EUNIC NY European Union National Institutes for Culture

CULTURE FORUM REPORT February 18th, 2016

The New York Times Building 620 Eighth Avenue, 44th Floor

New York, NY – 10018

The 44th OFFICIAL EUNIC NEW YORK MEETING

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Katharina Luger Head of Press Department, Austrian Cultural Forum New York Arianna Kronreif Head of Music, Film, and Performance Austrian Cultural Forum New York Zita Vadász Curator Hungarian Cultural Center, New York Gaelle Duchemin Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations Zuzana Andreanska Consulate General of Slovakia in New York Jelena Vujic Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations Sandrine Ligabue Culture and Education Department Consulate General of Switzerland in New York Dr. Laura Falzon Cultural Consultant in New York Arts Council Malta Tomas Andrews Portugal Consulate New York Katja Wiesbrock-Donovan German Consulate New York

EVENT: The 44th Official EUNIC FORUM on CULTURE in New York CHAIR: Mr. Dino Korca

President of EUNIC New York Dr. Christoph Bartmann Vice-President of EUNIC New York Mr. Geert DE PROOST General Representative of the Government of Flanders to the USA

HOSTED: Flanders House, The New York Times Building 620 Eighth Avenue, 44th floor, New York, NY 10018

DATE: Thursday, February 18th, 2016 AGENDA: - EUNIC Strategic Framework and 3-Year Cluster Strategy - Formal applications to join EUNIC NY cluster – presentation and voting - Guest speakers from local partners: Karen Helmerson, Art Program Director New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Jonathan Hollander, Director of Battery Dance

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PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Christoph Bartmann Director Goethe-Institut New York and North America Dino Korca Director Albanian Institute New York Geert DE PROOST General Representative of the Government of Flanders in the USA, Flanders House New York Thomas Schneider Consul, Head of the Culture and Education Department Consulate General of Switzerland Ignacio Olmos Executive Director Instituto Cervantes New York Jonathan Hollander Artistic Director & President Battery Dance Company & Dance to Connect Bart Brosius General Representation of the Government of Flanders in the USA Flanders House New York

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Karen Helmerson Arts Program Director New York State Council on the Arts Sophia Efthimiatou Onassis Foundation (USA) Aistė Jakštienė Consulate general of the Republic of Lithuania Ana Vazquez Barrado Director of Cultural Affairs Instituto Cervantes New York Jadranka Vrsalovic-Carevic Head of Office Institut Ramon Llull Hannah Abdullah Goethe Institute New York Donatella Baldini Attachée for Cultural Affairs Italian Cultural Institute New York Ana Ventura Miranda Director Arte Institute Sean Bye Polish Cultural Institute New York Anna Domańska Deputy Director Polish Cultural Institute New York

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Opening remarks by:

Geert DE PROOST – General Representative of the Government of Flanders to the US (left),

Dino Korca – Director of the Albanian Institute New York, and President of EUNIC NY (right).

The Meeting opened with welcoming remarks by Dino Korca, Christoph Bartmann, and Geert De Proost. Mr. Korca started by greeting members and guests in attendance, briefly shared the program agenda for the afternoon, followed by introduction of those present. Mr. De Proost warmly welcomed everyone to the Flanders House. He shared upcoming cultural activities and the major retrospective exhibition of one of Europe’s most influential artist Marcel Broodthaers at the Museum of the Modern Art, MoMA. The show is open through May 15th. Dino Korca shared updates on the new Strategic Framework by EUNIC Global, approved by the General Assembly meeting last December in Brussels. Mr. Korca read the following EUNIC Global Strategic Framework Vision statement: ‘By 2025 EUNIC will be the delivery, research and training partner of choice for cultural diplomacy and cultural relations at European and international level’. The goal of the strategic framework is to outline how EUNIC will achieve the goals stated in the vision and mission statements Towards achievement of this vision, it is important that each cluster develops a 3-Year strategy. The structure for the cluster strategy proposed is as follows: Year 1 – Design of strategy Year 2 – Pilot implementation of the strategy Year 3 – Full delivery of the strategy

EUNIC is the network of European national institutes of culture and national bodies engaged in cultural and related activities beyond their national borders. EUNIC brings together organizations from all 28 EU member states and adds value through its global network of clusters. By pooling together the resources and expertise of its members and carrying out joint work on common areas of interest, EUNIC is a recognized partner of the EU and its stakeholders in defining and implementing European policy on culture inside and outside the EU.

