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"Culture is not an optional extra! It is a key driver!"

Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Minister for Culture and External Affairs, in the framework of a seminar on "European Festivals: Driving Success Through Culture"

European Theatre Convention moves – in – Europe!

Tuesday, 06-09-2011

The European Theatre Convention (ETC), the largest pan-European public theatre network, expands its activities across Europe and opens a new executive office in Berlin at the "Deutsches Theater". As of September 2011 the ETC will also be present in Brussels with an EU office at the European House for Culture. The headquarters of the ETC will remain at the "Comédie de Saint-Etienne" in France, where the theatre network was founded in 1988.

Since its foundation, the objective of the ETC is to promote contemporary European drama and the artistic exchange between theatres and theatre makers across Europe. Today, the ETC represents over 40 member theatres in 25 countries. As part of its work, the ETC supports multilingualism in theatre through the development of multilingual plays, co-productions and staff exchanges and more recently focuses on international projects with and for young people. In addition, the ETC represents the public theatres’ sector in cultural policy debates and dialogues with EU institutions.

At the time of his re-election in 2009, Jean-Claude Berutti, President of the ETC, stated that by the end of his six-year presidency, he would like to lead the ETC into the heart of Europe and says today: “For the last five years, the active engagement of new members from Middle, Eastern and Southern Europe, as well as from Germany, has greatly influenced the work of the ETC. The move of the ETC’s executive office from Paris to Berlin is a response to the changed political situation Europe faces in the 21st century.”

The special relationship between France and Germany is often described as a ‘twin engine’ to push forward European integration. With its new locations, the ETC seeks to intensify collaboration with both countries and to strengthen its contacts with EU policy makers. In doing so, the aim is two-fold: to continue to support the intercultural dialogue between European theatre makers, and to take an active part in the European cultural integration process to build bridges between east and west. The election of Dubravka Vrogč from Croatia as designated ETC President is a clear sign of this tendency. She is the artistic director of the z/k/m as well as of the International Theatre Festival Zagreb and she will take office at the end of October.

More information at www.etc-cte.org