STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Street Artists in Europe
audience. In schools, asylums, hospitals, refugee camps… On the fringe, the periphery of
society. It means to strengthen the social dimension of theatre. It means to show people that
theatre could be present in their everyday life. Pointing to the street theatre practices, asthetics
and audience.
Slovenia
Unfortunately, financial dependence on the Ministry and City councils results in managerial and
consequently artistic dependence of theatres. There are two ways of financing – program
financing and project financing. Self-employed artists have to pay higher taxes, which results in
greater financial need of independent organizations, or on the other hand in greater financial
need of self-employed artists. In Slovenia independent institutions practically cannot exist
without public institutions. The biggest problem lies in space facilities. In Ljubljana, for
example, there are only three small and badly equipped independent theatre venues. Pejoratively
speaking about institutionalization I refer to the lack of artistic freedom, lack of liability for new
praxis, lack of inclination to experiment, lack of responsibility to artistic innovation, lack of
interest in interdisciplinary approaches, lack of consideration for diversity of audience, lack of
consideration for diversity of aesthetics etc.
Independent organizations apply for Culture 2000 funds not because of concept but because of
existential issue of survival. Nevertheless, the impact of the international support affects the
financial, artistic and of course organizational sphere of independent organizations.
The Slovenian independent institutions present their work worldwide, meanwhile the public
cultural institutions present their work mostly nationally and in the states of former Yugoslavia.
Sweden
Fringe theatres are situated in most parts of Sweden, with a high variety in genre, artistic
design, continuity, personnel and constitutions. However, a majority are to be found within the
area of the three largest cities of Sweden: Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmoe. The
independent theatre companies in Sweden may receive subsidies from three main sources: the
Swedish National Council for Culture, the County Council and the Local Council. However
these subsidies are far from sufficient to properly support the companies.
Only 4% (5,7 million euros) of the government’s total subsidy for theatres in Sweden were sent
to fringe theatres in 2003 performing for for 18% of the total audience reported in 2003. Thanks
to creative ways of making an income many companies succeed in being self sufficient up to
50%.
The 2001 investigation showed that the independent theatres are financed far below
reasonable proportions to what they are presenting to the public.
Switzerland
There is no a fringe theatre scene in Switzerland: there are about 10 different fringe scenes. First
of all we have very big differences between the French, Italian and German speaking parts
of Switzerland. They more or less work separately. In the last decade more and more actors and
directors switched from the fringe scene to the institutional theatre and vice versa. There is
no strict borderline any more. The Swiss fringe theatre developed a great diversity in the
eighties and early nineties. A lot of groups existed as a counter part to the highly subsidized
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