EUNIC promotes cultural diversity and cultural dialogue and advocates for a stronger role for culture in public policies and in external relations, both at European and international level.

By means of its clusters, EUNIC has a strong capacity to deliver collaborative transnational projects connecting culture and society, as well as significant potential for training and research in cultural diplomacy and cultural relations.

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EUNIC NEW YORK WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS Arts Council Malta On behalf of the Arts Council Malta, Dr. Laura Falzon, following a presentation and submitting a letter of intent, applied formally to join the EUNIC NY cluster as a member. Dino Korca, in accordance with the charter and Cluster Guidelines from Brussels, made the nomination for the Arts Council Malta to join EUNIC New York. Present members voted unanimously to approve the nomination, and the Art Council Malta in New York became officially a EUNIC NY member. Institut Ramon Llull On behalf of the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), Jadranka Vrsalovic-Carevic, after submitting a letter of intent and presentation at the meeting on the activities and mission of the IRL, applied formally to join the EUNIC NY cluster as an associate member. Dino Korca, in accordance with the charter and Cluster Guidelines from Brussels, made the nomination for the Institut Ramon Llull to join EUNIC New York as an associate member. Present members voted unanimously to approve the nomination, and the Institut Ramon Llull in New York became officially a EUNIC NY associate member.

PROGRAM The event featured distinguished guest speakers as well as EUNIC members invited to present on a number of activities, events, and upcoming project. The first part of the program began with a presentation by Karen Helmerson from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) – a local partner of the cluster, followed by Jonathan Hollander from Battery Dance – also a local arts partner. Bart Brosius from the Flanders House informed participants that the representatives from Northside Festival, who were scheduled to present, were not able attend and touched briefly on it. It was a great experience to listen to Jonathan Hollander (above) presenting on the work of Battery Dance, in particular on the field of CULTURAL DIPLOMACY. Jonathan reminded us on the power of art and culture to transcend our differences and bring people together – something he has been doing for over 40 Years across cities and continents. Here is a short video clip of their work: https://vimeo.com/146096330 Panorama Europe film festival coordinator Gaelle Duchemin from the EU Delegation to the UN updated the participants on the progress of Panorama Festival 2016. To date, over 19 members are participating on this festival that will take place at the Museum of Moving Image. Panorama is a significant EUNIC project in collaboration with MoMI, and each year showcases outstanding European films to the US and International audiences. Any of the members that still want to participate, need to express their intention by the end of February 2016.

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The open floor discussion included presentations and member reports from Sophia Efthimiatou from the Onassis Foundation (USA) on exhibitions and upcoming activities at the Foundation, Zita Vadasz from the Hungarian Cultural Center on Animated Spirits, European Animated Short Film Festival and issued a call for proposals by the members. Institutions interested to participate can get in touch with Zita for information on the festival. Following the first part of meeting, members and guests had the opportunity to mingle and network during the break, and enjoy refreshments provided by Flanders House. The second part of the meeting resumed with discussions on EUNIC NY strategic planning and operations, new member admissions, und updates on new developments from EUNIC Global.

Dino Korca and Christoph Bartmann stressed the need for the EUNIC New York members to agree on and adopt the proposed rotation presidency to administer the cluster. This matter remains open until the next EUNIC meeting. Mr. Korca also expressed that coordinators of EUNIC Projects need to be in close cooperation with the EUNIC presidency team. This is needed to ensure that projects under the EUNIC umbrella are in line with EUNIC charter guidelines that include: transparency, participation, press release, branding, and collaboration with partners.

Karen Helmerson (above), Art Program Director New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) The New York State Council on the Arts supports and awards grants to arts, culture, and heritage non-profits throughout the state. A number of EUNIC member organizations have been NYSCA grantees and have benefited greatly from the NYSCA support, without which some projects would not have come to realization. We had the great pleasure of having Ms. Helmerson presenting on the work of NYSCA, collaboration and supported cultural projects over the years for the EUNIC member institutions. Ms. Helmerson expressed a great appreciation for the work of so many European arts and cultural institutions in New York. Over the years, EUNIC member organizations have expanded the rich cultural diversity in the City, and have made, and continue to make, a vital contribution through arts and cultural activities to the quality of life in New York communities.

DEARTA FUSARO EUNIC New York Coordinator 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY-10011 For inquiries, please contact: dearta.fusaro@albanianinstitute.org