The IETM Spring Plenary Meeting 2009 took place from 23 to 26 April 2009 in Bratislava…for the first time in Slovakia, for the first time in this remote and unexplored part of Europe…

IETM Bratislava was conceived in interaction with “2009: the European Year of Creativity and Innovation”. The question raised was: What culture without education? What education without culture? The link between culture and education seems obvious. But is it really so in practice? 

Educational and cultural policies are rarely, if ever, created jointly. And it is not only about cultural education, it is also the value of culture and the arts in society, identity and the quality of life which could be built and enhanced by effective collaboration between the cultural and educational sectors. 

Creating a society which understands the value of culture, which has abilities and knowledge to discern the quality of cultural goods and services, which nurtures and supports creativity and therefore increases the quality of everyday life for its citizens is a task for Europe in the 21st Century.

The different working sessions aimed to explore how education and culture impacts on artists, cultural managers, policy-makers and the public. From practical information sessions to lessons learned in difficult situations, to some hard questions directed at ourselves, the focus was to present the voices of artists, politicians and specialists who can interrogate and inspire our daily work producing and presenting contemporary performing arts. 

The artistic programme was constructed to introduce the situation of contemporary theatre and dance in Slovakia and point out its specificities, present productions significant in the context of Slovak theatre and interesting for an international public as well as to place Slovak performing arts in relation to other genres.