“Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust.” ― bell hooks

Caring for Culture starts with a Culture of Care: for each one and one another. When facing challenging times, how do we strengthen our (collective) structures to develop a sustainable practice?

Over two days, the Backstage Club invites professionals to come together and reinforce the indispensable links in the artistic ecosystem of research, production, and presentation. The workshops and exchange sessions aim to:

> foster knowledge sharing by involving key experts in the field as facilitators,

> initiate collaborative thinking among the participants on the topics,

> improve awareness among cultural professionals and artists of international opportunities.

Join us if you are:

>> a professional of performing arts interested in being involved in (international) collaborations;

>> eager to network with peers from the region and abroad;

>> willing to explore means of togetherness and principles of solidarity.

Backstage Club is an international workshop series tackling key aspects of transnational collaborations. The event series is open to local and international artists and cultural professionals. Backstage Club is an initiative of NextStage, a Creative Europe funded program. NextStage offers an incubation program empowering a new generation of managers to consolidate sustainable career paths for emerging and mid-career artists.

Backstage Club in Düsseldorf is the third in a series of events, following an edition in Athens (Greece) in April 2024, and one in Budapest (Hungary) in March 2025.

PROGRAMME:

Thr. 08.05., 10:00 – 12:30, tanzhaus nrw/ Studio 1:

EU grants and international cooperation projects – workshop

Facilitators:

Lena Becker, consultant Creative Europe Desk KULTUR/ the national contact point for EU cultural funding

Brigitta Kovács, creative producer, EU projects’ coordinator for Workshop Foundation Budapest

Thr. 08.05., 14:00 – 16:00, tanzhaus nrw/ Studio 1

Partnering – embracing multiplicity– movement lab*

Facilitator:

Bahar Gökten, dance artist grounding in urban dance culture

* For this session no specific equipment is required (come with your street clothes and shoes)

Fr. 09.05., 10:00 – 12:30, Freiraum

Producers’ regional networking meeting – meet-up

Facilitator:

Sofie Luckhardt, coordination team produktionsbande

Fr. 09.05., 14:00 – 16:00, Freiraum

The network is your strength -round table

Facilitators:

Shirin Mirachor, founder and managing director of the cultural institute (A)WAKE Rotterdam

Meghna Bhardwaj, dance artist and academic from New Delhi/ Dance Research NRW scholarship holder

The event is free of charge and we ask you to register. You can choose to join for one, more or all the sessions. For registration please use this online form:

REGISTRATION

The venues are wheelchair-accessible. We will use the English spoken language.

For any questions drop us an email at post@komplizinnen.space