By: Gerard Lohuis, Managing director P60
Since 2005 P60 is member of Trans Europe Halles
This network exists since 1983 and connects these days more than 160 independent cultural community-driven centers in more than 40 countries across and beyond Europe.
I am always looking forward to the two meetings per year. Feel connected and inspired because, as the website says, we are soulmates, we are community-driven, we are from everywhere, we are artists, we are thinkers, we are urbanists, we are ecologists, we are builders, doers and dreamers, we are a force of transformation, we are shakers, we are caretakers, we are learners and educators, we are strategists, we are activists, we are in solidarity, we are a family.
Most of the centers are in old buildings/factories which were transformed by grassroots organisations into a cultural centre with care for sustainability, neighbourhoods and citizen participation.
Exchanging experiences were gathered together in publications like a guideline for starting up emerging arts centres in eastern, southeastern and southern Europe. My penguin heart is a publication (2021) about how to improve the working conditions of people working in independent cultural centers after facing that the passion of that work also can have a dark side (burnt-out, mental health issues).
We are participating in the staff exchange project where we go to and receive collegues from other centers to share our work and challenges. The results was that for questions whe took over a solution which was perfect working somewhere else but where we didn’t thought about.
Like P60 many other members are part of European Solidarity Corps (ESC). Since 2005 we host every year 4 international volunteers for 12 months and we send sometimes our volunteers to other centers. We share our (practical) experiences with others who are planning to start ESC.
If you read the final volunteer reports after one year, you see how big the impact from ESC was on their personal life. Mentioned were more selfconfidence, knowing better what I want in the future, feeling more European.
With the help of present volunteers we are building a 3D stage in the metaverse which looks the same as de P60 live stage. On that stage we can show talented artists from Trans Europe Halles centers on the same digital stage. An example how to work together with stimulating emerging talent combined with digital development.
Also not-members can attend the spring meetings of Trans Europe Halles network. The next one is from 30/05/24 till 02/06/24 in Tartu (Estonia) with topic Art of Survival (Tartu European Capital of Culture 2024).
