The European Festivals Association (EFA) is pleased to announce the support of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) to the first Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Asia: SINGAPORE 2011. The Atelier takes place from 14-21 May 2011 in the creative hub of Singapore at the LaSalle College of the Arts. Seven days before the closure of the deadline for application, the Asia-Europe Foundation joins the international partnership of seven cultural organisations. The Atelier is an intense, rigorous one week training programme. Emerging artistic festival directors from all over the world are invited to sign up until Friday, 17 December 2010. In its role as co-organiser, ASEF will support the participation of a number of successful applicants at the Atelier. ASEF engages in the Atelier because this exchange of knowledge and experience between regions aims to encourage a joint reflection on the role of festivals in today’s globalising societies. The Atelier for Young Festival Managers was initiated by the European Festivals Association. It aims to foster meaningful connections between festival managers and directors based in Asia, in Europe and all around the world. It follows the motto “The true role of a festival is to help artists to dare, to engage in new projects,” a phrase coined by Bernard Faivre d’Arcier, former director of the Festival d’Avignon. The Atelier in Singapore is co-organised by EFA, ASEF and La Salle College of the Arts Singapore – that welcomes participants to its newly built campus in the heart of Singapore’s Civic and Cultural District – in cooperation with the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals, the Singapore Arts Festival and CultureLink Singapore. It will bring together 45 festival managers from all over the world. Distinguished festival directors including Goh Ching Lee, Hugo De Greef, Rose Fenton and Nele Hertling will be invited to share their work experiences. Further eight renowned festival managers from Asia, Europe, Australia and America will contribute to the Atelier in lectures, presentations, group discussions and intense workshops. “The Atelier is about formulating experiences and discussing these with a new generation of festival makers: experiences about the arts, artists and festival formulas, thematically focusing on the very essence of arts festivals: the arts and the artist,” explains EFA Secretary General Kathrin Deventer. SINGAPORE 2011 follows two successful editions in Europe in 2006 and 2009; a call for the third edition of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Europe – IZMIR 2011 (24-31 October 2011) is open until 7 February 2011. The Atelier has established itself as a unique platform for the exchange of ideas, the development of artistic visions and new networks. It is currently the only programme featuring such a distinguished group of festival leaders and cultural experts. All documents (call for application, application form), latest news and information about previous editions can be consulted on the Atelier pages on the EFA website (www.efa-aef.eu/en/activities/atelier). Contact atelier@efa-aef.eu in case of further questions. Download press release here.