FestLab Mission Statement

Arts Festivals:
Laboratories of creativity - Promoters of innovation

“Artistic creation and new approaches in culture should receive due attention,
as important means of communication between people in Europe and in the follow-up to the ongoing European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008).”

Ján Figel

Artistic creativity and innovation play an important role
in today’s complex, rapidly changing world.

One of the main needs of the creative industries in modern times is to broaden creative skills in order to understand contemporary society and to promote innovation by involving as many people as possible in the process. Therefore, one of the top priorities for the enlarged European Union is finding new and creative instruments to trigger innovation for personal, social and economic reasons. Intercultural, interpersonal, and civic competencies are needed in our culturally diverse, knowledge-based society if we are to enable people to embrace change as an opportunity and to be open to new ideas that promote active participation and the attitude and readiness to change. Flexibility and adaptability are becoming increasingly important in intercultural societies today.

Artistic creation is firmly at the heart of our democratic principles. It has intrinsic value and serves as a means to finding new solutions and ways of engaging with societal change. The arts sector is one of the most favourable environments for innovation and creativity because the main objective of artists has always been the creation of new work of arts. Artists thus play a major role in changing society and pointing towards new paradigms. The role of the artist as a creator and as an innovator has been the object of much philosophical and sociological reflection, with the overarching conclusion that creation and creativity are fundamental elements for the progress of mankind.

The whole world is facing a severe economic crisis at the moment. Many of the leading economists and scholars who are investigating the reasons for this crisis and possible solutions for it believe that organizations, enterprises and companies must rely on their capacity to innovate and create because they will have to face unpredictable and dynamic environments. The arts world is a window to this discovery process.

The proliferation of festivals all over Europe during the last century - in all kinds of urban and rural contexts - clearly demonstrates how creativity in the arts has brought innovative trends to societies and their economic development. The presence of festivals in economically depressed areas has had revitalizing effects on many local economies. Festivals are the expression of a community and its identity: the creativity of festival managers has brought about major changes in terms of bringing innovation to societies and breathing new economic and social impulse into them. Research has proven that festivals are motors of economy and of cultural innovation, as they are suitable platforms for experimentation and for creating bridges between the creative and technological sectors which too often remain separate.

For decades, the world of festivals has been one of the most active communities, where festivals have been providing artists with the tools and the opportunities to enhance their artistic skills and use them towards innovation and creation. More simply put, festivals offer a laboratory for the research process of artists today.

Festivals play a crucial role in involving audiences in the process of approaching creation and innovation. Individuals who attend festival events are often faced with the challenge of interpreting and understanding works of art which use languages, expressions, concepts and perspectives that are often tightly connected to contemporary history and society. Part of the educational mission of festivals is to open up audiences to artistic, cultural and societal alertness. Fringe events, education schemes and training programmes for young artists and managers, interactive performances, experimentation of arts and technologies and contemporary expression provide professionals, amateurs and the audience with an optimum setting for implementing innovative and successful competences. In fact, festivals play a key role in turning multicultural societies into intercultural environments which enable individuals to actively participate in social and working life.

Festivals have always been an open format with flexible structures. In festival contexts, artists, managers and the public simultaneously perform a multitude of functions (managerial, creative, and receptive). Festival contents are progressing more and more towards multidisciplinarity.

• The circulation of artists for festival participation and the cooperation of artists of different nationalities stimulate the process of transnational innovation. Festivals provide artists and audiences with a favourable environment for innovation and creation and stimulate their aesthetic sensitivity.
• Festivals function as language and communication innovators because they are primary users and creators of contemporary languages and expression innovators in all arts. The artists involved in festival programmes and activities are often commissioned for the creation of new works of art, which explore new disciplines or use innovative approaches to classical arts.
• Audiences are empowered in the access to arts, artistic processes of creation, innovative technologies and creative instruments with the use of new technologies, and often play an active role through their participation in festival events. There is a clear trend in contemporary arts towards more interactive performances, where the audience becomes part of the performance and, in doing so, provides a valuable contribution to the creative process.
• Education schemes, training programmes and fringe activities of festivals are based on innovative teaching approaches because they are based on the active involvement of artists and audiences. The participation of actors of varying backgrounds (whether formal, non-formal or informally trained) in artistic activities is the norm for many festivals. This practice bridges the gap between theoretical and practical approaches to arts.

The arts have been building cultural bridges, playing an important role in facilitating communication among culturally different societies, and establishing privileged ways of communication. Festivals play an important role in turning multicultural societies into intercultural societies. An open and diverse environment is key element to enhancing the capacity for innovation and the impulse to create.