STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Street Artists in Europe
A truly international attitude requires a certain skill in speaking foreign languages, but this is not
always so easy to be found among professionals. An open-minded attitude, fostering an effort by
professionals to learn – or to speak – other languages, sometimes lack, so that for instance some
non-French speaking companies state it has been hard for them to get in touch with French
festivals – although the companies spoke English.
In little countries such as for example Slovenia, the market for street arts is quite little too. This
means that it is difficult for artists to live on street arts – in fact, they all work in other artistic
contexts: theatre companies, etc. – and, on the other hand, for the organizations it is not so easy
to cooperate or to find partners.
4.4. Rules
Security rules can be more or less severe according to the country and to the festival. For
example, in England security people are present during the festivals, side to side with
performers and audience: this has an influence on the way the festival goes on, and this security
approach does not always respect the performance’s nature. In Ireland the political situation has
led to adopt strict security rules during festivals.
In Portugal, for example, the space where the perform goes on must be clearly separated from
the space where the audience stands, again influencing the “magic” of the shows – the audience
cannot feel involved in a parallel reality, but always has very clear that it is only a show.
In Holland there are strict safety rules concerning fire shows, due to a fire accident which
happened a few years ago during a festival.
5. Non-artistic skills for a successful career
Working internationally in a landscape which is formally united but actually contains a lot of
differences among countries, also some non-artistic skills acquire a huge importance, besides the
artistic ones which are the basis for a successful career. Different skills are required to festivals
directors, performers and companies managers, but some common element can be found,
notably organizational skills.
Generally speaking, it seems to be very important to be able to put together the passion, which is
necessary to work in the street arts field, the somehow “philosophic” attitude which allows
keeping one’s mind open, and some very practical skills which are necessary to carry on an
international activity.
5.1. Language and communication
Speaking different languages is obviously a basic tool for mobility, useful not only for
performers but also for technicians, managers, directors. English and French seem to be the
most useful languages, which should make it easier to travel and to work internationally –
though some respondents to the questionnaires state that some French festival refused their
English-written applications. During meetings, speaking at least some words of different
languages can “change the approach and make you seem more nice”.
The operators do not agree on the importance of language skills for performers. Some of them
state that artistic skills in communication (through gesture, mimics, etc.) are much more
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PE 375.307