STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Street Artists in Europe
local festivals and parades, alongside their professional street performance timetable (e. g.
Slovenia, United Kingdom).
6.2. Framework
6.2.1. Festivals’ use of productions
The artistic policy of festivals is very varied and suits the artistic aims and purposes of the
artistic directors or their management committees. All festivals programme a selection of the
following, in varying proportions:
• existing street arts performance and installation work, which the festival ‘buys into’ for a
particular time;
• unique site-specific professional performance/installations created especially for the
festival, which will be designed to enhance particular local architecture or landscapes;
• new performance/installations that the festival may commission (or co-commission, with
other organisations) designed to premiere at a festival but continue to tour elsewhere 81 ;
• community performances and installations that share the public space at the festival with
professional companies. Festivals may directly commission some of these.
There are dozens of different quotations about how festivals work – some in-depth research on
this would be very useful for artists, so they can know who to approach with which proposal.
6.2.2. “In” and “Off”
Street festivals have many different contractual arrangements with artists, paying varying
amounts of artists’ overall costs. In the UK street arts and mainland Europe survey 82 , one of the
questions concerned how great a proportion of costs are covered by programmers.
Many festivals pay 100% of costs. Those that do claim that artists should not be exploited
although some admit the sense in negotiating a package (several days’ work, travel costs as part
of a tour to a number of different festivals, some days of holiday between bookings).
Some festivals said they pay a proportion (50%, 80%, 90%) of fees and all technical costs. A
couple of these consider themselves to be showcase opportunities for artists.
Many festivals, especially in France, have a two-tiered system of contracts, known as the “in”
and the “off” programme. The off programme may be curated or (in the case of Aurillac) open
to all. In the street arts milieu, the “off” programme gives the chance for young companies, or
companies trying out new shows to get an opportunity to test out their work and perform to a
willing audience, without a fee. The rationale for this is also that such performers are receiving a
marketing opportunity, to be seen by festival directors from other festivals and through this to
get paid bookings.
81 Festival Director, Netherlands – interview.
82 Tucker, A., UK Street Arts and Mainland Europe: Opportunities and barriers to exploiting work form England
in the rest of Europe, Arts Council England, London, April 2005.
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PE 375.307