not mention ‘street theatre’ separately, it
is obvious that it belongs to the 3 rd column together with Experimental theatre. Comparing other
columns we see clearly how promising characteristics the Experimental/Street theatre has. It has
its own inner power “(…) to reaffirm theatre as a public space and public service, as a viable
platform for expression and development of creativity, valuable for local, regional, national,
European and global citizenship, as a challenge to the collective memory and collective
imagination” 285 .
Commercial Repertory Experimental/Street Amateur
for profit star
driven entertainment
producer rules
New York B’way
London West End
& similar spots,
prospering despite
high cost & risks
Part of cultural
industry. Spin-offs
through digital media.
Aggressive marketing,
replicated globally.
non profit
ensemble
art. excellence
director rules
Survived 1968
crisis and the
end of Cold War.
Future?
Routine prevails,
rising costs, loss
of profile, graying
audience. Planning
matters more than
artistic outcome
precarious
vision
experiment
visionary/ guru
Fo, Grotowski, Brook,
Mnouchkine,
Barba, Fabre ...
Multiplication,
developed own
infrastructure.
International
collaboration
networks, festivals.
altruistic
community based
imitative
collective creation
1960-70s: student
stage, early international
contacts
Crisis, became
superfluous by the
explosive growth
of the cultural
industry
The participants established the European Off Network emphasizing the networking practices
with following objectives.
• Engaged cultural policies and content related esthetical network of performing artists;
• Strengthening the national and international visibility of fringe theatre and it's
discourses;
• Forming of an international political lobby for independent performing art with
alignment on Brussels and on national governments.
The Documentation project was set and 17 participating countries presented their own situation
review in this field followed by all kinds of international performances.
285 Dragan Klaic, Contradictions and Chances of Theater Systems in Europe, 2005,
http://www.freietheater.at/material/thema106euoff.pdf
PE 375.307