Border crossing

rossing borders and working in new and different environments has become a way of life for many artists today. But for people working backstage the situation is not quite the same. With ‘Changing Room’, European network Trans Europe Halles now creates mobility opportunities for non-artist cultural operators.
Changing Room is a two-year pilot project by the European network of independent cultural centers, Trans Europe Halles (TEH). The network is looking for new ways of stimulating mobility, including developing and testing an online toolkit, training, and a staff exchange programme involving 25 member organisations in 15 European countries. The pilot also includes a first-of-its-kind study on mobility for cultural operators, carried out by the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. All together this will give a topical insight on cross-border circulation of cultural operators today and how best to raise its value.
During the first year and a half of the project, nearly 20 staff exchanges have taken place. Marketers, project managers, programmers, administrators and directors have left their working places for one or two weeks of peer-to-peer learning at another TEH centre. Éva Nováczki, who usually works with finances at A38 in Budapest, spent a week at Werkstätten und Kulturhaus (WUK) in Vienna. On the Staff Exchange blog she writes about her experiences: “The things I saw in WUK helped me understand points in our own organisation. After arriving home, I have put forward a request and a suggestion, both of them are about innovation and development and we will soon start working on them.”
Whereas the Staff Exchange programme is tested inside TEH, the workshops and the toolkit are open to the public. The toolkit is a free online resource for knowledge, sharing and networking. It includes a wiki-style Knowledge Base with, for instance, and ‘Rough Guides’ to working in different countries in Europe. Just like on Wikipedia, everyone can add and edit information, and it’s a way to get firsthand experiences straight from the sector that it targets. Thanks to a partnership with Culture Jobs International (an AP initiative), the toolkit also features listings of the latest job openings.
As the end of the pilot comes closer, the project team has worked on everything from the individual experience up to European policymaking. Barriers and opportunities have been identified, but one thing has become crystal clear: Mobility is a need, not a luxury, for those who usually stay home to hold the fort.